For most students, the first contacts with attractive internship companies have been established afterwards. A few immediately score an internship assignment.

Ewan and Marnix, both mechanical engineering students at NHL/Stenden, speak with Gerrit Mulder of Stork from Sneek† They get acquainted. Ewan wonders what the company's language is. ,,English and German,'' says Gerrit, ,,in the sales, engineering and product development departments, with the exception of production. Not only do we work worldwide, our employees also come from all over the world.” In addition to internships in-house in Sneek, Gerrit can bring students into contact with other Stork locations. ,,This is a nice spin-off from our participation in Innovatiecluster Drachten. Our colleague locations in Almere, Rotterdam, Vlissingen and the Eemshaven are also eager for good interns.”

Motivation

Other representatives of ICD companies are also enthusiastic. “Especially about the quality of some students”, says Theun Prins (YP Your Partner). ,,I said to one student: I don't have an internship for you, but you can come immediately, then we'll discuss what you can do with us! Jan Lucas (BD Kiestra) would have liked to speak to a few more computer science students, ,,But there simply weren't any. I did have some nice conversations, for example with two students who will not start an internship until next September and are already looking. They could have gone to the pub, but they came here. I think that motivation is great!”

match

"Hey, you're with us!" overhears Tim, a human technology student at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, as he walks past the discussion tables. He is looking for an internship and considers himself versatile. That's why I'm looking for the company that suits me best. So far those are VDH Products and YP Your Partner† I will continue to talk to them.” Alexandra from Germany and a biomedical engineering student at the University of Groningen is familiar with the business cluster of the Honors Programme. ,,I heard of this event and immediately signed up. It is a great opportunity to be able to talk directly with companies about your internship or graduation assignment. Talking is better than writing emails.” Alexandra goes home with a good feeling. “It is really great that these companies are looking for people who fit best with what they do and what they want to achieve.”

HTCC

It is important that students continue to work in the Northern Netherlands after their technical education. With the HTCC, our companies show what wonderful opportunities there are for an interesting career in high-tech. In this way we not only match companies and students in great internships or cool graduation assignments, but we also contribute to retaining technical talents for our region. Next year on May 24, the second edition of the High Tech Career Competition during the Dutch Technology Week 2019.