Book and Digital Media Studies (MA)

Career preparation

Our goal is to prepare you to make a difference in your future career

Knowledge and skills

The master Book and Digital Media Studies at Leiden University aims to equip you with a range of important skills and knowledge that will help you thrive in your future career. Your specialised expertise is complemented by vocational skills and the ability to apply multidisciplinary, critical-thinking skills to solve complex conceptual problems.

Relevant professional skills and experience

Our emphasis on applying what you learn in a professional or practical situation is how we give our students a head-start in their future career. We encourage you to work as an intern in an organisation in the Netherlands or abroad, practice preparing applications for jobs, and take on extracurricular activities such as participating in excursions and in the production and promotion of TXT, the yearbook published by the programme.

Internships

Staff at the Book and Digital Media Studies programme take an active role in connecting you with professionals at various organisations either for internships, entry-level jobs, or through networking events. Every year the programme also hosts a meeting with alumni.

Students of the Book and Digital Media Studies programme have done internships at:

academic and general publishing houses (e.g. Brill, Elsevier, Boom);
general and academic libraries (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, university libraries);
museums;
other cultural heritage institutions.

Humanities Career Service

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at Humanities Career Service provide all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

Online Career Week

The first Online Career Week was organised in May 2020. Every day there were 2 events that students could sign up for.

For example, there was a Q&A with interns. Three interns working for respectively Philips, the Dutch Mission to the UN, and the World Economic Forum provided the participants with information on their internships, the application processes and working from home. In addition, a live webinar CV writing took place, and students were able to schedule an appointment with a career counselor for personal advice.