The ITP community
If there is one word to describe the ITP community, it’s accessible. If you’re at a location with multiple trainees, you immediately have great guides and friends for your time there, if not for life. Furthermore, any (previous) trainee is very open to giving advice and suggestions if you contact them about a project, location or the traineeship program in general. By talking with others about their experiences, you get social support to make the most out of your traineeship.
Taking responsibility
Taking responsibility is a big part of being a trainee. I was responsible for steering and executing my project, communicating with my colleagues and working safely in laboratory and production environments. The aspects of my work I felt the most responsibility for were those I enjoyed most, as I could have an impact on ongoing developments. At the beginning, it was a challenge to be responsible for something I didn’t yet have experience with. Thankfully, my manager and team members were, of course, aware that I’d just started, and they helped guide me in my project.
The main benefits and what I learned during the training days
During the training days, we focused on business skills, such as project planning, stakeholder management and communication. For me, the communication element was especially insightful. A big part of this was practicing difficult scenarios with an actor and receiving feedback from peers and a certified psychologist. This taught me in a practical way the impact I have on the people around me, and how to adapt my behavior to achieve my desired outcome.
Take initiative and be able to adapt
Being motivated and taking initiative are important qualities, next to open communication, curiosity and willingness to learn. As the program involves working on two or three projects within different teams and countries, I needed to be able to adapt to new environments and the cultures I was interacting with, as well as having the capacity to switch between working styles. In short, being able to adapt to the situation is key to success.
My ITP projects and current position
My first project was in the cellulose-resin composite technologies (RCT) team in Nemho Weert, where I screened sustainable materials for use in our resins. After this, I joined the R&D team in Cincinnati, Ohio for three months, where I worked on a model of part of the production process and got a different perspective on resin development. For my last rotation I rejoined the RCT team and put everything I had learned about resin development into practice, working towards industrial solutions for implementing sustainable materials. In my current role I focus on how to further increase the biobased content of our products over the coming years.