This interview was conducted and written before the current corona virus crisis.

What was your dream job as a child, and what is your dream job now?

As a child my dream job changed about every month, but three options recurred the most: professional football player, fighter jet pilot and manager of a casino in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, my talent in football was mostly for the third half, I did not like the selection procedure of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and managing casinos was just a brief interest after a visit to Las Vegas. 

Over the years, my perception of my dream job changed quite a bit. I can’t name my exact dream position, but there are a few job aspects that really interest me. The most important one being innovation, as thinking about how to improve efficiency with new ideas and new technologies has always excited me. I would also have the freedom and responsibility to do my work as I see fit, and eventually I want to lead a team. However, this ideal still changes quite often, which is part of the reason why I chose my current job.  

What is your current position, and what do you do?

Currently, I am in the International Graduate Leadership Programme at TUI Group. In 20 months, the programme shows you the entire company. The objective is to develop leaders for the TUI Group, gain business and management skills, and provide a wide variety of experiences across TUI’s business. 

The programme starts with an assignment in one of the major markets, for example in the UK or Germany. For the other assignments, we receive an overview of all possible projects which can be in any department, like Strategy, M&A, Marketing, Product, and so on. From those we choose our three favourites, and we get assigned to one. You get four different assignments in total, which will be a mix of day-to-day business and project work. Before the final assignment, we get a leadership assignment of 8 weeks to gain experience in leading a team of holiday representatives.

How did you get your job?

Before starting at TUI, I worked for another company called DutchBasecamp for 1 year. It was a good experience, but I wanted to work for a larger company with more focus on personal development, so I started looking into many different traineeships, amongst which was TUI. The application procedure took 4 or 5 rounds and was quite tough, as they get thousands of applications each year. But luckily, I got accepted!

In your job, you travel every 3 to 5 months for an assignment. What’s it like to move country that frequently for work, and what are the assignments like?

All the travelling has its’ ups and downs. Previously, I did an exchange in Sweden, an internship in the US and lived in Norway for 3 years, which I enjoyed very much, and it prepared me for what I do now. The good thing about this programme is that you get to see all the different international offices and, consequently, different cultures, ways of working, and colleagues. Additionally, in terms of personal development, you learn much from having to move this frequently. On the flipside, moving is always stressful and a hassle. The company does support you with moving but it’s still a lot of organising. Also, you are not able to really settle because you’ll only stay at one place for at most 5 months at a time. 

Nevertheless, the programme takes ‘only’ 20 months, and I saw this as my last possibility for such an experience – once you settle down and start a family, it’s not ideal anymore. The company facilitates the graduates really well when you want to work from elsewhere, so I regularly go back to the Netherlands to see my friends and family and work from the office in Rijswijk. 

My first assignment was in Luton, UK, at Innovation and Strategy of Hotels and Resorts, where I got two large projects. One was to compare our market capitalisation growth in certain destinations to the overall growth, to see whether we needed additional or fewer hotels in those locations. The other project was to create an idea on how to attract more customers for our family hotels during low season. Even though these projects are part of a programme, they get taken very seriously, which is very cool. You can even present them to higher management and if they get approved, they will actually also become part of the company’s strategy. 

What do you like most about your job?

My job changes every few months, but I can tell you what I like most about the programme and about the company. There is a big community of current participants and graduates who are very friendly, welcoming and up to do something fun. We also have an annual reunion weekend where we all come together in a city in Europe. Additionally, the graduate name opens many doors in the company. You can easily plan meetings with senior managers, and we get many extra trainings. 

TUI, then, has a very open and friendly culture where working remotely is never a problem. Because the company is so international, we often work in teams from all over the world. Therefore, if I want to work from home or from the Netherlands, that is always possible. 

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?

The most challenging aspects would be the complexity and diversity of the company. It is a merger of two major tourism companies in Germany and the UK and bought tourism companies in many other source markets, like Arkefly and Holland International in the Netherlands. Even though all companies now fall under the name TUI, they often retain their own culture and systems. Dealing with this in the programme is a big challenge, but it also makes it very interesting, because you get the opportunity to see all these different markets and work in them. 

How do you apply the knowledge and skills you gained during your studies in your job?

I did a BSc in International Business Administration and a MSc in Digital Business. For me in my job, the most valuables knowledge and skills gained during my studies are mostly teamwork, presenting and basic business knowledge. Every day I work on group projects, some of which I lead. The many projects at university definitely prepare you to some extend for projects in your work; being able to present a complex idea to others is extremely valuable in an organisation where you work with many stakeholders. Lastly, the basic business knowledge I gained during my studies helps when discussing various topics at work. It is not a must, as you can learn most of it at work as well, but it is definitely a big pre. 

What career advice would you give students and fellow alumni?

The best advice I could give is be open to new experiences and don’t be afraid to mess up. For me that is the best way to learn quickly. People are often afraid to make a mistake but that mostly holds someone back. Especially as a new employee, people do not expect you to know everything or to be able to do everything. Therefore, make use of that opportunity to learn, both knowledge-wise as well as skills-wise. 

We thank Sam for taking the time for this interview, and for answering our questions openly and with enthusiasm.

Any questions?

Sam is happy to answer any questions you may have. You can find him on LinkedIn. If you send him a connection request, include a small message.