Jeroen Zuidberg | Faces of FEB

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The Faculty of Economics and Business is a faculty with a great diversity of people who all have an impact, big or small, on science and society. But who are these people? Within ‘Faces of FEB’ we connect with different students, staff members and researchers of the faculty and give a little peek into their world. This week: Jeroen Zuidberg, member of FEB Career Services' student team.

1. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Very nice that you are reading this at the moment! I am Jeroen Zuidberg, I am 23 years old and originally I come from a small village in Friesland called Oldetrijne. I have lived in Groningen since 2016 and started that year with my bachelor in International Business. Currently, I study the MSc BA Strategic Innovation Management. I am a very passionate person and try to show this throughout my whole life in conversations and by inspiring others. I like to make memories and be adventurous. This can be on my own, however, I am an extremely social person and I love to create these memories with others. Furthermore, I engage a lot in sports, I like to longboard, I listen to Drum and Bass and my life motto is #justdostuff. This stands for saying yes to new opportunities for the best possible outcome.

2. Last year you were EBF’s career officer, now you are a member of FEB Career Services’ student team. You have been helping fellow students with their career preparation while you are still a student yourself. How do you feel about that?

Awesome! If I have to say it in one word. Eventually, I have been helping and supporting students to find their future path. I am very happy that I could and can be part of that with both positions. As the EBF Career Officer, I had the opportunity to find ways to help students and also develop myself at the same time. I have created the EBF Skillsday together with my board and we definitely helped students tremendously by organising future focussed events. Now, as a member of the student team of the FEB Career Services, I can work and develop myself to become better at what I am doing and at the same time work on my passion to help and inspire others. Currently, I try to innovate and find new ways to reach the students, I give workshops on CV preparation and even more is coming!

The next part of the question, while still being a student, is a tricky one. One way to look at it is that a person could think: ‘How can you help with career preparation? You are a student and do not have a career’. However, I see it differently. As a student, I am firstly very close to the students of FEB. I interact with them, work with them and know what they are thinking about. Secondly, helping people with their career preparation does not mean that you need to have great career experience yourself. It is ALL about listening, understanding and asking the right questions. The student already knows what they like, what energises them, where their passions lie. It is already inside themselves, however, it needs to get out and I guide them with that. I listen to students, even to my friends, about their desires and guide them towards their own direction. Therefore, helping and supporting the students to find their own way and I feel great about it!

3. And in the meantime, you are building your own CV and developing yourself as a career advisor. Are your ambitions in this direction?

Yes! A great motivator for me is to support and inspire others to find their way forward. Hence, with this perspective as a member of the student team, but also my own ambition to give workshops on personal development, this takes me in a great direction. Until now, this ‘side job’ has been a great mix between working and developing myself. Furthermore, another ambition of mine is to engage more in public speaking. With that in mind, I can practice and improve my public speaking and standing in front of people substantially. I love to take people into a story and to interact with the audience. Hence, if you have a nice event where I can practice more and can help you with moderating or speaking in front of an audience. Please let me know!

4. Could you tell us and your fellow students why you think it is so important to start with career preparation while you are studying?

You cannot start early enough with thinking and engaging in career preparation. Time flies by very fast and it is good to start thinking about your path at an early stage in your studies. Ideally in your first year already! Eventually, it is not solely career preparation, it is life development. You have to find your own path, and to find your own path, you need to know yourself. Hence, it all starts with getting to know yourself better. You do this your entire life, however, it is really important to consciously think about where your passions, talents and qualifications lie. Therefore, start with thinking about yourself at an early stage and the career preparation will come with it. My start was joining a committee at EBF Groningen and this started my career preparation in my second year of my bachelor. Seek for yourself where you want to start. Join this committee, engage in this workshop, start thinking about yourself.

5. What’s the best advice you could give to students who don’t have any idea yet about their future career?

Start thinking about yourself. This sounds very broad, however, the first step is to see where your passion, talents and qualities lie. The funny thing is, this is not difficult! Start thinking about where you get energy from. Do you get energy from socializing, practicing a certain sport or working? When I started with this, I felt that I got a lot of energy from helping other people, in any form. See where I am now, literally helping students to find their passion. That is where I get energy from. So ask yourself the question: Where do I get energy from?

6. Where do you see yourself working in about 5 years?

I will help and inspire others by public speaking at events, give workshops to groups and individuals and guide people to find their own passion. This can either be in an international or national environment. Hence, if you want to, you can find me everywhere. A goal of mine: Give a TED talk. You are invited!