I myself wanted to go the conservatory but ultimately became a career consultant for university students and alumni. How is this possible? By encountering the same issues as lots of people do who study or have studied at university: how to translate it into a job?

My plan was to go to the conservatory and study saxophone. Something I really enjoyed and actually I was quite good at it. But, would it be enough? And did I really want this? In the end I decided to continue to play the saxophone in my free time and to study Arts and Cultural Sciences at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. So still music but in a broader context and at a university. "I will get there", I thought but that didn't quite work out.

I won't make it...

After my studies I couldn't find a job. I still remember it brought tears to my eyes when friends had found traineeships, received their first salaries and even had job interviews with car dealers and drove home in their own lease car.

And all I did, was apply for jobs, one after the other. I didn't understand; my degree certificate had good marks, I had finished my internship, had been abroad, had completed my lustrum committee year with a student association. But still nothing.

What I didn't know then but do know now, is that my approach was totally wrong. I applied for all cultural and non-cultural vacancies I could find. Nor did my parents have any clue what they could do for me even though they bought me Dutch daily national paper de Volkskrant every Saturday to check out the adds.

In despair I registered with all temp agencies and eventually Content Uitzendbureau asked me if I could replace a sick colleague for three weeks "pick up the phone and check the mailbox". I was thrilled! Didn't care it was just three weeks: I was close to the fire with all these businesses and now my career would really start to take off.

Things started moving and how!

Next to my work as intermediary with Content I found out how valuable my skills were, just as my degree certificate. I was not only smart, the knowledge and skills I had gained really proved to have added value in practice! But it also felt so good to finally be able to make a contribution to society. Brilliant!

Here I also learned what hard work is and that the right mindset will get you there. Up to 'Intermediary of the Year' to be precise. Because those three weeks became five years in which I became number one intermediary of the Netherlands 2007.

At one point, my days in the temp sector were over and I started to take the next steps. In the meantime, I had learned all the ins and outs of the recruitment process and why one person fits business A and another person doesn't.

I started to apply my experience on myself and managed to increasingly fine tune which positions and organisations that suited me. Each experience made a contribution and through my work at the Erasmus University and Radboud University I came closer and closer to my dream job. Early 2019 I was ready to bundle everything that I had learned and offer it to others just like me twenty years ago.

In my own enterprise - Reulen Career Consultancy - I now support students & alumni in their first steps towards the labour market but I also assist educational institutes with career issues or activities. We didn’t have those in 'in my time'; you had to figure it all out by yourself. Fortunately, things are different these days. With the right and positive approach we can take a shortcut to realizing your dream.