Start your career at Unilin: 3 colleagues went from student job to permanent contract

For many young professionals, a student job is the perfect stepping stone to a career. Marie Maes (25) started her adventure two years ago in a student job at Unilin Panels in a field that was relevant to her studies. "I worked there for a year as a student. I supported the brand team two to three days a week depending on my class schedule", she says. Her student job gave her the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in event organisation and digital marketing, which was a great match for her master's degree in marketing and finance.

Thibault Vandenbroucke (26) also started his career at Unilin as a student in a relevant field almost two years ago. "My job was to set up a spare parts warehouse on site and a corresponding computer system", Thibault explains. This job gave him the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge he gained in his industrial engineering degree programme in electromechanics and understand the operations of machines and production.

Umur Nalli (23) started as a Sales Assistant in Customer Service Belux at Unilin Flooring. "My main focus was system order entry", he says. After that student job, he seamlessly progressed to an internship and eventually a permanent position.

Why choose Unilin?

Unilin was a conscious choice for Marie, Thibault and Umur. "I was looking for a student job in marketing via Randstad Young Talents. I applied to lots of jobs, but I immediately clicked with Unilin", Marie said. The wide variety of tasks and the opportunity to test out different aspects of her marketing education really appealed to her. Thibault was looking for a technical student job that was easy to combine with his studies. "I got to know Unilin on a company visit to the Wielsbeke site a few years ago. I was very impressed with all the machines and knowledge."

Unilin also felt like a logical choice for Umur.

Growth and new challenges

After their student jobs, Marie, Thibault and Umur joined Unilin permanently. Marie's current job as a Marketing Coordinator is completely different, but the experience she gained on how to set up exhibition stands still comes in handy. "I focus a lot more on graphic design nowadays", Marie explains. She handles a lot of marketing aspects – from exhibition materials to press communications – and is now looking forward to upgrading the website.

Thibault applied for the job of Technical Lead when his supervisor moved to another position. "I didn't hesitate and applied for the job of Technical Lead", he says. Thanks to his student job, he already knew the job responsibilities and site operations. "Of course, I have a lot more responsibility and a wider range of duties now. I really like that variety."

Umur's career path has been quite smooth so far. "Because of my first student job at Unilin, I knew I wanted to do my internship at Unilin too. People introduced me to the WMS team, which is where I ended up", he says. After his internship, Umur got the chance to keep on working at Unilin as a student. Fully trained, he began working in September. "I feel that my ideas and actions are really having an effect", he adds, referring to his work on the automated packaging line.

Fancy starting your career with us as a student or intern in a part-time job that is relevant to your studies?

Check out your options at jobs.unilin.com