Engineering your career

I was still graduating when I first started working here. However, they didn’t need to wait for me to finish my remaining subjects. Instead, they said I could finish them while working.’ I started the job, finished the subjects, and carried on working here.’ A few months before graduating, I created a profile on LinkedIn and was immediately headhunted by loads of recruiters. The secondment agency arranged a few job interviews, but most of the roles weren’t really for me. However, even during the first job interview at VIRO, I had a good rapport with the person who would be my future manager.

Hi, I am Wara and I am from Bolivia. I’m 30 years old and I studied Civil Engineering in Bolivia.
I knew I wanted to go to Europe for my career, and I already studied English which made it a bit easier. Then I had to decide where I wanted to go. The Netherlands and its universities gave me a great impression, so that’s why I came here four years ago.

My name is Arno van Dijk, and I began working as a Junior Mechanical Engineer in the Mechanical Engineering department on 14 June 2021. I have always been drawn to inventing and working out new things. During my Industrial Design studies, the techie in me further developed and I ended up focusing more on function than on form. After completing my studies, I started looking for a job and my preference was for one near Enschede. I soon found out that many companies in Twente are industry-oriented. For this reason, I felt it was obvious to focus even more on the technical side because of my background (Industrial Design). That's how I eventually came across VIRO.

My name is Jasper Witteveen. In February 2020, I started as a TPD Engineer in the Mechanical Engineering department at Groningen office. From a young age, I have been interested in engineering. I am curious about the design of objects, which is why I enjoy tinkering with things. This meant that I quickly reached a decision on what I wanted to study, which was Mechanical Engineering at the NHL Stenden Hogeschool (University of Applied Sciences) in Leeuwarden. At a business fair at NHL Stenden VIRO caught my attention because they are active in many fields within engineering. As a result, they have a lot of in-house knowledge and you can learn a lot as a starter

Criss-cross. This summarises the career path of Michiel de Jongh in one word. And look where it got him. To the position of branch manager at VIRO in Vlaardingen. How did that happen? "After my Mechanical Engineering studies at the HTS in Den Bosch, I went to study Aerospace Engineering at the TU in Delft. This way I could broaden my knowledge and combine my interest in aeroplanes with my studies. Nevertheless, I graduated in the automotive industry. I could get a graduation project at Ferrari and I did not want to miss that opportunity.”

My name is Bram Boerboom, and I study Mechanical Engineering at HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem. I’ve always been interested in technology. That’s why I wanted to follow a broad technical study programme, so that I could have more job opportunities later on. I was looking at graduation internships for my final semester. Through HAN’s career services, I saw that the Arnhem office had a number of open projects that appealed to me. After visiting the website, my impression of VIRO was so positive that I immediately contacted them for more information.

I first heard about VIRO at a company lunch, but I only knew it as an engineering firm. One of the job sites I used posted a vacancy for a FEM analyst – precisely the field I wanted to work in. The head of the Engineering Analysis department told me about the different projects and opportunities for me. What stood out to me most were the relaxed working style and the opportunities to work very independently. I like awesome, bigger-is-better, challenging engineering projects, like roller coasters, dikes, the Palm Islands in Dubai, and mega structures. These are obviously world-famous projects, but VIRO’s presentation also showed a couple of examples that got me excited.

In the four and a half years that I've been at VIRO's Mechanical Engineering department in the Echt office, I've worked for three different companies in the high-tech industry on five different projects and I followed ten courses. Work here is never a grind – it's always changing, and I keep on learning. I'm gaining a wide range of experience both because of the range of projects and the different people I work with.

Industrial Design primarily focuses on the consumer market and on the aesthetic part of a product. It doesn't really focus on the technology behind that. However, the mechanical aspects and such interest me. I was one year into my study programme when I realised this. I then decided to finish my studies while also taking on board as much as possible on the topic of mechanics during my internships and graduation. In my search for a suitable graduation assignment, I found VIRO in Arnhem.

I ended up at VIRO after attending an introductory day for companies and students, which was organised by Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Here I got talking to Klaas Krol, Group Leader in the Mechanical Engineering department at VIRO Groningen. I was really interested because as a starter at VIRO, you get involved in a lot of different activities so you can learn a lot. I had only graduated two days previously when Klaas called me to invite me in for a job interview. After two enjoyable interviews, I could start my adventure at VIRO.