Linda Gijzen

Linda started as a temporary employee in customer service in Leeuwarden, having just returned from a year in Australia. “I worked in customer service for about a year. It was a great learning experience, but I wanted more. That was possible in my current job, and I’ve already made good progress.”

“In Administration we deal with questions and requests from administrators and authorised representatives: people who handle banking affairs for customers who are no longer able to do so themselves, for whatever reason. That may be because they’re in debt, because they lack physical or mental capacity or, as is often the case with powers of attorney, because they’re older and need help with their financial matters.”

Extra tasks

“Working in Administration has enabled me to make good use of the knowledge and experience I gained in my year working in customer service. My initial time in Administration was a pretty steep learning curve, especially when I started to take on extra tasks after a while. For example, I’m now one of the traffic managers: I keep an eye on the workload and – to keep the waiting lists short for our customers – I make sure workflows are allocated to colleagues with the right skills. I’m also the go-to person if there are any problems in the system. I pass on process and system improvements that we’d like and I’m involved in the quality control of our department’s work.”

“It’s great that I was allowed to take on those extra tasks. That’s how it works here: if you make it clear that you’re willing and able to do more, it’s appreciated and also stimulated. It was the same with my Architecture degree. I started it two years ago, purely out of my own interest and because it’s something I want to continue to do in the future. It’s not at all related to my current job, but ING strongly encourages you to look outside your own bubble. The combination of working 32 hours and doing a degree is tough, but most of the time it makes me happy.”

Letting off steam and having fun

“Other things that make me happy are having a productive day in which I can tick lots of things off my to-do list, and also working in the office... I like having colleagues around me. The ING office in Leeuwarden is fairly small, with a relaxed atmosphere, and there’s a really diverse range of people working here. The youngest in my department is 20, the oldest 65, and it’s a nice mix of men and women from different backgrounds. We laugh a lot, let off steam and do things together outside work. We just had a trip to Ameland, for example, which was great fun.”