During this evening, you take a look into possible futures after your studies. Alumni share insights from their daily work and the projects they are involved in, giving you a realistic sense of different professional paths and working lives. These perspectives help you move beyond abstract ideas and imagine what your own future could look like.

From there, the focus shifts to you. In an informal and open setting, you will actively work on how you present yourself, explore how you come across in conversations and learn how to approach networking with more confidence. Alongside practical workshops and coaching moments, a live poet will offer a creative reflection on first impressions, showing how quickly and powerfully a personal story can take shape.

If you are curious about what is possible after your studies and want tools you can use right away, this evening offers insight, practice and inspiration!

Programme

16:30: Arrival

16.45: Welcome and introduction

16.50:Talk by Frans Dekker - policy advisor FNV alumni History & European Studies

17.05: Talk by Zará Kars - programmer and policy advisor at NWO and alumni public history

17.20: Talk by Charley Spaan - freelance impact producer, programme maker and organizer - alumni European Studies.

17.30: Free choice programme at VOX POP in café setting

• Quick poetry by DichterBij
  DichterBij writes personal poems that fit in your pocket. Start a conversation and receive a unique, one-of-a-kind poem. DichterBij has previously appeared at festivals such as Landjuweel and Oerol.
• Career speedcoaching
  Do you want to start with your career and labour market orientation? Discuss your questions, doubts and plans with a career advisor.
• How do I make an authentic and compelling first impression? 
  What type of person do people see when they meet you for the first time? Which qualities are already written across your face and which would you still have to bring out? And perhaps most importantly: what can that first impression do for you? From their academic backgrounds in Media, Arts and Design and Linguistics/Communication, coaches Lau and Arlette from Ben Thomas help you to observe body language, tone of voice and word choice to come to a complete presentation style that feels right and suits you. 

Speakers

Charley Spaan

Charley Spaan (she/her) is an Amsterdam-based impact producer working at the intersection of film and social justice. She worked in documentary marketing before moving into impact production with No Other Land (2024), where she creates dialogue spaces within Jewish communities. She also develops a participatory theater project with young people for Home Game (2024), using humor to explore political disagreement, and organizes special screenings for Kiki Ho’s With Sand in Our Eyes. Across her projects, Charley bridges creative and activist spaces to turn films into catalysts for solidarity and change.

Before this, Charley studied European Studies at the UvA and worked as a student at cinema Kriterion. Moving between cinema and politics during her studies made her realize she didn’t have to choose between the two. Impact producing became a way to combine her interests in politics, culture, and community.

Zará Kars

Zará Kars works as a policy officer at the Dutch Research Council (NWO) within the Social Sciences and Humanities domain. Connecting science and society is a central theme in her work, and you certainly don’t have to be a scientist yourself to be part of that. At NWO, she works on research programmes that aim for societal impact alongside scientific excellence. Previously, she organised public events with researchers as a programme maker for the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) and VOX-POP. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s degree in Public History from the UvA.

Frans Dekker

Frans Dekker works as policy advisor Responsible Business Conduct & European Affairs the FNV (Dutch Trade Union Federation). His focus is on labour rights, a just climate transition, and workplace democratization. On behalf of the FNV, he is a member of the Social & Economic Council (SER) Committee on Sustainable Supply Chains, a member of the OECD Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) working group on multinational enterprises, and a member of the steering committee of the MVO Platform. He previously worked at Mondiaal FNV as policy officer on lobby & advocacy and as communications officer at the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO). He has a Master’s degree in Contemporary History.

Career Carousel

This event is part of the Career Carousel: a series of programmes organised by the Faculty of Humanities. Throughout the year, students can discover the career opportunities their studies provide through various activities. From inspiring excursions and workshops to the closing Career Festival, each activity helps you give direction to your future and shows you how to put your academic background into practice.