Відео

Maybe the one year I lived in the US had some influence? Other than that I have no idea 😅

Hi! Thank you for watching. This video is mainly about how I felt going through the job application process after uni. There’s a separate video up on my channel with advice on how to get on a grad scheme. I do believe that it is partly a numbers game and partly getting better at interviews thanks to practice as you interview over and over again. Which boils down to not giving up on the applications which can be incredibly frustrating and demotivating. But I really do think that the main thing is to not give up and learn from your unsuccessful applications. Which is really difficult sometimes. In the year I was applying I had several things that weren’t helping, one being covid and the other being an ongoing Brexit. This meant that lots of companies were hesitant to hire EU citizens as some would require visa sponsorship while others don’t and it was sometimes unclear for companies what the situations was as companies don’t tend to sponsor very junior people. Multiple times I had to stress that I did not require a visa. Besides that, as an EU person my school marks and info does not fit into the application prompts. For example I didn’t do GCSEs because we don’t have them nor do we have an equivalent back home. So multiple times I had to reach out to companies as I couldn’t submit the application form as filling out gcse marks was a mandatory field. One company went as far as saying that they couldn’t continue with my application if I kept on refusing to share my gcse results. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The other obvious thing was indeed my degree subject. French isn’t the most logical subject to get on a grad scheme with. However, during the assessment centres, there were multiple other applicants who studied history or English. In my grad scheme cohort I think we’re 50/50 on business related degrees vs other degrees. Lastly, the other things that impacted me were my lack of experience in applying to jobs as well as my lack of experience of having a job.

Hi! All my normal clothes sizes are in the description. I’m 176cm/5’9

Thank you! I appreciate your help offer but so far I’m pretty sure I can manage the editing myself.

@@Steffie228G Ok no worries! Let know whenever you need a video editor. 😊

Hi! I wouldn’t say that the quality of education is poor in the Netherlands, on the contrary, I think the quality, especially in elementary school is great. However, when it gets to high school I believe it greatly depends upon the child as well as whether or not the plan is to stay in Netherlands or venture out internationally. For the more international outlook I would consider international school but if that’s not a priority it depends on the child and what’s best for them. Despite my dislike of the education system for high school, the quality is still really good for free state schooling. Sorry for not giving a more straight forward answer but there are too many variables involved. I hope this helped either way.

@@Steffie228G Thank you very much!

Hi! I don’t have experience with having kids/being pregnant during a PhD. So all I can elaborate on are what I saw around me. At the graduate housing where I lived there we’re definitely families living in the one/two beds. There was a children’s play area in one of the common rooms. Furthermore, at my husbands MBA graduation there were lots of parents (both male and female) who ‘walked’ (this was in the USA) graduation either pregnant or with their newborns/one-year olds. To me this looks like there are lots of students who are able to manage starting a family while studying an advanced degree. Likely, it will make some things more difficult but on the other hand, surely, there are lots of undergrads who are happy to babysit for pay and who are likely experienced as they babysat back home. Either way to me it looks like lots of students are able to make it work. Not sure if this helped in any way, but this is all I know. Hopefully some others reading this can help you further on this topic.

Hi! I ended up choosing the job over the PhD as I struggled to find grants/scholarships. For most I either didn’t qualify for or they would only cover a very small portion of my tuition/costs. If I would have gone forward with the PhD, I very very likely would have had to find a flexible part time job at for example the uni or barista etc.

@@Steffie228G Thank you for being transparent. When the time is right, I will work wknds only. I want mon-fri to be totally invested in school/studies/research. I don't have a concrete plan rt now and I am looking into scholarships and grants as well. I'm also not resistant to working a full-time job n a part-time job before hand. Save up the part-time job funds for my degree tuition, look for a job that will help fund my edu while keeping a look out for scholarships and grants as well. Right now, I'm just trying to devise a plan because I want to be successful n able to complete what I start. Once again, thank you for responding.

most of the humanities PhD students I know that left academia after getting PhD had no problem getting a job and were given salaries well above entry level.

Thank you. Condolences to you and your family too. Wishing you and your family all the love and strength needed in the grieving process. It’s so so difficult to lose a loved one.

