Students Tilburg University

Digital bureau Indicia at the TSHD Career Day in the Tilburg University Career Week | ‘The first thing we want to know is: Is there a match?’

Published: 28th February 2022 Last updated: 28th March 2022

The Tilburg University Career Week is a career event that gives students and employers a chance to meet one another. Indicia, an IT and online marketing agency, presented itself in last year’s online edition of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD) Career Day. This year, the event takes place during the Tilburg University Career Week and the Tilburg-based enterprise will be present again. “We want to discover talent at an early stage. We are looking for young talent that has a good picture of its own future and development. It is not a problem if this picture changes over time.”

Says Dennis van den Broek, managing director of Interactiv at Indicia. “In our line of business, talent is scarce. Hence our philosophy to get to know potential candidates as soon as possible. We work with students who do a project here for one of their courses. We supervise approximately 30 interns a year. These increasingly include university students: marketers, economic psychologists, business administration students. Sometimes they take the initiative, sometimes they come to complete a course. Because of their analytical skills, they are good at elaborating projects. And they on their part tell us that working with online tools and being involved in the productions of our services has added value for them.”

Dennis van den Broek

Broad orientation

“An event like the TSHD Career Day helps students to explore their options broadly and to discover what is out there on the job market,” Dennis thinks. “We know about the Tilburg University Career Week via study association Flow, that is very active in connecting theory and practice. Last year, we did an online presentation and answered questions in small chat groups afterwards. We were asked some very interesting questions: what an employee’s typical day is like, what our policy on working from home is, and how Covid-19 has impacted us. Hopefully we will be able to meet in person again this year. You get better connection than during an online event.”

Feeling

In interviews on the TSHD Career Day, the first thing Indicia wants to find out is whether there is a match as regards DNA and view of the world. Dennis: “Non-verbal communication is important; how do you feel about a company? It's the things you don't see or get from the polished employer brand video on the website. After all, it is a kind of first date where you turn up smartly dressed and not a hair out of place. But you want to know that it is really like. To us, the match is as important as your skills. A diploma says something about your perseverance, that you can achieve a goal you set yourself, that you have a certain level of thinking and that you have a certain amount of theoretical knowledge. But it says nothing about whether you're a good fit. Once you get to work for us, you can also learn new skills.”

Stocking shelves on your resume

There are differences in work experience between interns and starters on the job market. Dennis welcomes the fact the students have jobs on the side that are not in line with their studies. “Just put it on your resume that you have been stocking shelves. I think all work experience is relevant, because it is always a learning experience, for instance, on how you can work together efficiently. We want to understand our customers; we want to know how they work and for whom. Only then can we tailor our technological solution to their needs. To that end, you need to be able to put yourself in the customer's shoes and to have people skills. But students who have gone wild writing code during their studies, have started a business of their own, or have worked in our field of business are a source of inspiration for us, too. If only because they have personal ideas about online business.”

Learning the ropes

How do you view the transition of students into the workforce? “Sometimes it takes a while for starters on the job market to get used to working for actual clients,” Dennis states. “That's why interns here start working for clients straight away, supervised by a senior worker who shows them the ropes. You want to show them that what they do has an impact. Students need to be able to put theory into practice, to make an actual contribution with their knowledge and skills. If students understand how this works, they have gained important experience that will serve them all their working lives. Incidentally, I think that study programs nowadays are much more in line with employers’ needs. Things have improved a lot in the past 20 years.”

Proactive attitude

But how do you as a student or starter on the job market find an employer that is a good fit for you? Dennis thinks the Tilburg University Career Week is an ideal way to connect with many different employers in a short period of time. “You get a lot of opportunity to form impressions. I would recommend that students visit these events. But do more than that: take action, be proactive. Talk to people you know about their work, have a coffee with potential employers, ask for an interview with someone in HR or someone in a job that you aspire to. That will give you an inside look. And if, after reading this article, you think that you would like to work with Indicia on an issue in the form of a project or internship, please contact us. We are always interested in students who want to dive into things. The people who set up Indicia almost 25 years ago were also fresh out of college.”

TSHD Career Day