Philips Trainee Patrick Inen

When Patrick Inen (25) graduated with a Masters degree in Business Administration from VU University Amsterdam, in July 2011, Philips was already on his hit list. Being Dutch, he knew Philips as one of the country’s leading and most innovative consumer product companies. He had also met someone who worked for Philips while he was on holiday in Turkey and he genuinely liked what he heard about the company. “I knew that most big companies offered traineeships for graduates, so I visited the Philips website and applied for one of their Sales Trainee assignments,” says Patrick. “After my application was accepted, I was interviewed by a Philips recruiter and offered a place on Philips’ Traineeship Business Challenge 2011. It was a 2-day challenge during which you do a whole range of simulated business exercises based around the integration of a newly-acquired company into the Philips organization. Although it was a tough and intensive selection process, I immediately felt at home with Philips, because I knew that the company fitted my personality and ambitions.”

Meaningful solutions

He impressed the company’s recruiters and managers so much that he soon found himself starting his traineeship in the sales department of Philips Lighting, where he was offered the challenge of convincing small to medium sized retail outlets in the Netherlands to consider converting their display lighting from conventional lighting to energy-efficient LED-based lighting - a really practical meaningful task rather than an academic exercise. “After giving me several weeks of intensive training about LED lighting and its advantages, they basically gave me a car and a list of around 200 retail outlets in the Netherlands and told me to go and talk to people,” he says. “Having direct contact with these end-users was a really good experience, not only for understanding what the market needs but also learning how to interact with customers effectively.”

With that experience under his belt and a lot of positive feedback from customers, Patrick quickly found himself being given even greater responsibility. During the second half of the project, he is now talking to large institutions such as schools, hospitals and care homes about how they can meaningfully improve their lighting for the benefit of the individuals who use them.

Real control

Patrick’s first project at Philips was assigned to him. However, when it comes to defining his next project, which will begin in July 2012, he will be very much in the driving seat of deciding what and where it is. “A really good thing about Philips traineeships is being responsible for defining new assignments that can either be carried out locally or internationally, which means that you have to contact the relevant managers to see if they are interested,” he says. “I have already decided that my next project will be in North America or Asia, and probably either with Philips Healthcare or Philips Consumer Lifestyle so that I can broaden my experience.”

Exceeding expectations

For Patrick, being in control is what makes the real difference. “The two things I really like about my traineeship at Philips are that I was given real challenges and real responsibility right from the start and that I was also given the freedom to experiment with new ideas and define my own career path. Plus the fact that Philips is large enough to offer me the range of opportunities I am looking for. So far, it’s been much better than I expected.”

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