My orientation days during my internship at MPS Systems in Arnhem
You may remember hearing about how my internship at MPS began, where I was researching the Asian printing market as part of my graduation assignment? Well, my time at MPS is reaching the end —and it’s been quite an exciting journey. My ‘travels’ here at MPS also included orientation from department to department, so I could explore what it’s like to work in different areas within the company.
The reason I requested this additional company orientation is because I’m not quite certain which path to take after graduating (which is pretty soon). Is it in Export – of which I’ve already learned a lot during my studies? Or would a career in Marketing, HR or Service be a good fit for me?
My MPS colleagues were happy to show me what they do, and were enthusiastic to share how much they loved their job.
Marketing
For the past five months I’ve had my own desk next to Inge Brinkman, Lisa Zwaga and Marjolein Ekkelboom in the Marketing department. Though my main focus was on the Asian research, I regularly helped the team create interesting content like blogs, social media posts and videos – some of the FAQ Fridays are my filming expertise!
Filming an FAQ Friday video
As a Marketing assistant, I had the opportunity to attend valuable workshops such as blogging, social media for business and filming with your smartphone. I’m actually working on a vlog right now, so keep an eye out for it in the coming weeks.
I also had the pleasure of joining Marjolein on a business trip, to visit a customer with an MPS press integrated with our ‘talk to me’ connectivity. Marjolein knows a lot about connectivity and the Internet of Things, and often speaks about it at events, so it was an honour to accompany her. I learned a lot from the experience!
Human Resources
As I was curious about the hiring process for new employees, HR Advisor Martine van der Meijde introduced me to the world of HR. It was very interesting to see what’s involved in her job. She runs the HR department by herself and that’s a challenge, especially in a fast-growing organization like MPS.
Martine included me in a candidate job interview, which was nice to experience from the other side of the table. But she also showed me that her responsibilities include much more – from writing vacancies and finding the right candidate, to handling administration and creating career paths for colleagues.
Export
I also had a couple of orientation days with Dave Stuart in the MPS Export department. During my study of International Business and Languages, I learned a lot about importing and exporting, but practice is often a lot different from theory presented in books, so I’m thankful for the chance to see what it’s really like to work in an Export department.
Another good thing about my export orientation is that I also had the opportunity to apply my new knowledge! Due to a long-term absence of a colleague, I was able to take over a number of their tasks, and was glad to help out.
Service
The last department, where I’m currently positioned in orientation, is the MPS Service department. As one conclusion in my research was that service is a very important aspect to consider when purchasing a press, I was excited when Marc-Jan Goossink asked me to explore being part of their team.
What I especially like about the tasks I have in service is the contact with customers and agents. But most of all, I like to give my colleagues something back for all the time and information they provided towards my graduation assignment.
So, from my orientation and internship, I got to know MPS and the team a lot better, and now understand that every department has diverse and interesting tasks. Thank you, MPS!
And now, I’ll focus my time on finishing my graduation assignment and making my vlog!
If you’re considering an internship at MPS (and I highly recommend it!) find out more here.