AcademicTransfer Career Advice Podcast

Your bi-weekly bag of career advice

at.cap is a bi-weekly podcast series covering all tips and tricks for starting or pursuing a research career in The Netherlands. AcademicTransfer is since 1997 been the leading career platform for researchers worldwide with research- and scientific job openings in The Netherlands. Are you a Master’s student, researcher, PhD, Postdoc, assistant- associate- or even full professor, or have the ambition to become one? Or do you want to explore research in the industry? This podcast series is for you!

Jeroen Sparla

My name is Jeroen Sparla, managing director of AcademicTransfer and your host on at.cap: AcademicTransfer Career Advice Podcast. 

In bi-weekly episodes of 5 to 8 minutes, i will explore all the necessary tips & tricks and do's & don'ts in securing your next step in your career as a researcher. Whether you are an early-stage researcher or a senior, in academia or industry, as long as you are on the journey of discovering your next career move my podcast will definitely be of help. 

Doing research in The Netherlands is the main theme of this podcast. Hit the subscribe button and never miss an episode!

Recent podcasts

The episodes will be published on the main podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify. Hit the follow button in the player, to easily add this series to your favourite podcast-listening app.

No app? No problem, just listen to the episodes below!

Spouse programs and dual careers

Managing the job search process when you and your partner are both looking for academic jobs in the Netherlands can be challenging. This is commonly known as the "two-body problem", and it can be a daunting challenge for many couples in academia. But with careful planning and effective communication, finding solutions that work for both of you is possible. Find out more in this episode!

Job applications in The netherlands

In this episode, we will discuss the unspoken rules of job applications in the Netherlands and provide you with tips and tricks to navigate the process successfully.

Find your supervisor in The Netherlands

Listen to this podcast to find out how you can use our "Find your supervisor" tool, to match your research ideas with millions of publications worldwide. We will present a top-10 listing with the best matches in The Netherlands, so you have the names of potential supervisors with the closest research match, and hence might be interested in supervising your research!

Try Find Your Supervisor now!

Know thyself - a self assessment

Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is key in planning a suitable career path. In this episode i will discuss our Career Reflector, a self assessment that reflects on your skills, strong points and room for improvement. Enjoy!

Our self-assessment helps you to get a better understanding of your talents. You will get to know:

  • what your preferred approach is to developing and sharing knowledge
  • how you preferably work with others
  • how you demonstrate personal leadership
  • what your preferred working style is

The test consists of 149 questions. You will be presented two statements and have to choose which one suits you best. There are no right or wrong answers.

The self-assessment is free, you only need an AcademicTransfer account.

Finding the job of a lifetime

Finding the best job can be difficult and it's seldom that the right job is offered at the right time. So, why don't you take the steering wheel into your hands and start a more proactive approach? In this episode, I will explain to you how to do so!

  1. Create a free account, if not done so already and make sure to be logged in
  2. Fill in your profile on My AcademicTransfer
  3. Test our free CV match or Research match after listening to this episode
  4. See the greyed-out history matches on the bottom that indicates what faculties offered the best matching jobs in the past and start reaching out to them.

The 5 do's and don'ts when applying for a job

This episode explains the most common mistakes and the best practices when applying for a research job in The Netherlands. Some things are really different in Dutch culture, for example, the importance of your motivational letter! In less than 7 minutes, you are covered!

Pilot episode

The episode below is our first pilot, explaining what this podcast is all about. Follow us in your favourite podcast app, and don't miss your bi-weekly bag of career advice! Click the follow button in the player and select your app. Or click the play button to listen in your browser!

Upcoming episodes

  • May 17, 2023: job applications in The Netherlands
  • May 31, 2023: dual careers and spouse programs
  • June 14, 2023: 5 ways to obtain a job
  • June 28, 2023: free information beyond the job opening
  • ... every 2 weeks a new episode! Hit the follow button down right in the player and do not miss a single one.

Want to appear as a guest on one of mypodcasts?

If you would like to contribute to our podcast series with some unique insights, information or tips about doing a research career in The Netherlands, feel free to contact me.