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Career Prep: Panel session and Meet & Greet with alumni (for Psychology students)

Meet alumni from your programme and discover more about the career possibilities in research, healthcare, consultancy, academia, media/communications/, HR and more on the job market!

Teacher: Sophie Blok (Study choice/career adviser)
Method: Workshop

Panel session and Meet & Greet with alumni

The Career Service FSW is organising this career event in collaboration with the insitute of Psychology.

For whom?

All Leiden University Bachelor and Master students of psychology are welcome.

Programme Thursday 7 May- Alumni Panel Non-Clinical Study background

Time	Activity	Room
15.00-15.15	Student walk-in	1B01
15.15-15.30	Start	1B01
15.30-16.30	Alumni panel	1B01
16.40-18.00	Meet and Greet	0B06, 0B08, 0B13 en 0B23

Programme Friday 8 May- Alumni Panel Clinical Study background

Time	Activity	Room
15.00-15.15	Student walk-in	1A20
15.15-15.30	Information session on the clinical field and further education/programmes	1A20
15.30-16.30	Alumni panel	1A20
16.40-18.00	Meet and Greet Alumni	0B04, 0B13, 0B08, 0B23

You can register for both days!

Panel Session

Several professionals with an academic background in Psychology will discuss what it is like to enter the labour market from their own specialisation. They will answer questions from the audience to provide a clear picture of the possibilities, such as:

Questions for a non-clinical panel:

What field are you currently working in, and what motivated you to choose this path?
What is your current role, and how does your degree connect to what you do today?
How did you approach the choice between a clinical and non-clinical path, and how do you reflect on that decision now?
Which skills are most important in your role, and how can students start developing them during their studies?
What have you learned in your job that you couldn’t have learned during your studies?

What advice would you give current students, and what career opportunities or next steps exist in your field?

Questions for a clinical panel:

What different specializations exist within the clinical field, and why did you choose your particular specialization?
Is it possible to switch specializations later in your career (for example, through additional training)? How would you go about doing this?
To what extent does the target population you work with influence the type of work you do?
Which skills are important for success in the clinical field, and how can students start developing these during their studies?

After the panel discussion, students will continue the conversation in small groups with all the professionals.

Alumni Panel Non-Clinical-Thursday 7 May

Madelief van den Wildenberg, S&O( and Business administration) Consultant bij Deloitte

Tekst Madelief

Berke Basar, ECP Events

Berke Basar

I've spent most of my adult life trying to understand why people do what they do. Seven cities across different continents in ten years, and the only constant has been the pull toward new cultures, new people, and new ways of making sense of things. Bringing people together is the thread that runs through everything I do — professionally and otherwise.

Martina Simovicova, Product Marketing Manager at Bloomreach

Martina Šimovičová:

MA SocSci Psychology, University of Glasgow (bachelor's degree)

MSc Economic and Consumer Psychology, Leiden University (master's degree)

My academic journey started at the University of Glasgow, where I completed a research-led Psychology bachelor's programme.As part of my study abroad experience, I went on a study exchange to the University of Hong Kong in August 2019, and to Radboud University in Nijmegen in February 2020.

For my master's, I wanted to move away from academic research into the business world while keeping psychology at the core of my studies, and the Economic and Consumer Psychology master's with a internship placement at Leiden University was a good fit. After graduating in August 2022, I started a role in product marketing at the tech company that develops marketing software. There, I was able to combine the psychological knowledge and principles with building business acumen, and have been involved in buyers' decision-making since. Now I lead a win/loss program, work daily with different teams across the organisation, work with AI for data analyses, and deliver insights that shape decisions across marketing, sales, and product departments.

I am looking forward to sharing my journey across different universities, education systems, and transferring from university to the business world.

Alumni Panel Clinical-Friday 8 May

Anastasia Exintaveloni, Clinical Psychology NIP Psycholist

Tekst Anastasia

Vassia Sarantopoulou, Self-employed