Stories about: exellyst story

Podcast: Choose your own path: Laura’s journey of transitions and personal growth 24 September 2023

For this episode, we have a guest who’s very determined and won’t be pushed in a direction that she feels isn’t right. She’s not afraid to go back to the drawing board and start again, even if she’s already put a lot of time and effort into something. Laura Van Loon is a 25-year-old graduate who traded medicine for industrial engineering, and development for project management & support engineering. Her secret? A supportive environment and a coach who helps her navigate it all.

The challenges of being a Transformation Consultant 3 August 2023

At the latest Meeting of the Minds, our Business Tribe gave a presentation about ‘Agile transformation in a big company’. Which challenges does change hold, […]

Podcast: “It’s never too late to change your career” 23 July 2023

Our guest for this episode of Exellys Talks is an experienced professional from South Africa. She came to Belgium, went back to school, and is now working as a business manager at ING. Sindy de Jonge is an inspiration to women, people who aren’t 20 anymore, and everyone who doesn’t have Dutch as a first language. She’s living proof that you can do it if you believe in yourself. “It’s never too late to change your career,” she says.

“As women, we need to support each other and share our knowledge” 3 July 2023

Sindy is not your typical Exellyst. Her trajectory has been so unique and inspiring that we simply had to share it. She faced and overcame many challenges: from having a different nationality, speaking a different language, to being a woman in a male-dominated industry: she crushed all these hurdles in her own upbeat and enthusiastic fashion.

How 2 Exellysts got ownership of a sustainability project at HPE 12 June 2023

Exellysts Sien Van Broekhoven and Cedric Plouvier got to tackle a really cool sustainability project at their client, HPE. “We learned a lot from this project, and it was great that we got so much responsibility and autonomy,” Sien says. “Afterwards, we got to present our results to HPE Worldwide. Great for our visibility,” Cedric adds.

Podcast: “We tend to focus on hard skills, but in reality soft skills have more impact.” 29 May 2023

For this episode of our podcast Exellys Talks, we’ve invited Exellys alumna Svetlana Arutunyan. Svetlana is an expert by experience, since she has already completed her 2 year Start Smart programme at Exellys. Now, she has integrated at Belfius Bank where she’s working as a Functional Analyst.

From Communication Scientist to Software Developer 18 April 2023

Thomas Tielens is a communication scientist turned software developer. After Covid disrupted his career – which he wasn’t too bothered about to be honest – he decided to go in a different direction. He took a specialised course in .NET and joined Exellys in the summer of 2022. “When I saw all the promises Exellys made on their website, I was critical. But as it turns out, they really do all that stuff!” Read all about how happy Thomas is in his job now. “I really feel I found my place,” he says.

“I am living proof that the Exellys model really works” 30 January 2023

Tim Koster is living, breathing proof that the Exellys model works. Transitioning from the academic to the professional world is never easy, but he grabbed on to the training and coaching he got from Exellys, did the work and came out on top. That’s why we invited him for a chat about his Exellys journey so far.

How Gianni overcame his Imposter Syndrome 6 December 2022

Have you heard of Imposter Syndrome? Even if you’re not familiar with the term, chances are you’re familiar with the symptoms. Recent research shows that 65% of professionals suffer from Imposter Syndrome. Symptoms include doubting your abilities, feeling like a fraud and perceiving yourself as underqualified for your responsibilities.

How Sophie’s coach helped her thrive 31 October 2022

One of the major benefits of becoming an Exellyst, is the extensive coaching and mentoring you get from your Talent Development Manager (TDM). If there’s anything on your mind, your coach will give you advice. They won’t hold your hand, but they will guide and encourage you. This is how Sophie Lievens managed to turn her concerns into opportunities, and shape her work into a job she loves.

Video: How a Bio Engineer ended up as a Project Manager in Germany 3 October 2022

Meet Luigi, a 27 year-old Bio Engineering graduate and IT Project Manager. In this video, Luigi tells us all about his professional journey so far.

Log4Shell: Securing the Web of Interconnectedness (video) 26 September 2022

At the end of last year, the Log4Shell vulnerability detected in the Apache Log4j library made thousands of companies and security officers around the world grind their teeth in anxiousness. It was a huge problem, and it needed to be addressed immediately.

How Business Engineer Charles gets to pursue two careers at once 31 July 2022

Meet Charles Vanhaesebroucke. As an Exellyst, he combines the role of business analyst with the role of functional analyst at insurance company Nationale Nederlanden (NN) in the non-life insurance segment.

Why Jordi moved from Spain to join Exellys in Belgium 26 July 2022

Data Analyst Jordi recently completed his Start Smart Program at Exellys and successfully integrated at Atlas Copco. He applied at Exellys remotely from Spain in 2019, and even though we weren’t living in a Zoom and Teams society yet back then, everything went smoothly for him. Let’s have a closer look at his experiences from these last two years…

Beyond buzzwords: why A.I. isn’t always the best solution (video) 6 July 2022

Wim is an Exellyst working as a Business Analyst (in RPA & Data Science) at Umicore, and one of the people in charge of finding new and improved ways of managing repetitive administrative tasks such as logging worked hours. They need a better, more user-friendly tool than the one they currently use, which was around since before Wim was even born. So they got in touch with a scale-up launching a new time management tool and scheduled a meeting.

