Name: Jasmijn Liu
Track: Finance/ Risk
Studied: Finance & Investments
Trainee year: 2020
From Internship to Traineeship
Half way through my master’s study, I started to think about how I would like to start my career path. Knowing nothing about how the practical and professional world works, I decided to apply for an internship related to financial risk management at NNIP, because this was my favorite subject during the study of Finance & Investments. And here began my NN journey.
My internship began right at the start of the lockdown in March. Consequently, I have only been in the office for less than one week, and finished the rest of my internship sitting behind the laptop in my room in Rotterdam. Luckily, despite the remote way of working, I still managed to gain insight into how financial risk management works in the asset management world, and also how everyone interacts with each other within this company. I felt strongly that everyone’s opinion is valued and cared for, even for people as junior as an intern. Besides, the flat organization and international environment also motivated me to find a place to stay in this company after my internship ended.
Why did I apply for the traineeship after the internship?
Firstly, the freedom of exploring NN from various aspects was the main reason why I applied for this traineeship. The more I learned about NN through the internship, the more I realized that there are still so many other sides of NN I would like to explore. The internship in NNIP only provided me the insight into the asset management side within NN Group, but I would like to continue to explore other business activities such as non-life insurance, pension, banking, etc. The 3 one-year rotations within the traineeship program are perfect opportunities for my adventure. Moreover, as an expat working in the Netherlands, I hope that my future employer is open and international. And my own experience in NNIP left me a good impression of the company’s openness and diversity.
How did the internship experience help with the traineeship application?
First and foremost, the internship experience enabled me to have a better understanding of the company’s values and learn how to react or work efficiently. This provided me an advantage in the personality match test in the online assessment, since I already had a close-up of NN’s company culture. Besides, the internship also offered me the internal networking platform to reach out to previous year’s trainees, who are very open to sharing their experience and suggestions. Last but not least, the hands-on knowledge about the organization structure also helped with preparing the interviews throughout the application.
All in all, beginning with a small picture in NNIP, I started to dream about exploring the whole view in NN. Now I’m doing my first assignment at NN Life & Pensions, which is a completely different business unit than NNIP, and I’m enjoying learning new things every day.
Want to know more about NN traineeship? Feel free to reach out to me at Minghui.liu@nn-group.com, or via Linkedin.
