Providing career development opportunities for the team has always been crucial at PCN. Here, we firmly believe that by investing in our employees’ career growth, we can create a culture of continuous learning and development, which also leads to improved business outcomes. In this blog, Piril, Imo and Ivan share their personal journeys of how they joined the company and how they grew and improved their skills in their respective fields. They also discuss specific projects and accomplishments they feel proud of, and talk about how they progressed in their roles.
Could you tell us about how you joined PCN?
Piril: I started to work at PCN as a Marketing Analytics Intern. I was doing my master’s in Amsterdam back then. I was studying Business Administration with a specialization in Digital Marketing for my studies. So I had the opportunity to turn the theoretical knowledge I learned in university into practical hands-on experience during my internship. After realizing how much I learned within only six months, I wanted to increase the scope of work and joined the team as a full-time Digital Marketing Specialist after graduation.
Imo: I worked for about seven years in hospitality before going into recruitment. So I was working in restaurants, bars, etc. Actually, the role I did before joining PCN was at a cocktail bar in Amsterdam. But due to the pandemic, I was kind of pressured to look elsewhere. And so yeah, that’s sort of the background.
Ivan: My journey at PCN started six months ago when I joined as a Business Operations Intern. I joined just after completing my Masters and during the internship, I felt myself develop a lot professionally, but also personally. I really liked the people I was working with, the management style and also the culture of coaching and education. I was interested to stay on after my placement so I did the internal process to join the Graduate Program, which started in January. The Graduate Program is great because it gives you a more formal training approach towards recruitment where you’re learning lots of different skills, everything from effective communication to industry knowledge. It prepares you well not only for recruitment, but with lots of transferable skills that can be used in many areas.
Could you talk a little about your growth during your time at the company?
Piril: When I joined the company as a Marketing Analytics Intern, I was more involved in the technical and analytical side of things. In the meantime, I became curious about customer insights and how I use them in our marketing strategy. PCN allowed me to grow and improve my skills around the topics I’m interested in. I learned a lot of new digital marketing tools from scratch, like Hubspot, SEMrush, Sendinblue and Google Analytics. In a short time, I gained much knowledge about B2B and B2C markets by implementing creative marketing solutions and embracing a proactive business approach.
Imo: I came in as a Junior Recruiter with a little bit of experience within recruitment. So I knew a little bit but also was still a bit of a baby. Progressed pretty fast in the first year with two promotions and started focusing on the e-commerce side of things in the business. And I was really interested in speaking to people within marketing and HR as well. So I specialized in that kind of niche. And in the second year, I sort of built upon that which went really, really well, got promoted two times again, and therefore I’m now trying to share the knowledge that I have with the juniors, giving trainings. And the next step seems to be potentially managing a new team as well. So it’s going just all the way up!
Ivan: Growth was actively encouraged from the moment I walked into PCN. There is no micro-management culture here, but instead, there is a really good culture of peer learning, coaching and mentorship. So I felt myself constantly being encouraged and being helped grow at whatever I was doing. It was great to always feel myself move forward. So that was, and still is, a very attractive thing about being at PCN.
Could you discuss a specific project or accomplishment that you feel particularly proud of during your time at PCN?
Piril: Right after I completed my internship, we started to use a completely different CRM tool called Hubspot. Thanks to my fantastic team and their constant mentorship, I was able to use this complex tool in a very short time. Introducing this platform to our team accelerated our lead generation and efficiency. Only after a couple of months, I was capable of building the strategy and managing the structure of one of our quarterly marketing campaigns by myself.
Imo: I was working with one of the most upcoming crypto companies in Amsterdam and they were just a team of about 45 people and didn’t have a lot of people in the marketing team. I was working super closely with the team there and we were able to do around seven placements in three months, which was super, super fast and I was still quite junior at the time. So it was kind of a big accomplishment for me. And yeah, I was really proud of that!
Ivan: As an intern that was towards the business development side of things, where the company did not refine me to the role of intern. I was encouraged to hop on calls and set up meetings. From there, I managed to sign my first client as an intern and went on to make a successful placement with that company as a graduate recruiter. So, my first deal saw the cycle go from initial reach out, to signing the client, beginning the search and making a placement.
Looking back at all of it now, what has been your favorite memory for you?
Piril: To be honest, it isn’t easy to choose a specific one. I see the office as somewhere I collect memories every day. There is always something coming up that excites us, like mid-year parties, boat trips, lunch clubs, etc. But I will probably never forget the hot wings challenge we organized to celebrate King’s Day last year. You could easily tell that everyone was competitive and passionate, which ended up with most of my colleagues drinking milk while shedding tears.
Imo: My favorite memory was the incentive trip to Tignes in France, in the Alps. It was the first time after the pandemic that we could all travel as a team and just skip the work part, not talk about work, get to know each other, enjoy the Alps and just enjoy life there with the rest of the team. So that was definitely a highlight!
Ivan: Every week there are funny moments and a good atmosphere in the office, I think it is great because not only is it a workplace, but it’s also a social place. There are lots of fun times after work and during work. I do feel that your colleagues do definitely become your friends which I appreciate as well.
What’s your favorite thing about your job?
Piril: My favorite thing about working here is the people and the company culture. My managers showed me what kind of a manager I want to be one day. Feeling their constant support during my journey at PCN helped me find my way and discover what I wanted when at the beginning of my career. My favorite things about our working style are the flat hierarchy, no micromanagement, and the autonomy my team and our company provide me.
Imo: I think it’s the dynamics of things like one moment you’re speaking to someone in Brazil that is looking for a job in Amsterdam. The other moment you’re speaking to a bigger corporate client that is having challenges with their hiring needs and it just goes so fast. Like you have the ups, you have the lows. But I feel like that’s what kind of gives me the energy to go through it. So I love it!
Ivan: My favorite thing about working at PCN is the variety that the job brings. I feel like every day is different. Of course, some days are great. Some days are not so great. But that is life. The fast pace is something that keeps me constantly on my toes and I really enjoy that when it comes to work!
Interested in joining our team? We’re looking for enthusiastic people who love to learn and collaborate, and who want to grow with us. Check out our open vacancies here.
