Jasper grew from intern to team manager at Twence

This article is part of a series called “Twente Leeft!” (Twente Lives!). You can read personal stories here about living and working in Twente. Twente is a nice place to be, according to the talents we meet. The beautiful nature, space, the down-to-earth mentality; they all characterise Twente. There are also plenty of career opportunities! Twente has many innovative, international and future-proof companies that are desperate for staff. Want to know what Twente has to offer? You can find Jasper’s story below.

Jasper studied Laboratory Education (now called Laboratory Technology and Process Industry) at the ROC van Twente, where he focussed on Laboratory Technology, and he did his internship at Twence. He was the first student from that study to do an internship at Twence, so he had to get approval from his school and the board of examiners first. He did not have to wait long for their approval, and he then started his internship as a chemical physicist laboratory technician in the process area. Jasper: “a buddy of mine was already working at Twence, and he told me about is work. All I heard were the words ‘big’ and ‘lots of technology’, and I immediately knew that I wanted to come here and get to see this world as well. They offered me lots of opportunities to grow in the time I’ve been here, so this was the right choice.”

“I really learned a lot at Twence. School taught me all sorts of things about chemistry, especially in milligrams per millilitre. Twence, however, measures everything in kilograms per cubic metre, so the proportions were very different. It took me a while to get used to that, but I also found it extremely interesting. The rough technology at Twence greatly appealed to me, and I started learning about process technology. I got a job at Twence after my internship, and I was always offered the chance to take internal courses and develop myself. This is how I grew from an intern to a team manager in many different little steps.”

“I now manage a team of ten people. I like having an open and familiar working environment within the team, where people are prepared to support each other, for example, with illness and leave. Team spirit is essential for that. The thing I like most is the dynamic and diversity within our team. Everyone has their specialisation, we complement each other well, and we simply have a great team!”

“As a team leader, I want us to make progress together. We set goals for ourselves to move forward and work more efficiently. Having specific knowledge and sharing that is very important for this. My experience at Twence has taught me that it is very important to keep developing yourself. Not just for your own development, but also as an incentive to continue to grow and to keep challenging yourself. I want to give the same opportunities to my team. I am also studying Technical Business Administration at Saxion right now. It is exciting and very applicable to my job.”

Jasper enjoys his work, but his spare time as well. “I work in irregular shifts, but that is precisely why I have more spare time. When I have a shift from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., I still have the entire afternoon left to do my own thing. I like to go mountain biking, cycling or walking, for example. I love the nature in Twente, but that’s not the only place you can find me”, says Jasper with a laugh. “I also like travelling, or drinking some specialty beers with my friends at the Oude Markt in Enschede. And I keep myself busy with technology at home as well: there is always something to maintain, repair or tinker with on my different motorbikes and bicycles.”

Twente lives

Twente is the ideal place to live and work, according to the talents we meet. Want to know why? Read personal stories about living and making a career in Twente on twente.com/twente-leeft. Want to look for a job immediately? Then take a look at our extensive job site.