What makes working at Puls so much fun and why do our colleagues work at Puls? Erik Beelen, career and reintegration consultant at Puls, has been working at Puls for 12.5 years this year and previously at predecessor company OxHill7. In this article he shares his experiences and tells what motivates him in his work.

Erik: "In fact, I used to work for an employer for a maximum of about three years and was always looking for new opportunities in the market and possibilities to develop myself further. I started at OxHill7 12.5 years ago as self-employed and was soon hired as a salaried employee. At the time, I was the 18th employee at OxHill7." In January 2023, OxHill7 merged with Optios and Inverzo to continue under the name Puls and grew into an organization of more than 100 employees. As a career and reintegration consultant and job coach, Erik guides people in and out of work. In addition, he will soon start as team leader of the job hunters within Puls.

Still having fun

Erik has had several employers throughout his career. "I started my career 31 years ago at Disneyland in Paris, that's where I found my passion for business services. Later I had my own practice as a therapist." Erik eventually chose to work as a career and reintegration consultant because of the continuity of work and contact with employers. This step still gives him great pleasure: "Finding an entry point for suitable work for a new candidate gives me a lot of energy. Although trajectories are short-term, I notice that I can still mean something for the employee's future. In addition, I value diversity and find it positive that at Puls we have a team of colleagues of various ages and multicultural backgrounds."

One of Erik's strengths is guiding people with a distance to the labor market, such as the target group Wajong or people with a mental vulnerability. "My son developed autism and I was able to learn a lot from him, such as not just giving up, seeing opportunities, but also accepting when something doesn't work out," Erik said. Another of Erik's strong skills is making contact with employers. He is not afraid to call and likes to open doors for others who want to develop. There are many trajectories Erik is proud of, "For example, a lady who was working in childcare and through my network got a work experience placement in a hospital, which later led to a permanent job. In this trajectory it only took one application to come to this beautiful end result."

"The work takes a lot of time, also because I pay a lot of attention to it. It is not a nine-to-five job for me. On the other hand, these days I notice that sometimes it is also nice not to work and I realize more and more that it is important to keep an eye on my own work-life balance as well. So recently I started a new hobby: Aikido. This is a Japanese demonstrative martial art. Aikido lets me experience (literally and figuratively) what it is like to be out of balance and what that does to you. In our work you have to deal with many drastic situations and this sport gives me insights that I can use again in work."

Become Erik's new colleague

Do you recognize yourself in Erik's story and do you also see yourself working as a career and reintegration consultant at Puls? We are always looking for new colleagues throughout the country. Take a look at our vacancies and apply.