Backbone is the corporate magazine of Erasmus School of Economics Published three times a year, once in print and twice online, the magazine highlights successful and interesting alumni, covers the latest economics trends and faculty research, and reports on school news, events, and student, faculty, and alumni accomplishments.
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Publication Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam Editors Ronald de Groot, Yrla van de Ven, Babette den Daas, Henk Goris, Aleksandra Stuip, Madeleine Kemna, Annemarieke Dumay-Roest, KrisKras context, content and design Concept, design and realization Kris Kras context, content and design Illustrations Carolyn Ridsdale Photography & Video Rotterdam Branding Toolkit, Kees Stuip Fotografie, Sophia van den Hoek, Marc Heeman, Daarzijn, Rien Bexkens, Koala Koncepts, Eric van Vuuren, Ka-Chun Lo, Willeke Machiels.
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‘Go and find your passion’
After obtaining my Master’s degree in Economics and Business, I started working for Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. This allowed me to develop my knowledge of technology, where my Master’s specialisation, Economics of Markets, Organisations and Policy, focused more on the economic consequences of human behaviour.
On working as a reward consultant
In my current job as a reward consultant at EY, I can combine the human side of the story with my well-developed analytical skills, in giving advice based on numbers. I am part of a group that issues recommendations on remuneration, we try to optimise the incentive. Because of the fact that I was an elite athlete during my student days, I am used to organising my daily life in such a way as to use my time in the best possible manner. This is similar in my current job. I advise clients to use incentives in such a way as to get the best out of their employees. Fortunately, there’s plenty of room in my team to work out my own ideas. I strive to arrive at work with a smile on my face every day, so I can add the best value to my team.
Advice
Please go and find your passion. If you want to excel within an organisation, it is vital to do what you love.
Hilleke Booij
Reward Consultant at EY
'As a student you are valuable to organizations'
Transport and mobility have always fascinated me. The specified character of my master Economics and Business has given me the chance to specialize in this certain discipline while practicing applied economics. I feel that if you want to excel in something, anything really, you need to be passionate about it.
Consultant
During my master I started working as a student-assistant at Ecorys. After, they offered me a job as a junior consultant on the transport and mobility department, which I happily took.
Being a consultant is different wherever you go. I do policy research and advice public institutions such as municipal authorities and ministries, predominantly with regard to policy. What I like about my job is that I work on socially responsible and tangible projects for a diverse group of clients.
Advice
During your study, you will be given many opportunities to get a taste of your future profession through work placements or by becoming a student assistant. Companies are not only valuable to you as a student, you are valuable to them!
Find a field of study and work about which you are passionate. You will be dedicating many hours of your life to your job, so find something that’s really worth working hard for.
Casper van der Ham
Junior Consultant at
Ecorys
‘Don’t be blinded by what recruiters want to see on your resume'
After obtaining my Master’s degree I’ve been working as a consultant in the field of international economics, trade and industrial policy. The challenge of working on these very complex and multi-faceted issues motivates me enormously. As a policy consultant, my job allows me to apply my knowledge and skills I learned during my Msc Economics and Business, directly to subjects I find interesting. During the years, I got more involved in projects related to sustainability and environmental policy. Currently, I work at Trinomics, a Rotterdam-based company that completely specialises in environment, energy and climate-related issues.
On working as a consultant
Being a consultant at Trinomics means much more than “giving advice”. A project always starts with a “research question”, for example: what is the environmental impact of the sharing-economy? We then continue with writing a research proposal and start working on it. You spend half of your time doing research. Then, we come together to brainstorm our results and findings and identify the topics that deserve more attention. We find out more about those by interviewing lots of people, modelling certain relationships or checking processes in companies in association with different partners. During this process you are in constant contact with the client to talk about the progress you are making, the requirements of the client and the results.
Advice
The most important thing to me is not focusing too much on all the things recruiters want you to have on your resume. When I am interviewing people for a job, I prefer discussing a certain development and their approach. To me this is more relevant than making sure you tick all the boxes. By focusing on matters that you consider important, you will find an organisation that fits your interests.
Jurgen Vermeulen
Consultant at
Trinomics
Alumni
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