How Erik’s Master in A.I. landed him a job as a DevOps Engineer 21 June 2022

How does a psychology student end up as a DevOps Engineer? Actually, it’s not as far of a stretch as you might think. Erik Lokhorst told us all about this trajectory and his first experiences as an Exellyst.

Kubernetes: An introduction to high availability (video) 13 June 2022

Meet Jochen Wilms, Exellys almunus & Software Engineer at ProjectiveGroup company The Glue. During one of latest events, he took the stage to give a talk on Kubernetes, or k8s, in short.

Chasing a Data Career in London: Meet Daniëlle 7 June 2022

Meet Daniëlle Metz, one of our first hires in the Netherlands since Exellys opened a brand-new office in Amsterdam. She just finished a 3-month data traineeship in London that we organised together with DTSQUARED.

It’s a match! Kasper and Lise’s client integration journey (video) 31 May 2022

Kasper Belmans and Lise Willemsens have both been proud Exellysts since 2020 Kasper recently integrated at his client, Corona Direct and Lise is feeling right at home at Belfius Insurance. At one of our recent events, they gave a brief presentation about how they experienced their journey

Video: How Denny became a .NET Developer 15 April 2022

Meet Denny, AP Hogeschool graduate (Bachelor in Electronics/ICT) and currently a .NET Development Consultant at Ferranti. In 12 minutes Denny will take you through his entire Exellys experience, covering why he chose for Exellys, the selection procedure, the training and coaching and everything in between.

Test engineering: necessary evil or exciting opportunity? 29 March 2022

Software engineer Lars had some doubts about becoming a software tester. After all, testing software is not the same as developing it. He decided to give it a shot and found out that he gets to do a lot more software engineering than he thought. “I never imagined this job would be so diverse, so challenging and so interesting!”

How Tom became a Business Consultant 12 March 2022

Tom Casteelen was one of the very first consultants joining Exellys in the Netherlands. When he was finishing his Master’s, his plan was to start working for a major consultancy firm. But then he got a LinkedIn message from our Talent Scout Bonne van der Laan about an opportunity at HPE.

Video: From Business Engineering graduate to Functional Analyst – Meet Lise 22 February 2022

Meet Lise, as a recent graduate in Business Engineering she quickly found her way to Exellys. As a Functional Analyst at Belfius Insurance it’s her (and her team’s) job to translate the business needs into requirements developers can work with. She’ll walk you through the journey that started the moment she graduated.

How Louis became the Business Consultant he always aimed to be (Video) 15 June 2021

During the recent virtual graduation ceremony of his Exellys Start Smart class, Louis and his Talent Development manager Leslie Hemmerechts reflected on his experiences of the past two years and how he benefited from Exellys’ Start Smart Program.

Starting your career during a lockdown: Data Engineer Ine about remote interviews & new ways of working 6 May 2021

Ine Nauwelaerts discovered her passion for data science and data engineering during her master’s degree, and her enthusiasm about everything to do with data is […]

Technical Analyst Dries about communicating, self-development & life 21 April 2021

Meet Dries: Technical Analyst, sports enthusiast and music lover. He builds bridges between IT-professionals, clients and partners at Baloise.

How stepping out of your comfort zone can become an eye-opening experience 10 March 2021

Exellyst Katrien Meessens recently wrapped up her StreetwiZe expedition. During three days, the Exellysts are brought in contact with boys and girls aged 14 to 17 who are living in a closed community institution. The co-creation project enables the Exellysts to explore skills such as authentic leadership, compassion, engagement and empowerment in a unique way.

How my life changed after graduating in IT (VIDEO) 23 February 2021

In this interview, Software Engineer Jochen shared his journey from the moment he graduated as an IT student up until today. Some of the topics he discussed were his general career path, what he does and doesn’t miss from his student days, and the impact of Covid-19 on his day-to-day work.

How to raise concerns at work, even as a new kid on the block 27 September 2020

Exellys supports the graduates we place with our financial services clients, to fast-track their professional development, helping them become valuable assets to their organisations. We do this by giving them regular coaching sessions and tailor made training programmes that focus on the skills and awareness they need to excel at what they do.

What I wish someone had told me when I started working 27 September 2020

Jamie Collins, one of our UK Exellysts, says he joined us because he wanted a job that would allow him to work in his preferred field of project management, while receiving ongoing training, coaching and support to continue getting his qualifications. When he left university, he found the transition from student life to working life challenging, but with the support of his coach and the training he received from Exellys, he was able to learn a lot of insights that he wishes to share here.

