Rianne

03-01-2022

“It clicked right away. For Young_Coders, it was clear that in addition to challenge in my work, the social aspect is very important to me.”

Hi, I’m Rianne. Web analyst at the Dutch Land Registry, though I never would have thought that a few years ago! With a study background in Psychobiology, it was quite a switch to plunge into the digital world of IT and data science. I’ll tell you how I came to that decision, what role Young_Coders played in it, and why I can recommend that switch to anyone!

In 2012, I began my Bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology, where I was particularly fascinated by the communication between brain cells. Therefore, I chose to pursue a master’s degree in Neurobiology with a focus on electrophysiology. So not really IT-related.

Doubt struck

The last internship of my studies took me to Sweden, which gave me my first real job. After a few months, the doubts began to set in. In addition to finding out that the subject I was researching really wasn’t for me, it also became increasingly clear what a life in scientific research would look like. I made another attempt to find a PhD spot but, in the meantime, I also wanted to look further ahead.

Technology had always fascinated me, but all the jobs I came across required at least basic programming knowledge.

A subject that many people (including me) passed during my studies only because of some conjuring with exam ratings….

So I had to go back to school to learn the right skills for a job in tech. What exactly that job should be I did not know at the time. Perhaps I could still find something in my field of expertise? I just didn’t feel the need to follow a whole study anymore and besides that I knew a few people who had good experiences with following a traineeship. Between flopping applications, I therefore started looking for a suitable traineeship and ended up at the Young_Coders Challengership. I made contact and that’s how the ball started rolling.

It clicked right away

I can still clearly remember Jan-Willem calling me and telling me that they had found a good match for me at the Land Registry. I was allowed to start applying for jobs. Slightly surprised, because I had actually expected them to match me, based on my background, at some sort of medical technology company. I went for an interview and it clicked right away. For Young_Coders, it was clear that in addition to challenge in my work, the social aspect is very important to me. I now work in a very nice and fun team, do very diverse work and felt a lot of freedom and trust from my colleagues right from the start.

What those activities are? As a web analyst in the Online team, I deal with all kinds of numbers related to our online channels. Based on this data, we try to optimize our websites. For example, I analyze certain parts of the website or campaigns and write reports on them. Requests for this can come from all over the organization, so you will be in contact with many people. I also build and manage the online forms.

I really like that variety. Sometimes you’ll spend days on a tricky analysis, other times you’ll simply be checking links. In fact, it always comes down to researching and solving puzzles. In the process, the knowledge I got from my studies still comes in handy on a daily basis. I have learned to think analytically, although the subject is now completely different.

Guidance

When I started, I received 1-on-1 coaching from Young_Coders for a few weeks. This was a very nice way to immediately integrate into the team and master the work. I think I still use everything I learned then today.

Looking back on my own career switch, I can only recommend it. Don’t be afraid of the switch, but see it as a unique opportunity to learn very useful skills that will always come in handy. Wherever you end up. I also think that everyone benefits from following a traineeship at the start of – or perhaps later in – your career. The personal guidance and matching that Young_Coders offers can be very helpful in making the switch.

Do you also want to make the switch? Take the interest test and apply.

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