National Water Traineeship

Since april 2024 I am a trainee at the National Water Traineeship. Together with other trainees, we get the opportunity to discover the water sector in the broadest sense of the word. From sewage companies to nature management organizations and from the drinking water industry to governmental parties; the whole professional water sector will be explored. The National Water Traineeship provides a program that consists of varying parts:

• 4 projects at 4 different organizations
• Professional development training
• Personal coaching sessions
• Varying other opportunities to discover the water-sector

During these 2 years we will do 4 projects at 4 different organizations within the watersector. These projects are executed by a small group of trainees and 1 project leader who is also a trainee. The project leader develops a projectplan in consultation with a colleague from his/her organization or company. The projects I execute during this period can be found below:

As mentioned before, the program of the traineeship is not only focused on learning by doing (a project), but also provides development trainings and personal coaching sessions. The main goal of these trainings and sessions is to get to know myself in a better way and to give a boost to my professional set of skills. Some examples of trainings are: communicating in a professional way, connecting with others, effective collaboration, difficult conversations and influencing dynamics within collaborations. These trainings, together with personal coaching sessions about my own experiences at my own job, are meant to give a boost at the start of my professional career.

Last but not least, this traineeship is also a great networking-opportunity within the water sector. There are more than 70 organizations and companies connected to the National Water Traineeship and all of my fellow trainees work at different places all around the Netherlands. For me, this is not only serious. Personally, I think that networking is also a lot of fun. and it is great to get to know many people with different backgrounds.

And…

We also have a lot of fun!