Tom Schipper

“My first course in Business Administration at the University of Groningen was not practical enough for me. My vocational bachelor's degree in Business Economics was, but I also realised that you need more capabilities to be competitive in the job market. An IT traineeship was a good way to complement my skills. Then things moved fast: I found my dream job. And after four years I’m still very happy at ING.”

“I started as a junior Business Analyst in Accounting for Wholesale Banking Finance. At the time I had no idea what that precisely entailed, but I had the luxury of having an experienced colleague who could teach me the tricks of the trade and give me context. Then everything fell quickly into place.”

Bite-sized debits and credits

“Our department receives flat data sets from the back office, and all those figures have to be translated into journal entries: bite-sized debits and credits for accounting. We make sure our colleagues in finance can immediately start working with the figures and they can be sure that everything is correct. Even if we introduce new products or change accounting standards, for example, we adapt the processes accordingly.”

Away for an STA

“That’s my job as a Business Analyst, but I’m also a Product Owner. In that role I’m a co-working foreman, as I like focusing on the substance of the job. After just over a year I was already asked to become the Product Owner of my current team. I take a view and quickly see how things could be done more efficiently. After that I was away for a year, on a short-term assignment (STA) as a Functional Developer. It was good to do something different, to contribute knowledge but to learn a lot at the same time.”

International team

“My old department still attracted me, though, and since March 2022 I’ve been a Product Owner there again, this time in an international team with developers. It's a lot of fun working with people from different cultures – my colleagues are in Amsterdam and India – and working on the existing applications that we’re constantly improving.”

Slightly too comfortable

“Although this is a great place for me, I’ll soon be doing something different again. I’m going to be a Product Owner in a team developing a new accounting rules engine. I’m taking this step to keep challenging myself. I’m very comfortable where I am now, but a bit too comfortable for my liking. I want to develop further.”

No longer a loner

“It's great that I get that freedom. In fact, that has always been my experience at ING. You have to work within frameworks, of course, but there’s plenty of scope to express your ideas and opinions, even if you’re still very young. Accounting is getting younger and younger, by the way, with a whole bunch of young people coming in. At the beginning I sometimes felt like a loner, but not any longer. That just makes working here more fun!”