“I stayed after my internship because I immediately felt at home”
Koen Lagerwaard, Technical Consultant at Bluace
“My adventure at Bluace started through my mother, who encouraged me to put my search for an internship for my Software Developer education on LinkedIn. That turned out to be a bull’s eye because I soon received a message from Bluace asking if I wanted to come by for an interview. That interview went well, and I did my final internship of more than six months here. Although I planned to enjoy my well-deserved free time after my final internship and only start work later, I just stayed after my internship because I immediately felt at home.” says Koen, Technical Consultant at Bluace. Koen was born and raised in Rotterdam and still lives at home in Capelle aan den IJssel, but he is looking for a place. He has a brother and a sister and is a big fan of Feyenoord. “Football is a sport and a passion I have practiced for over ten years. I regularly go to Feyenoord matches. In addition to football, I have discovered that padel is also completely my thing, thanks to a tournament we organized with colleagues,” says Koen. Traveling is another passion of his; He likes to pack his bags to discover new places and prefers to go to destinations where the climate is not too hot but cold. “A little sun is nice, but extremes are not for me,” says Koen.
“In my current role as a developer, I am responsible for building new functionalities for customers and our product. I am mainly involved in making extensions, but most of my work also involves solving problems. Sometimes, the latter leads to new challenges, which makes the work dynamic. Every day is different, and that keeps me on my toes.” Koen continues. When he first stepped into Bluace, he was immediately struck by how friendly everyone was. “Everyone was ready to help, which was nice for me because I came in with zero knowledge,” he says. Koen describes the culture at Bluace as direct. “But then again, that’s part of Rotterdam, isn’t it?” he laughs. “We are professional, but there is always room for a joke. It never feels like we’re working like robots here; There is always time for a chat or a moment of relaxation. That’s what makes the atmosphere here so nice. The relationship with colleagues is, therefore, perfect. We make time for each other, whether that’s to chat or to do a fun team activity together. Those team outings provide good team bonding, which you notice in the day-to-day collaboration.”
“In the future, I hope to develop myself further as a software developer, but I would also like to be more involved with the customer. I want to understand better what our customers do, their processes, and how we can best support them,” explains Koen. He thinks offering technical solutions and advising them on doing their work more efficiently would be cool.