The alumni speed dating event is part of broader efforts to strengthen the alumni network and give students more insights into what their future might hold. To start off the event, Roland Luttens ─Dean of the John Stuart Mill College─ reflected on the broader vision of PPE, referring to the alumni: “I strongly believe that in the long term, PPE students will play an important role as changemakers in society. This is already reflected in your current positions.” After the opening, the evening was split up into two parts: in a first round, there was a panel discussion where all alumni were introduced and shared general thoughts on PPE and their careers, and afterwards, there were individual sessions with the alumni, some of which will be introduced later.
To kick off the panel discussion, Phil Robichaud, ─Coordinator of the PPE Philosophy Track─ introduced the alumni one by one. The invited round of eight alumni represented a range of very diverse career paths, from working at a ministry over think tanks to founding a startup. Nevertheless, a link they all share is the connection to policymaking, a central focus of PPE. Phil first asked the alumni which piece of advice they would give to their younger selves. Jan, who graduated in 2023 and works in the German defence industry as a consultant, advised students to follow their heart: “If you find a niche topic during PPE that really interests you, like for me international security and defence, you should go for that niche! Even if it seems a bit uncommon or weird! Because if you really like your topic, you will outperform others and succeed at it.” Tessel, who graduated in 2022 and has a startup in AI consultancy, advised students to “Never tell yourself no, let other people tell you no. Even if it is about writing an application for a job that you do not think you qualify for — do it anyway, and let the world tell you no.” Kevin, who works in peacebuilding and as a professional negotiator, recommended students start thinking about where they want to go career-wise as soon as possible: “You want to avoid falling into the black hole after you graduate.” Lastly, Phil asked the students what current developments PPE students should prepare for, for which the alumni mentioned quantitative skills as well as investing in specific standout skills like an unusual (data) language.
Personal insights from the alumni
The event then went on to speed dating sessions that PPE students could sign up for, which consisted of one alumnus and around four to five students discussing the alumnus’s story in more detail. Three of these sessions will be shown in more depth here.
Firstly, Jan completed a master’s degree in international studies at the Hertie School in Berlin, and now works as a defence consultant for KPMG. He advised the PPE students that Hertie School “is still the best school if you want to get into the Berlin politics bubble.” He also shared how practical his master’s was: “They actually teach you how to intercept a submarine.” As for PPE skills, he shared that it is mostly the confidence in his ability to grapple with difficult, complicated topics that he got from completing PPE that helps him in his current job. He also advised students to invest in their network: “It can be as little as grabbing a coffee with people. The most important skill is to step out of your comfort zone and reach out.”
The next session was with Tessel. In addition to PPE, Tessel also completed a bachelor’s degree in Media and Information at the University of Amsterdam before she went on to study “AI Ethics and Society” at the University of Cambridge. She financed this in part through working at the Open University in the UK on AI ethics, and in addition she also completed a Bluebook traineeship at the European Commission on the AI and Chips Act and was a visiting fellow at Harvard for AI Ethics. Afterwards she started a consulting company on the responsible development and employment of artificial intelligence together with a colleague from her master’s degree. She also shared her troubles of choosing her tracks in PPE, eventually settling on philosophy and politics because that is “where her heart” was. She shared: “In retrospect my path sounds all natural and planned, but I honestly just always went for what I was interested in.” She also shared her experience of starting a company: “It is a lot of reaching out to people as much as possible, and of course a lot of late hours that you do not pay yourself for.” But ultimately she finds it very rewarding and is excited about the unique opportunity to develop her own company.
The last session was with Timur, who works as an assistant analyst at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, a think tank on international relations. After PPE, he did a master’s degree in political economy at UvA, after which he worked for an Italian think tank and for a student-led policy incubator. He also completed an internship at the think tank he currently works for. In his current occupation, he deals with topics including AI security and geopolitics, but also questions like how the Baltic states could be protected if a war broke out. His daily work ranges from providing policy analysis and risk assessment to clients to giving lectures to civil society and organizing war simulations.
With the last session, the first-ever PPE alumni speed dating event came to an end. It was the last of the annual extracurricular events organized by the John Stuart Mill College, which are designed to show PPE students how what they learn in theory can be applied in practice. The event gave students a better understanding of the various career paths that are open to PPE graduates, and some of the students may even have been inspired for particular master’s degrees.