Koen Durlinger at NN Group
Name: Koen Durlinger
Traineeship: General Management
Subject: A typical work week
Weekly schedule
On a Monday morning I do the three things that everyone in the corporate world does if you’re not crafty enough with complex IT-systems or on the road for a client meeting: I have internal meetings, update project planning, and create fabulous PowerPoint presentations. The topics of these meetings and presentations are very diverse. I love to think about the strategic direction of the firm, but my humble background also causes me to talk shop – I want to deliver stuff, not just talk about it. And therefore, the different projects that I work on vary in content, scope, and level of impact. NN supports me in all of the different projects, because the company values my input.
On Tuesday we have our agile ceremonies. Yes we have embraced the new way of working and it lead to a futsal table at the office; worth it. But apart from that benefit, I also enjoy the perks of having a great team, both in quality of delivered work and in interpersonal relationships. Wednesday is made for accelerating. It’s calmer at the office, which gives me the chance to catch up on a lot of work. In between, I lunch with other trainees to complain about things that move too slow or make plans for the Friday drinks. Thursdays is again a very crowded day at the office and most project meetings take place during this day. Friday is the day that I can actually catch up on the to-do list, that grew disproportionately on Thursday.
”As a trainee there’s more than your assignment”
But this is only the work you do during your assignment. As a trainee there’s more than your assignment. We get coaching sessions and have the chance to constantly work on our competencies. I’m also active in a commission of the young professional network, volunteer through our various volunteer networks, and I’m a chairman at events. The traineeship gives you the space to broaden yourself, as long as you’re keen to take the opportunities that arise – or create them yourself occasionally.
If you have a high coffee tolerance, a work ethic that’s summarized in the ‘work hard, play hard’ cliché, and really want to improve yourself because you have the ambition to get the most out of everything, then the NN traineeship is for you. The opportunities here are countless, as long as you want to grab them.
Want to know more about this opportunity? Come join us during an inhouse day, recruitment event, or simply just drop me a line.
About Koen
Koen (26) did a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Nijmegen University, followed by a master’s in International diplomatic relations at the University of Economics, Prague. He currently lives in The Hague, is a sports fanatics, and has an above average interest in politics. He works at Customer & Commerce, Nationale-Nederlanden.
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