Jacob on the progression of his career
My role is office manager at the VIRO office in Hengelo. After completing my study programme at the University of Twente in 2004, I was called by Martin Dibbets (then head of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Analysis at the Hengelo office, now director of VIRO Netherlands) who offered me a graduate job. I accepted the job at VIRO because of the growth opportunities, multidisciplinary projects, the culture in Twente and the surrounding area.
'During my job interview, Martin said to me "if you take te opportunities that you come across, you'll naturally progress"'.
The funny thing is that I now get to say the same thing to candidates during recruitment and selection interviews. I discovered early on in my career that one of my strengths is getting to know the ins and outs of processes. But I also love optimising processes. As I was able to put this into practice for a number of projects and was supervised by very experienced engineers, I quickly moved up to become the group leader, department head, and then office manager roles respectively. In doing so, I succeeded Martin.
Working for VIRO means working in a varied and diverse environment. VIRO develops projects within the industrial sector in Product Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Projects. The work ranges from broad to specifically oriented. As a graduate, you get the opportunity to see a lot and then choose what suits you best and what you like. What you see in one segment can be applied in another. VIRO offers the total package: multidisciplinary projects, working together in project teams, working on what the client wants, and the opportunity to develop yourself.
The best of all is that in your role as a technician, you get to work with colleagues on innovative technological developments that really benefit society.
In addition to the good stories about the university, the surrounding area also appealed to me. Twente is a fantastic region. My family and I have happily lived in a beautiful village in Twente for several years.
Also read the stories of Kay, about the training centre, Rick, about jobrotation en Stefan, on the strength of sharing knowledge