Case – Daniela van Meggelen & Extendas

At TalentIT Twente, we go for the perfect IT match. Discover the story of Interaction Technology student Daniela and Extendas. Daniela van Meggelen (23 years old) is from Rijssen and came to Enschede to study Creative Technology at the University of Twente. She has completed her bachelor’s degree and is currently pursuing the master’s degree in Interaction Technology. Additionally, she found a job through TalentIT Twente last summer. She works as a software designer at Extendas in Enschede, a company that deals with software for the fuel market. 

'TalentIT Twente immediately felt personal and informal'

Daniela, first of all, congratulations on your job! How do you look back on your collaboration with TalentIT Twente?
‘Thank you! Very good. I got to know TalentIT Twente through my study association and the contact was immediately informal and personal. Right after the lecture I had a pleasant conversation with one of their matchmakers. I mentioned that I didn’t really know how to approach the job search. Even now that I’ve found work, they regularly check in to see how things are going.’

What were you looking for in a job and at a company?
‘First of all, of course, I was looking for a nice place to apply my desig skills and broaden my ICT knowledge, but definitely also a place to further discover what the right fit is for me. I am expressive and informal, so I was also looking for a workplace that fits in with that. A place that is certainly not too formal or hierarchical, because that’s something I don’t like.

Image for illustrative purposes

Sounds like the match was successful?
‘On most levels, yes. Only on one point not quite yet, because of course the fuel industry can still be a bit more sustainable, which is also important to me. However, the freedom and learning opportunities I get are very great. I am the only designer within the company, but I also get the chance to learn front-end programming.’

'They check in regularly to see how I'm doing'

TalentIT Twente puts a lot of emphasis on personal questions in such a matching process. How did that go for you?
‘They asked what I was good at, liked to do and wanted to learn. Sounds simple, but those questions were very important. So: a job as a software designer with a technical extension, at a small and informal company. And it was also about the fact that my studies are quite broad, therefore, it is difficult to know exactly what you want. They’ve helped with that very well. After the match, I took over the process myself and have now been working at Extendas for six months with great pleasure’

Curious about our other success stories? Discover ours here!

This article previously appeared as part of the 12th edition of INN-Twente.