Hi! I’ve bought one of those foldable camp beds from Argos and put an IKEA mattress on top of the camp bed. To sort of level it all out I had a mattress topper go across both separate mattresses. It worked great honestly, just keep in mind the combined height so that it matches the existing bed. You could also just ask Castle Mill if they have a spare bed, as they might and I actually regret not asking prior to setting it all up 😅. The road out of Castile Mill is fine at night, it’s very quiet and only students who live in Castle Mill or the adjacent complex really use the road. I’ve never felt unsafe fortunately. The only path I found slightly creepy at night was the path that goes through the park and crosses a very low bridge where you have to duck down to walk underneath. But both other roads out of CM are fine, the one in Jericho and the one via the business school that is. Oxford is generally really really safe. Hope this helps!

@@Steffie228G Thank you so so much for this Steffiany!!!! It was so hard to find accurate information on CM and your video is a GEM!!!

I should have put it into more context when filming this vid. While visiting, I got the impression that in comparison to the other universities I was considering, Warwick is a lot more isolated from city life/amenities since, like you pointed out as well, its on the outskirts. Whereas my other options such as Bristol, KCL, Oxford are a lot more integrated in their respective cities.

@@Steffie228G That depends on your personal taste. The outskirts of Coventry are close to a village (within walking distance, at least for me, from where I lived), on Cromwell Lane, that has really beautiful flowers and beautiful nature (I took so many pictures that neighbours became suspicious that I am taking too many pictures of the flowers!!). If you like nature and quiet places, that is. I personally do not like busy cities, bars, clubs etc. I like nature.

Hey do you have any good writing templates?

I think it very much depends on the career that you're after. Certain jobs require a phd, for others it's a pro when a candidate has one, and for another group of jobs it's not necessarily seen as a benefit as a phd is not needed in the first place, or when entering a different field. - Moral of the story - do what's best for you and your career.

@@Steffie228G Thanks 💯

Hi! I must admit that I don’t know much about the content difference between toefl and ielts. I made the decision based on toefl being American English and IELTS being british English and given the fact that I had just spend a year in the usa, I was more comfortable with the American accent at the time. From my understanding both toefl and ielts are widely accepted tests (do double check which tests are accepted for where you need them) if both are accepted, I would go with the one where you find the testing format, the content as well as the accent the most comfortable.

I'm so sorry to hear that you're having a tough time landing a job. Keep on trying for a job that you actually like! There's nothing wrong with working a minimum wage job until you find a job that works out. I've worked one between finding out that I got on a grad scheme (january) to the actual start date (september) and I had a great time. So honestly, it's good to have a distraction while still applying for jobs that you are actually interested in + making some money is always helpful. You'll do great!! Good luck with everything!!

A first in what?

Close! But I’m Dutch :)

@@Steffie228G oh i see but your neck is not long

@@trp6062 long necks? Is that a Dutch stereotype? 😂 I was only aware of: tall, clogs, windmills, and tulips. Well, I’m learning something new everyday.

@@Steffie228G you can easily distinguish dutchers by their light eyes, long legs, long necks and long oval face with a creepy demon possessed eyes (joke) 🤣🤣🤣

Congratulations on the offer!! That’s amazing news. Wishing you all the best!!

Thank you!

Hi! Im not a native speaker. English is actually my third language. Im a native Dutch speaker 🙂

Oh wow! Thats amazing, good luck on the job!!

