Ahmed Zaki – Mechanical Engineer

Ahmed Zaki about his experience at Vicoma

Ahmed has been part of the Vicoma family since May 1, 2022 and works as a Mechanical engineer at our office in Groningen. We spoke with Ahmed about his work and his findings after the first months. Ahmed is busy mastering the Dutch language and that is why we have conducted the interview in English for now.

Can you tell us a bit more about your role within Vicoma?

“At first it was not entirely clear what position I was invited for. We discussed a lot of positions, projects, and the used software within Vicoma. This all sounded very interesting, but it was not very specific, because there were multiple options. I joined the company and visited several departments. The more time I spent within the company, the more I came to understand that it is important to work on multidisciplinary projects. This way, you can be a more valuable asset to an engineering and consultancy firm as you will always be able to contribute to its growth through projects. I can see that our consultancy is moving more towards colleagues who can execute different tasks and not stick to a limited function, and it is good, as it keeps things interesting.

The fun thing about my job is that it’s very diverse. One moment you’re doing a stress calculation for pipes and the next moment you’re designing a skid. I notice that the assignments we used to turn down because of lack of hours, we now can accept because I am here. I love creating a network in the Netherlands, and going on-site, as this gives us more and more assignments.”

What can you tell us about your first months at Vicoma Ahmed?

“I think the most important thing is that Vicoma gives you interesting projects that are always challenging, which helps in expanding your horizons. The company’s culture, colleagues, and the opportunity to learn and grow are things that I enjoy at Vicoma. The company is supportive and the engineers are very skilled. Also, I would like to mention the Next-Gen initiative, Vicoma employees up to the age of 35. These are the people who are the future of the company. We share our experiences, discuss ideas and develop them and it’s great to share these ideas with our management to take action for more development and growth. We are also able to connect with our colleagues from the different branches on regular basis. It’s also fun that we have informal outings and events in NextGen where we can meet and get to know our colleagues better.”

What was your first impression about Vicoma?

“I came for the first interview with Menno van der Vaart, Department manager Mechanical, and Rutger Aalders, Regional director. It was a very nice interview. Initially, it was planned for one hour, but we ended up conversing for over an hour and a half. We were just enjoying the conversation so much. They told me a lot about Vicoma, the projects, and the way of working. Of course, I told them a lot about myself as well. There was a great connection. Directly after the interview, my thoughts were: I would love to work for a company with such managers. I could already feel their flexibility, and informal atmosphere, yet there was a serious work environment with a good vision for the company’s future. As in: let’s get the work done! It was a great combination for me. That first interview made me enthusiastic about coming for a second one and chatting with different engineers and managers to confirm my first impression. The best thing was: they all made me feel comfortable and welcome.”

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