This experience might be challenging in the beginning, but it gives back an incredible amount in terms of learnings.
  • Former Trainee
  • Current position: Product Compliance Coordinator at Trespa
  • Education: MSc International Business, Economics & Management – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; BSc Energy Engineering – Sapienza Università di Roma
  • LinkedIn

Broad perspective

Given my background in both engineering and economics, I was searching for a job opportunity that could provide a broad perspective on different business topics within an industrial setting. I found the perfect match in the Broadview traineeship! The traineeship offers the possibility to take part in several projects and to collaborate with different departments, ranging from operations to finance and marketing.

From the Netherlands to Taiwan

I started my traineeship with an M&A project at Trespa International, working together with the R&D team and the finance department. During my second project, I often flew between the Broadview office and Arpa Industriale to plan the construction of a large solar plant on the roofs of Arpa. I’m very glad that the solar plant, which was started during the summer of 2019, will soon be finished, powering the plant with green energy! My third project brought me back to Trespa, where I worked on sales effectiveness and resource allocation, mainly for the company’s German-speaking team. Last but not least, my final project took place in Taipei, Taiwan. I worked on market research for the Formica Group together with my new Taiwanese colleagues and the president of Formica Asia.

Challenge yourself

Each time you get a new project, you need to be able to adapt quickly not only to new environments and stakeholders, but also to a completely different topic. So you are challenging yourself. Although help from the top management of the companies is provided on a weekly basis, the trainee needs to take ownership of their work, being proactive and managing their task. This experience might be challenging in the beginning, but it gives back an incredible amount in terms of learnings and self-development possibilities in a relatively short period of time.

The training days

There are many situations providing the trainees the possibility to work, live and cooperate. The training days are indeed not only a way to grow our personal skills, but also to create closer relationships. In this way, different generations of trainees can help each other on both work-related and personal topics. I can definitely say that I made good friends during the traineeship!

After the traineeship

After my traineeship, I started my career at Trespa as a Product Compliance Coordinator. Together with my mentor, we analysed two different possibilities for my future career, and these discussions helped me to find the best path to follow. The conversations about my personal development and my ambitions started from the early days of my traineeship and lasted until the very end, either in person or by phone.