In the years to come the management team of the Institute will build on these policy lines in anticipation of the evaluation of its research by an international review panel in 2018. Career counseling course In order to prepare PhD's for employment outside the university the management team of the Institute supported the development of an intensive job coaching training. This tailor-made course -different from the regular supply of courses offered by Leiden University and taught by an external

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... oach -linked individual talents, skills, job preferences and employers. Within a three months period a series of training days and coaching sessions took place which involved a combination of assignments, interviews and discussion. Former Leiden PhD's were invited to exchange job market experiences, potential employers were consulted on location and participants were trained to pitch their personal narrative with feedback from HRM-officials. Since this career development trajectory was time consuming, labor intensive and relatively costly the management team aimed at recruiting the best candidates for this course. PhD's -serving the last year of their contract or having finished their term less than one year after the expiration date of their contract -were requested to apply and interviewed to test their interest in working in a non-university environment and to see whether their motivation was strong enough to meet the demands of the course. On the basis of the desired group size and the available financial means six PhD's were selected to take part in this pilot. The evaluation of the course by the PhD's demonstrated that the training had increased their self-confidence and had clarified that they had much more to offer to future employers than they had expected. Furthermore, the training had made them conscious of the fact that self-knowledge and a convincing narrative were of crucial importance to find a suitable job outside academia. The management team is investigating the possibility to develop the pilot project into a permanent job market course, preferably in collaboration with sister institutes and/or the Faculty of Humanities.