Hi! I fully agree with you that it is ok to work and do a phd at the same time. In all fairness, if I would have opted for the phd route, I would have had to find a job which would be flexible enough to work around my phd. Likely would have been a part time something or a job at the university itself. This is also what I saw most of my college peers do to fund their (non) funded phds and, let’s not forget, their living expenses. However, in my case, the jobs I was looking at are graduate schemes. These are full time very structured and often very demanding jobs with loads of on the job learning and sometimes at multiple locations across the country or world even. I can see one maybe figuring out a way with their employer to make sure one can attend their mandatory phd 121s, tutorials, seminars, etc while under regular employment (so not on a grad scheme) with some of these companies while pursuing a full time or part time phd. However given the structured nature of grad schemes, it is impossible to do both at the same time, even a part time phd. Especially, since the universities I was looking at, at the time, did not offer an ‘outside of working hours’ option and most of them were not located in the same city (or country). Not to mention that some of the standard working hours at these companies stretch far beyond the standard 9 to 5. I’m happy to hear that it worked out for you but in my case this combination was impossible even with a part time phd. Just to illustrate: the combination of an Oxford dphil (phd) and a graduate scheme at one of the ‘The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers’ based in London, simultaneously, is in most cases, simply not feasible. Thus, I had to choose one or the other. It was either a grad scheme or a phd, which would have involved some part time job to (partially) fund it, but the main choice for me was either going the grad scheme route or going the phd route. This does not mean that I cannot revisit the part time phd (or full time) at a later stage in my career.

@@Steffie228G Hi Steffie. Sometimes you can negotiate an off-the-book arrangement with your employer. I discussed with my COO & CMO when I started postgrad school and, despite the company not having official provisions for employees who study part time, they were willing to let me take unrecorded time off when necessary. It was entirely up to me how I want to manage my work while doing what I needed to do for school. Later when my current company brought me over to head up one of their departments, I made it clear to the CEO that I'm a part-time postgrad student and asked for a ton of annual leave days to be provisioned in my employment contract to allow me to do the necessary field work. He was fine with it. Of course, the understanding in both cases is that I do not abuse these one-off privileges but at the senior management level that's a given. So in my case, I'm a full-time employee first and a part-time postgrad student second. The C-suites that I report to tend to be quite supportive of it and are willing to accommodate in whatever ways they can..

@@kkhalifah1019 again I’m happy that it worked out for you and I’ve witnessed similar situations to yours where it works. However, that does not mean that it works for everyone and in every situation. As I explained in my previous post, the type of employment I was seeking (graduate scheme) is generally not the type that is flexible in these ways.

Sadly in many places it is not possible to do it part-time. You get a full-time employment contract but get paid.

Thank you! Will do, just posted a new vid :) (finally)

@@Steffie228G you go girl🤞

I 100% agree with you. In the end, having work experience is really important especially since I’m a humanities student and I’m in no way shape of form guaranteed a job in academia afterwards, potentially putting me in the same position I was in, after my master’s but 4-6 years later. Making it even more complicated to find a job outside of academia given my age and lack of work experience at that stage. If the job scene doesn’t work out I can always fall back on academia and potentially value it even more than I did prior. So far I’m still happy with the decision I’ve made. I definitely will be that 70 year old retiree doing a phd though 😂 still love my course but the humanities are shrinking unfortunately. (And salaries are higher outside of the humanities)

@@Steffie228G TQ for sharing. Here's a bit of inspiration for you. After over 20 years as a secondary school chemistry teacher, Susan Rawlings started a PhD at Cambridge at the age of 40 and eventually became the director of ICE, Cambridge. That gives you about 20 years to make up your mind about a PhD!

Hi! I would recommend this vid as I explain a lot about my application from a more Dutch perspective also since my application was very ‘fragmented’. ua-cam.com/video/522eQmO_NRc/v-deo.htmlsi=_hSvIc-hk6BVuHUu I had a 7/10 average from the UvA, which was higher than the course average at that time (which you can request at your faculty or student service desk, I would recommend doing this as Dutch unis don’t have a universal grading system like abroad) & I had a 4.0 GPA from the USA (which is more universal fortunately) & 274 Dutch credits (my degree was 180 credits). Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi! I'm sorry to tell you that it's going to be dependent on the company that is hiring, even companies in the same industry are likely after slightly different answers/things in candidates. I wish I could tell you how all companies select their candidates, but I honestly don't know. On the timings, again, it's going to depend on the company. I remember some emailing me a standard reply after I completed the one way video interview, which indicated a time line. Generally speaking I want to say that I heard back within a week, however, there have been companies that came back 3 weeks later as, I assume, they release all results to all candidates from the past 3+ weeks on the same date for the next stage. I hope this helps! Good luck on your applications!!

