Have you just completed your master's degree or are you graduating soon? Are you burning with ambition and can’t wait to get to know new people and (work) processes? Are you excited to expand your knowledge and experience in a challenging first job? If you are as driven as Marco Verheuge, a Group Traineeship at bpost is the way to go! Marco is currently working through all the divisions and branches of bpost, and as a 'Group Trainee' has been ready to seize opportunities and take on many responsibilities. And judging by his enthusiasm, he’s already had a great time.

How has your career as a Group Trainee been so far, Marco? And what should we conclude?

Marco Verheuge: “The principle is that during two years, you do three 8-month projects within one of the three tracks: People, Data and Sales. I started with an ‘onboarding week’ during which I could see for myself how things work in practice. I did a mail round, went to help in a sorting office ... then I started on my first project.”

How are you guided during your project?

Marco: “What is nice is that you support each other. For example, there is a weekly Coffee Check-in where we discuss how we are feeling, and how things are going. These continue under the guidance of the Campus Manager and the Strategic HR Business Partner Support Units & Group Trainees. They look at what we are doing, but also ask what we want to do. And they push us to get the best out of ourselves. The trainees also form a great group of friends and have their own WhatsApp group. After four months there is an interim evaluation and after eight months you are assessed and given a raise. My first project was completed in May.”

What are you working on specifically?

Marco: “I’ve started a project on global consent management. It’s a system or process that lets customers decide which personal data they want to share with a company. The higher the level of consent, the more personalised communication they can receive. To make these higher levels attractive, we worked with a copywriter and my team to write them out as beautifully as possible in UX/UI.”

“Now I’m working on a project related to the medical questionnaire. We want to optimise the process so that a postman always completes his medical questionnaire before he starts work at bpost. We also have a project to get students in secondary schools interested in a job at bpost. At the moment, we are still trying to find out what is possible and what is not. So I’m in contact with the schools, the education ministry and so on. You really have to take the initiative.”

 

How do you start a Group Traineeship? And what are the main advantages?

Marco: “I saw a vacancy for a Group Traineeship and sent my CV and motivation letter. They called me up and a selection process followed. As soon as you are accepted as a Group Trainee, you have a lot of benefits. As I already mentioned, you receive very intensive coaching. You also meet a lot of people in a short period of time and are given a lot of responsibility. Moreover, you can follow a very wide range of training courses: storytelling, project manager, agile working, Excel ... and there are more to come!”

Finally, where do you see yourself ending up after your project?

Marco: “After my project I can apply internally for a job. My final assignment in the Group Trainee program will be something more pragmatic, for example in a sorting centre, to see what can be improved in practice. Only then will I be able to decide what I want to do.”

“I have other passions, football for example, but when I see how many opportunities I get here, I am absolutely convinced that I will find my way within bpost! Here, as a young person, you are immediately given responsibilities, and you also have the feeling that you are making an effective impact. And you can do so much in such a short time!

 

Marco (laughs): “I always say jokingly: either I become CEO of bpost or Minister of Sport. No, seriously: I am super ambitious. And at bpost you get lots of opportunities. It’s all about grabbing them and doing something with them.”