Since this week, the first departments of Radboud University have been using the Latin School. While work on the ground floor is still in full swing, some alumni talk about their career prospects in the Career Lab.

High ceilings with wooden support beams, spiral staircases, heavy wooden doors, and old cellars with small windows through which the Stevenskerk can just about be seen. Radboud University has the Latin School on loan for the next eighteen months, certainly not your average lecture or meeting venue.

The first activities have been taking place in the monumental building this week. On Tuesday, for instance, Radboud alumni could drop in at the Career Lab, an initiative of career counsellor Jeroen van den Hoven. Ten minutes after the doors opened, a handful of alumni were already sitting at a table in a large room on the first floor; busy talking about their job opportunities, and what to do after graduation.

Getting stuck on the labour market

‘The Career Lab is for alumni who graduated more than six months ago but are stuck on the job market,’ explains Van den Hoven, as the group takes a break. ‘We especially want them to talk to each other. It often helps if people notice that others are struggling with the same problems. That was also immediately clear today: you notice that it quickly becomes a group that tackles problems together.’

That there is a need for such a meeting is not surprising to the career counsellor. ‘Academic education is not as internship-oriented as higher education. That’s fine, because I think you should give everyone the chance to study in complete freedom. But you see that some students struggle with translating their academic skills into concrete professional opportunities. I think some programmes could pay more attention to that.’

‘In September we will have the first small-scale meetings, to get the last teething problems out’

‘But of course, there are also people who are not quite in the right place here,’ he continues. ‘If you are struggling with burn-out, for instance, or running into financial or other social problems. We have a social map here for such cases, so I can refer people to other aid agencies.’

While the alumni are still busy talking to each other, other people enter the building. A consultation from Music Moves, a training programme aimed at setting up music events for special target groups (e.g. people with disabilities, homeless people and the elderly) is taking care of them. They too moved to the first floor – downstairs, renovations are still in full swing. With some clumsiness, the chairs, which were in storage downstairs, are manoeuvred up the narrow stairs.

Work goes on

A quick tour of the building leads past many narrow staircases, small corridors, and rooms overlooking Stikke Hezelstraat. Even the old archive room, where the cupboards are covered in a thick layer of dust, is still visible.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor, the workers in attendance are hard at work. ‘This week, we expect the building to be completely ready for use,’ says culture coordinator Martijn Stevens. ‘This month we will have the first small-scale meetings here, to get the last teething troubles out. Not all the furniture is in the right place yet. In October, we hope to be able to use the building fully.’

The intention is that in future – besides meetings and gatherings – teaching will also take place in the Latin School. Among others, the Radboud Honours Academy, the Donders Citylab, and the annual training for Greek and Latin teachers will make use of the building.

Wheelchair-friendly

To make the listed building as user-friendly as possible, the stairs in front of the entrance have been replaced by a wheelchair-friendly ramp. The toilets and kitchens in the building have also been made ready for use and cleaned again. Once the ground floor is finished, meetings can also take place there, so not everyone has to climb the narrow stairs.

Whether the building is suitable for its function remains to be seen. The wooden floors and large rooms make it very noisy. And for people with a disability, the upper floors are not accessible.

Van den Hoven is enthusiastic anyway. The first edition of the Career Lab, which takes place every first Tuesday of the month, ended up attracting 26 alumni. ‘I didn’t expect it to be a full house. Hopefully next time we can just sit downstairs.’

Translated by Stella Kuipers