During an internship, you will learn to apply the theoretical knowledge you learned in school and gain experience about work life. An excellent opportunity to find out what suits you and what doesn't. Robin van Raak studied Human Resource Management at Fontys University of Applied Sciences and did her final internship and accompanying thesis at Puls. She completed everything in June, got her diploma and is even allowed to continue working at Puls. Robin tells us how she has experienced the past few months.

"In the case of Puls it was clear from the start that cooperation is paramount. I was allowed to take on the administrative tasks and work with consultants at the same time. I have been present at many conversations, including the more intense conversations. You immediately know if it's something for you and I thought: I really see myself working here."

Something Robin immediately noticed was the freedom and trust she received within the organization. Also the natural way it went positively surprised her: "I really enjoyed starting my day, time goes super fast: my internship period really flew by. In addition, I received so much trust from the organization. I found that really special and I really didn't expect that."

Naughty shoes

Because Puls collaborates a lot with other labels of the paraDIGMA groep, there is a lot of contact with other professionals such as company doctor and Work and Health Advisors from the Occupational Health and Safety Service, psychologists from PSION and employment experts from Inverzo: "You really have to take the plunge, contact them and, for example, ask for help. This way you also get to know people very quickly and the more you do that, the easier it becomes.

I was also allowed to work on my thesis in the company. Bee Puls we notice that there is little movement in their careers, especially among slightly older and practically trained candidates, and they do not think far ahead in their possibilities and opportunities in their career. We saw that this target group only takes action at a later stage. I started to find out what was going on in the market. In the matter, a lot of attention was paid to the employee taking control himself. For example, we wanted to Puls discover what this target group could do to take more control at an earlier stage. Career guidance and job coaching is mainly aimed at highly educated people. We wanted to develop something that fits in well with the target group of practically educated people.

This led to the development of our own game! We are currently developing the game further so that it can really be put into practice. The idea is to keep it really approachable. We want to do this by using lots of photos and images, using humor and really looking at it from a positive approach. And all this in the form of a playful game. This will encourage the employee to think about whether he or she can and wants to continue doing this work until retirement, and the employer can respond by offering certain training courses. We aim to have these completed and deployed by September!"

Going through change

When someone with Puls eligible, it is unfortunately often a tough period: an employee has dropped out, the work no longer suits someone or there is no longer a place in the organization for the employee. Robin: "I learned how to approach a first interview, which is not always easy. But during that conversation, you get to know someone immediately and then you see an employee grow during the process. For example, I guided a highly educated, intelligent and critical man who was annoyed by his situation. He really wanted to stay with his current employer. Every time I spoke to him, I noticed a lot of resistance. Because of the confrontation training that I was able to follow during my internship, I knew how to talk to him about the resistance. This immediately caused a change in his attitude. I found this very valuable to experience!"

Getting Started

Do you want to do an internship in the field of career guidance, just like Robin? Then you've come to the right place. Puls to the right place. We are always looking for enthusiastic and inquisitive students who want to apply their knowledge in practice.