@@Steffie228G Hello, thank you so much for your reply and all the details. Can you please tell me in detail about the assessment centre interview? What do they ask? How to prepare for it? Also, how to prepare and focus on which part of the presentation? Any more tips or guidance regarding the same? Thank you.

Thank you! Sounds like a huge choice that you are going to have to make. Wishing you all the best for making that decision!!

Dont go back period!! I know what you are talking about

@@organisedme sorry can you clarify more !

Thank you

Working as a contractor or starting a company, are definitely to be considered when finishing uni. I just feel in my case, I was lacking the experience and any inspiration to be able to start my own company 😅 therefore, being employed by a company or continuing on the academic path seemed to be the two most fitting options. Doesn’t mean that being self-employed is not the right option for someone else - it just wasn’t for me at the time.

Thank you for your corrections, I agree with you that there are exceptions where high(er) marks are needed, however, these tend to be exceptions. If you look at the vast majority of state university degrees at WO level, the only entry requirements tend to be a VWO diploma and the corresponding subject as part of your curriculum. This is a huge difference between the Dutch educational system and, for example, IB, the USA, and the UK, where they are much more reliant on marks/grades to make the difference, not the diploma or level you obtain at the end of high school. I'm happy to hear that your school is taken care of its pupils who struggle with languages through dyslexia. Despite dyslexia not being the only reason why pupils would struggle with language, and English being a foreign language from a Dutch perspective (or Dutch being a foreign language from an expat perspective), I did not state anywhere in this video, that if cannot do a foreign language, you need to do HAVO. The point I was making was again, partly a comparison to other, more well known educational systems. In the Netherlands, you are not able to take subjects at different levels of difficulty as students are already sorted into different levels, whereas in IB there are options to take higher level maths versus standard level maths, for example. Or in the USA where you are able to opt in for AP classes, if your school offers them. Or in the UK where the students who are sitting A-levels are (generally) only sitting 3 subjects at the end of their schooling, not 8. And those 3 they can pick freely, only restriction is what the school offers and what the student plans to study in uni thereafter. As you can see, other school systems give students the option to cater to their level of eduction on a subject basis. For a Dutch student however, as they are already sorted in their level, they don't have that same freedom, all VWO subjects come at VWO level, all HAVO subjects come at HAVO level. As a HAVO student you cannot take French at VWO level and science at VMBO level. This means that it is more difficult for a student who is very gifted at for example maths but not at languages to obtain the VWO diploma as languages like Dutch, English, and a foreign language (apparently not the extra one in all cases) are mandatory whereas in the UK they would be able to move after GCSEs to 3 subjects of their choice. The Dutch system is way much more catered to all-rounders whereas the UK caters to the specialist. Obviously, this is not an issue for all students, but it's worth flagging, as again it is a huge difference from other well known school systems. I agree with you that moving down is not a bad thing, when it is the right thing for the student. However, after having a short stint of being a high school teacher I found out that some students are being moved down for the sake of the school's performance results and not necessarily because it was the best option for the student. I'm not implying that all schools do this, but it does occur. I am happy to hear that you are happy where you're at, that's the most important thing. All school systems are different, as you might have noticed I'm not a fan a of the Dutch one, but I have yet to find the perfect one too. There's pros and cons to all and some work better for one type of students vs another.

I'm so sorry to hear this, but you're likely not going to be surprised if I tell you that my WO uni experience in NL was very similar. I feel like quality of eduction in HBO and WO is very course dependent unfortunately.

@@Steffie228G wow really? I was thinking of trying to take the CCVX exams to get into a WO. Do you think it’s not worth it?

@@Relesy I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it wouldn’t be worth it, despite the quality of education having a WO diploma is still valuable. I would recommend doing your research to figure out which uni provides the highest quality of education in your chosen course by talking to enrolled students and studiekeuze123.

Hi! The numbers are general admissions numbers, so not based on course. The only course related filter I used is whether or not a college offers a course. I would suspect Trinity Cambridge to be way more oversubscribed than Trinity Oxford, might that be the cause of the surprise? Don’t get me wrong Trinity Oxford is still a very nice and popular college. The numbers might also slightly vary year on year.