Loïc Petitjeans, his name says it all, is of French origin. Some time ago, he chose a career and life in the Netherlands and joined ENTER as a Software Engineer. He had already gained some experience in this field in France, but after several years in the same job, he felt it was time for something new. "I wanted to see more of the world. From a friend I had heard good things about Eindhoven and the opportunities here and so I ended up in Eindhoven."
Well, 'so' is perhaps a bit easy to say, because of course there were a few things that preceded the decision to make this move. "I kept an eye on vacancies in various cities where I wanted to live and saw an interesting one come by at ENTER on LinkedIn. After I responded, I received a message back just a day later and a couple more days later I met with Business Manager Koen Schilders. After that, things moved quickly and Loïc received an offer from ENTER. "The speed of this process definitely played a role in my decision to work for ENTER. It really felt like the best choice for me."
And then it all started. A house had to be found and an assignment. He quickly found a home, courtesy of our Relocation Officer Felix van Eeten. "I was helped very much by them when I came to the Netherlands in June of 2022," he says. "An ENTER colleague was just moving, I was lucky with that. Felix then made sure I could take over the property."
Different cultures
Loïc immediately started building a network and he is also feeling at home at the ENTER office. "The people are nice, there is a good atmosphere, so I like working at the ENTER office. And I also enjoy the events that are organized here. Sometimes it's just for fun, like with the pub quiz, sometimes there's also a substantial part where someone gives us new insights into our field. You also get to know people from all over the world and get to know different cultures. It's a very diverse company and everyone is always willing to help you."
Loïc is currently working on an internal project at the ENTER office. He is also brushing up his knowledge and skills. In France, he graduated at a level equivalent to the Dutch Master's, but that has not satisfied his hunger for knowledge. "I therefore hope for an assignment with a client where I can learn a lot again," he says. "In the ideal situation, I end up somewhere where I feel comfortable, but where I also encounter enough challenges. Of course, if you do something you already know everything about, it can quickly become boring."
Right experience
Together with Koen, Loïc is now looking at which assignments suit him. A previous assignment did not go quite as expected. "I ended up at a company in the semiconductor industry where they were working with outdated software written by a single person. The main purpose of this software is to run simulations. From those simulations then come data. So that software needed an update and therefore the client decided to rewrite it, but with the help of someone who had knowledge of software instead of knowledge about semiconductors, like the rest of the team. And that's where I came in. However, I found out pretty quickly that I was lacking the right experience to manage people and argue with them when they have dozens of years of experience in this field." That's how it can go sometimes, Loïc knows. But then one of the advantages of secondment is that you can look for a new project together with your manager.
In his spare time, Loïc likes to watch football and play video games. He also enjoys meeting new people. That's why he recently started bouldering and joined a Discord server where other people from Eindhoven are also members. "Bouldering is for people who like to climb but are also afraid of heights," he adds, laughing. "In general, I just really enjoy getting to know new people. What we do then doesn't really matter to me. For example, we can go for a bite at Down Town Gourmet Market or organize a game night." Loïc is also trying to master the Dutch language. "I don't know if I will ever be able to speak Dutch correctly, but at least it won't get any worse."
