Martijn van Andel

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Martijn van Andel, risk analyst and business intelligence consultant at the Authority for Financial Markets in Amsterdam.

Can you give us an overview of your career since you graduated?

I started at Tibbe Company, a start-up from Twente that carries out process and performance improvement projects in the healthcare sector. Later the company became part of KPMG Plexus. I noticed that the solutions I came up with had a strong IT component. I created my own IT tools, for which I learned the basic skills during my IEM Bachelor's degree and my logistics Master's.

However, I felt like I was coming up with quick-win, slapdash IT solutions and I wanted to learn how to develop IT more professionally. That is why in 2011 I went to work at business intelligence company Hot ITem in Amsterdam as developer and later as technical project leader. Here I deepened my knowledge of professional information processing. 

With this new knowledge I wanted to go back to my biggest ambition: helping organizations get better results by coming up with practical solutions, getting closer to the core of the organization. Following an anti-fraud and anti-money laundering project at a European bank, the step towards becoming a financial supervisor was small for me. That is why in April 2013 I started out as a risk analyst at AFM. We carry out research on potential problems in the financial sector.

Looking back on your career until now, what are you most proud of?

At every place in which I have worked, I have been able to implement processes that are still working well today. Considering how many projects fall through within the first two years – despite the energy that has gone into them – I am very grateful for this added value.

Have you become what you thought you would become? 

No, although my current job is one that would have appealed to me when I graduated. But the career path itself has been very different from what I had planned. I thought I walk straight into my dream job, but despite having fun assignments and great colleagues at work, I found I enjoyed doing all kinds of things on the side: the jobs did not give me enough energy. When you are about to graduate you don't realize that full-time work may be different from what you expect. I see a lot of graduates taking quite a while to find a job in which they feel completely comfortable.

What was your experience of studying at the UT?

Great! At Twente I was given so much space to develop myself. Not only throughout my studies, but certainly also in extra-curricular areas. I found the students' solidarity amazing: no matter what association or club you were active in, Twente students open the door to anyone with a good story. 

How does the knowledge you acquired throughout your studies show up in your work?

I still use the analytical perspective on problems on a daily basis. As an IEM student you learn to effectively map out and tackle problems. Also, the experience with mathematics and programming makes it possible to add greater depth to your work. With a wide range of knowledge and skills, you are able to take on large parts of a project. And every now and then you even pull out an old study model to apply it directly.

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