‘I received great opportunities in Twente’

This article is part of the series 'Twente lives!' Here you will read personal stories about working and living in Twente. According to young talent ed people that we speak to, Twente is the place to be. The beautiful nature, the space, the down-to-earth mentality; all things that characterize Twente. In addition, there are plenty of career opportunities! Twente has many innovative, international and future-proof companies that are in need of  additional staff. Want to know what Twente has to offer? The story of Stijn Hulshof can be found below.

“I applied for a function, but both the company and I concluded during the interview that the position did not suit me. I was nevertheless asked for a second interview. ETC offered me a traineeship. I was able to get to know several functions by working on several projects and, after several other positions such as Operational Trainee and Maintenance Planner, I am now Manager Material Handling & Distribution, and I manage a team of 5 people.” He takes care of internal and external logistics as part of his job. “I received great opportunities here. I have a lot of freedom in my work and I like that a lot.”

So you stayed in Twente? “Yes, and it is quite a nice story”, he says with a smile on his face. “I was planning to study Business Administration in Groningen. You could only do that study in English here and I did not want to do that, so I went to Groningen. I rented a room, moved my things and was about to start my studies.” But the doubts started right away. Groningen was a long way from home and Stijn knew what his future would be like if he stayed: he would build up everything in the north because of his studies there, and he would eventually not return to his beloved Twente. So he gave up his room, moved his stuff back and started studying Industrial Engineering & Management in Enschede.

He never regretted staying in Twente or the fact that he studied Industrial Engineering & Management instead. “I thought economics was the most interesting subject in high school, and I have always liked ‘tinkering’. I now also know the technical side of business administration because of my studies and am therefore able to easily communicate and cooperate with technical people. They make beautiful things and I can help them with the output. With the promotion and the ‘making it work’ part of technology.”

The atmosphere at ETC Nederland is friendly; exactly how Stijn likes it. “More young people and women have been employed in the years since I started working here, and that is also nice. Processes have become less ‘fixed’ because of it and there is room for other plans and ideas, while the atmosphere is still as friendly as ever. That is what I like about Twente. I’m not saying you cannot find this anywhere else, but it’s quiet here and people are down-to-earth and friendly. My friends and my family live here and I play football in Hengelo, where I currently live with my girlfriend Anouk.” They renovated their house, which was built in 1921, and he likes to play tennis with his friends. “Twente is simply great. The villages and cities are small, it isn’t all so massive. Three-quarters of my cycle to work is straight through nature.” All reasons for living and working in Twente, in other words. “I never say never, but if I were to move somewhere else, it would only be temporary.”

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.