Jan-Willem Feilzer
The first year of the traineeship is like being in a candy shop
Jan-Willem Feilzer doesn’t have a pure tech background but now knows for sure that his heart lies in tech. At ING he can do what he enjoys: making tangible products that add value for the customer.
When studying for his mathematics degree in Chicago, Jan-Willem took a minor in informatics. He immediately became more enthusiastic about Tech than mathematics, but thought it would be a shame not to continue with maths. Back in Amsterdam he did a master’s in business analytics at VU University.
“I did my internship at PwC. I got on so well with the company and the colleagues that after I graduated I carried on working there, as a data analytics consultant. I had no clearly defined career plan and that job was a good start. Eventually, however, I found that I was more interested in tech than data analytics and science. That became even clearer to me as my plans to do the Tech traineeship at ING took shape.”
In love
“As I don’t have a pure tech background and am still looking for the right career path, this traineeship is ideal. I can see a lot of different teams and types of work, learn a lot and find out where I fit in best. I didn’t look at other options, I just fell in love with what I saw at ING: a big, innovative tech firm, where you’re given a lot of freedom and can define your own path. The first year of the Tech traineeship is like being in a candy shop. I’ve already been able to see and learn so much related to the world of tech!”
Cross-platform
“I’m currently working in one of the feature teams for ING’s mobile investment app. In recent months I’ve been working mainly on the front end, but now I’m going to do more back-end work. I was keen to work on a mobile application, and a really great feature of this app is that we work on a cross-platform basis, with a single language for iOS and Android. What’s more, our team is fairly small and there is still a lot to do; the app’s ratings could be improved. I can make more impact here than with the mobile banking app, for example. A lot more colleagues are working on that and the app already has very high ratings.”
Making something tangible
“In this team I’m doing what I enjoy and that’s the most important thing. I’m immersed in technology, learning a lot from my colleagues and making something tangible. That really energises me. Customers can be using our features just a few days after we’ve coded them. We do everything with our own team from start to finish, have a lot of responsibility and decide jointly how we’re going to tackle things. That suits me perfectly.”
Interested?
Find out more about the Tech traineeship.
About Jan-Willem
Jan-Willem was born and raised in Amsterdam. His talent for tennis earned him a sport scholarship to study for four years in Chicago. His love of sport is as strong as ever. Jan-Willem plays tennis and football several times a week. Friends and family are important to him, so he devotes a lot of time to them alongside his work. Between his jobs at PwC and ING he travelled through Georgia, Korea and Japan.