What do you do at Cheops?
For the past six and half years I have been working as a consultant for the same customer, a global leader in shipping and the largest player in Africa in transport & logistics, energy, ports and railroads. I worked my way up there from service desk officer to system engineer for Belgium and the Netherlands. I am also responsible for leading and developing IT-related projects. So, for example, I am the project leader of the Citrix team in Europe.
What are the qualities you need in your job?
Mainly the ability to cope well with stress, vision, analytical thinking and, most importantly, good old common sense. Sometimes it’s just logical thinking – there’s no need to make things complicated. Language skills are also important: in my case that means not only good communication, but also being able to conduct meetings in French. I’m not perfectly bilingual – it’s mainly about being bold enough to speak and make yourself understood. This is appreciated in a French-speaking company.
How did you find out about Cheops?
Through a recruitment office that was looking for recent graduates. I had just got my degree in applied computer science and I thought, why not? After just one interview at Cheops it was all settled. On my way home, I received a call telling me that I could come back the following week to sign my contract. So Cheops is my first and only employer to date.
Why did you choose Cheops?
When I started at Cheops it was not yet the player in the market that it is today, but it already had very high ambitions that were clear in its five-year plan. The fact that I could grow with Cheops appealed to me, and that’s what happened.
What are your ambitions?
My career goal has been very clear for a while now. Over the years, I have discovered that I am naturally interested in everything to do with VDI and virtualisation. I have been able to further work on these areas partly thanks to internal courses and self-study around soft skills (such as PRINCE2) and hard skills (Citrix/Microsoft). As a result, this year I was able to carry out my first project for the roll-out of a new Citrix platform. I went through and managed everything from A-Z, from the design to the implementation and finally the migration. My end goal is IT architecture and project management. Cheops supports me in these growth ambitions.
What does “Flexible” mean to you?
I work in a goal-oriented way and absolutely don’t have a 9 to 5 mentality. The reason I have been able to work for the same customer for so long is because I have a very flexible attitude – the customer operates internationally and this means numerous business trips. I also think it is important for you to be always willing to do that bit extra for the customer, without expecting anything in return. In practice, this is usually a nice interaction and the flexibility works both ways.