My journey from Industrial Engineering graduate to Chapter Lead 5 August 2020

Meet Lore Donné! After graduating as an Industrial Engineer, she joined Exellys in September of 2018 as a Full Stack Developer. Here, she shared her two-year journey from Groep T graduate to Chapter Lead.

How Business Engineer Viktor became a BI Consultant 5 May 2020

Let us introduce to you, Viktor Van Beersel. A 25-year-old BI Consultant who calls himself a true social animal and values contact with other people more than anything else. That’s why he felt a spontaneous spark with both Exellys and Biztory, where clients and colleagues don’t bite but and are just an easy conversation partner.

From engineering student to technical consultant – Meet Casper 6 April 2020

Let’s meet Casper, a 22-year old who is really interested in traveling and exploring other cultures, he’s a great communicator and an awesome programmer. Coincidence or not, those three things are now part of his job as a Technical Consultant at Swift.

I spent over an hour dangling from a cliff, and this is what I learned about leadership 6 January 2020

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to join one of our Grow Smart kickoff weekends? Well, our digital growth marketeer Pieter Mijnendonckx recently found out first hand. He shared his key take aways right here… 

An Exellys Intern story: How a taste of ‘company life’ can make an impact 25 November 2019

Exellys matches the finest tech talent with ambitious companies. Not only for recent graduates and young professionals but students as well. This Summer, 8 motivated students completed an internship at our clients. We had a quick chat with Atsuki Kojima, an international student from Japan who completed an internship at e-commerce pioneer Veepee in Brussels.

How Hendrik became a traveling SAP Business Analyst 21 September 2019

Hendrik knew he wanted to do ‘something with IT and business’ after graduating. And possibly with lots of traveling because he wants to nourish his curiosity for other countries. He found his passion and felt an immediate connection with Umicore, who offered him a job as a world traveling SAP Business Analyst. A match that goes both ways!

Rutger: From computer science graduate to technical consultant 20 September 2019

They say first impressions are the most important. So, when Rutger discovered Exellys and everything we stand for, he kept in touch. Because he could not get us out of his mind, even after having committed to another job, he eventually ended up with us. And that’s where the love story continues. Meet one of our technical consultants who, honestly, always had a connection with us and wisely decided to make his move.

How Maxim became an IT system administrator 19 September 2019

In September 2017 Maxim started working at Melexis as an IT System Administrator and proud Exellyst. He made what he considers the best decision ever when choosing Exellys and kickstarted his career from day one with our Start Smart Programme. Today, (almost) 365 days later, he looks back on his experiences. Time for a chat!

Steven: From engineering student to front-end developer 18 September 2019

Surviving your final months as a student, graduating, finding a job that you like and still finding the time to have something that looks like a social life. Sounds challenging with only 24 hours in a day, right? And chances are you’re in a similar situation, or you will be sooner rather than later.

How Mara from Romania became a Full stack Java Developer in Belgium 17 September 2019

What if we were to offer you an international professional adventure? Would you hesitate? Mara seized the opportunity and relocated all the way from Romania to end up as one of our Exellys Consultants. Today she is very happy to be here and proud to call herself an Exellyst working as a Full stack Java Developer at ING Belgium.

Video: The unexpected career path of a bachelor in IT 29 June 2019

When it comes to a career, there’s no such thing as a straight line. Just ask Stijn, a bachelor in IT who joined Exellys as a Business Analyst a while ago.

How this Functional Analyst is working on the most innovative projects 3 June 2019

Let’s meet Giani-Luigi Driesen, curious to say the least and passionate about football and all things digital. He likes to learn, whether it’s about technology, biology or how people interact with each other. So diving into a major project at Belfius Insurance as a Functional Analyst proved to be an interesting and exciting first job experience.

How Maxim made it from Functional Analyst to Product Owner 13 May 2019

Maxim Van Aert is an ambitious Product Owner at ING. He is leading a team, making important changes within the company and is always able to take people in tow. His endless drive helps him to grow as a professional, while still being down-to-earth and always open to learn. Time for a chat with this people-oriented young professional.

Michiel flew all around the globe for a training week 10 December 2018

Wanna go into the wide world, ha? We get it. We’re all young. Most of us like discovering new cultures from time to time. That definitely goes for Michiel, Exellyst for 2 years and traveler at heart. He was able to mix business with the pleasure of exploring Shanghai thanks to Atlas Copco!

Man of steel: Where the steel industry and IT come together 6 September 2018

When you match an industrial engineer with an innate passion for oversized swords with an internationally renowned steel company like Arcelor Mittal… you just know you’re a winner! But how do the steel industry and IT come together?

How a 27 year old consultant ended up working from a beach in Mauritius 21 August 2018

Let’s be honest here, if you were to picture yourself in your next IT job, would there be any palm trees, sandy beaches and clear blue water in the frame?  The answer is probably no, unless you work for an awesome employer who sends you on a mission to a tropical island. That is exactly what happened to lucky bastard and Exellyst Arvid who spent 3,5 weeks in Mauritius on an assignment for BrightKnight!