Working as a young professional, what does that entail?
Symbol likes to invest in new talents. That’s why you will meet several young professionals in our office who are at the start of their careers. One of them is Judith Varenhorst. Because our young professionals are frequently asked what their jobs are all about, Judith is happy to tell you more in this blog. What does she deal with on a daily basis?
“Currently, I am mainly involved in projects in the automotive industry. Among other things, I help organizations modify their management system to comply with the IATF 16949:2016 standard. For this, I work with senior colleagues. They conduct a GAP analysis, and then I help the company in the practical implementation of the areas for improvement that come out of that analysis. I engage in discussions with process owners to determine what needs to be done and how we are going to address it concretely. Sometimes I implement improvements, but usually improvements are made in collaboration with stakeholders within the company. Priorities are set based on the GAP analysis. So as a young professional, I have partly the role of executor and partly the role of consultant.
Asking the right questions
I also work for clients outside the automotive industry. The goal with clients is often similar – getting the company up to par for certification – but the companies are very different. There are weeks when I am with three different clients. That really energizes me! Dealing with so many different people, corporate cultures and organizational structures adds an extra dimension to my work. Some clients hire me one day a month to set up and maintain a quality management system according to the ISO standard. This is also a great advantage of being a young professional: I can – in addition to sound advice – also provide hands on support. Companies, especially smaller companies, often do not have the time themselves to modify systems or implement improvements in processes. As a young professional, I am a temporary worker with a lot of knowledge. I can both execute and think along at a high level. In addition, I have Symbol behind me as a company and can draw on the knowledge and experience of my colleagues. Another big advantage, because I find that when clients run into questions themselves, they often don’t ask them. Because I want to learn everything, I do ask those questions. I make a quick call to a colleague and within five minutes I can get to work on the right solution.
The opportunity to grow
Besides working for clients, what I love about working at Symbol is that I get the opportunity to grow. I am now mostly assigned to management system projects, but in between I am trained in process improvement and data analysis. My personal development – learning what I enjoy – is paramount. This allows me to take on more and more projects on my own and I become more and more valuable to our clients and therefore to Symbol.”
More information?
Learn more about what a young professional can do for you? Please contact us by calling 053 – 2030240 or using the contact form below!