From a huge bandwidth to an academic appointment

Studying humanities, cultural studies and social sciences opens up a wide range of academic appointments - but usually without a clearly defined path. This was also the experience of university graduate Daniela Maschmann. The TV journalist is one of the alumni who will be giving tips at the "Career Connect" forum on 20 November.

As a student, her current academic appointment was "at best a small possibility in the back of her mind", recalls Daniela Maschmann. The now 36-year-old began her studies at the University of Oldenburg in order to "continue doing what I had enjoyed at school": German studies, history and political science.

This is how many students feel, says Dr Heike Tendler, Head of the University's Career Service: "They choose their subject purely on the basis of their interests, but initially ignore the career prospects with often insecure employment." The new career entry forum "Career Connect" aims to inform prospective humanities, cultural and social science students about the career opportunities available to them and what they need to bear in mind when applying for jobs. It is the first event in the new Student Service Centre on the Haarentor campus.

After an opening lecture on how to get started in an academic appointment, the programme includes presentations on the application process and individual offers such as application portfolio checks and cover letter coaching. Alumni will give keynote speeches on their careers and academic appointments - for example in public relations or marketing, in the education sector, human resources or publishing. They will also be available for personal discussions at the Career Café.

Including Daniela Maschmann. Today, she reports as a television editor for RTL's "Exclusiv" and the Vox programme "Prominent". Her journey there began in the fourth or fifth semester. "I kicked myself in the arse and thought, now you have to start thinking about your career prospects," she says. Daniela completed her first internship at a small PR agency in Bremen. After completing her master's degree in 2004, she worked for RTL and radio ffn, among others, before landing a traineeship at Sat1, working for several TV production companies and finally ending up at RTL.

"It all basically only worked out because I did internships and was very lucky to be able to work everywhere," the 36-year-old is convinced today. "As trite as it may sound, internships are the be-all and end-all! And you should look less at the big names and more at where you can actually get a taste of things and learn something."

The organiser of the Career Entry Forum, Gesche Heidemann from the Career Service, also knows from her own experience about the pitfalls of the transition from university to professional practice. She now wants to help with orientation: "Humanities graduates simply have a huge range of opportunities to try out and therefore often have a very diverse CV. We want to support students and graduates in bringing all of this back together and bringing a focus to it."

Heike Tendler, Head of Career Service, sees the new forum as a complement to the "Career Day", which has been successful for years. Many employers of interest to humanities scholars, social scientists and cultural scientists do not usually take part as job providers, "as they receive more than enough applications anyway". She is now curious to see what tips the alumni and other speakers will bring to Career Connect for a successful career start.