Meet Sebastiaan

No two days are the same, not knowing the final destination is, but adjustments along the way... and a spikeball tournament! Sebastiaan has found his spot at AE and is happy to tell us about it in a short interview.

Sebastiaan, how did you get to know AE?

Through my participation in our student organization VTK. I had already heard from other students that AE was a great organisation, and I got to know the company a bit better during the IT Sector Night. After that I spoke directly with AE consultants during a Meet & Greet, an informal evening in a bar where AE employees talk about their roles and the projects they work on. That was very valuable!

And then you decided and chose to apply at AE. What was the deciding factor?

During the conversations I had, I immediately felt a nice vibe between colleagues. Many companies say that they’re a fun place to work, but at AE the story felt right from start to finish. HR, consultants, the website, and people I knew through intermediaries all told the same story. In addition, AE distinguished itself by the importance they attach to personal development, flexibility, and being people-oriented and open. Knowledge sharing and training were discussed in advance, but there are many other opportunities to develop my skills, both within and outside my own domain.

For me the most important thing was to check whether my own values and mentality matched those of the company. That gave me enough confidence to take the step and start working at AE.

As a business & IT company, AE has expertise in many different domains. Did you have an idea straight away about the direction you wanted to take within AE?

No, since I have such a broad background, that was a tough choice. And honestly? I still don't know exactly (laughs). But AE offers me the freedom to explore different domains and expertises.

You don't have to know exactly what you want from the start. You have five years or so to dip your toes into different domains. Of course, it helps to have an idea of your interests. Based on your first projects, you can further refine and discover those interests. AE offers a lot of guidance to support you in this search. I found a lot of value in the coaching at AE. My coach understands my dilemma: everything seems interesting, but you can't do everything of course.

Despite my technical background as a computer scientist, I chose to start in analysis. AE gave me that chance and fully supported me in my choice.

What does a typical working day look like for you? And what impact do you create?

I am currently working at Acerta as a functional analyst. A simple example of what I do: if an employee of Acerta indicates that certain external applications must be able to connect to employee data, an API is required. Our team then investigates how we can
realise this.

When I started, I mainly wanted to think about what needs to be made, rather than develop it myself. In the meantime, I have discovered that the separation between thinking and doing is not as strict as I first thought.

That’s why I feel it’s time to take a new direction. Something I have discussed this with my coach, after which we decided together to move to another project. The fact that you can be honest, and that AE helps find a solution was a real eye opener. Not many companies would do that.

Have you also learned something about yourself since you started at AE?

I am surprised at how important collegiality is to me. There are so many opportunities to meet colleagues, and time is made available to really get to know the person behind the employee. What I have also discovered is that I lose my motivation quite quickly when I feel that I am no longer learning.

Fortunately, AE offers so many opportunities to stay stimulated, such as the informal Bytes & Booze sessions where we discuss complex topics in a non-formal environment.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s not necessary to have an end goal in mind. Discovering your own path step by step is very fulfilling too. Take the opportunity and learn and discover in a well-considered, conscious way!

To conclude: something else you want to share? 

If there is one key take-away for people that read this, it’s that AE strongly focuses on the person behind the employee with all kinds of initiatives. I think of the various working groups that you can participate in voluntarily, for example. I

for one, am involved in the event team and AE Fit. I run with colleagues during the lunch break and together we participate in running events, such as the marathon in Valencia, the 10 Miles in Antwerp, and the 20 km of Brussels. In addition, I organise a spikeball tournament among colleagues during the summer, which has already attracted many enthusiasts.

The step towards exercising during the working day is small, partly thanks to the showers in the office. Our job is mainly an office job, so exercise is a welcome change. We’re not staying young forever right (winks)?