Happy New Year!

It’s hard to believe, but 2014 is here. One year ago today I had just returned from a great trip to London, (check the score from the Arsenal vs. Newcastle game in December 2012 and you’ll see why), and I was heading back to my MBA, which would last 9 more months. Today I live in an odd limbo, waiting to see where and for who I’ll be working. I’m still hesitant to “get out there” and plant roots in the Hague since I might not be there in 3 months, and that’s a strange way to live. After 5 years of Universities and degrees I’m ready to get started and do something with myself, and I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen in the next 12 months and beyond.

You may have guessed then, that the biggest challenge I face today is to find a company to work for. I’m happy to say that I’ve made positive strides, but we’re still not quite there yet. Every rejection I receive adds fuel to my fire, motivating me to work harder and improve myself. I’ve begun studying two languages, (Spanish and PHP), and I pick up more Dutch every day. Instead of wallowing in the negative environment that unemployment creates, (very easy to do), I’ve tried to take it positively, spending time with the Dutch family I haven’t seen in 18 years, working out and running on the beach, learning to cook, (still terrible, apologies to all who have to suffer through it), and even getting back into recreational reading, something I haven’t had time for since my high school days. 

Still, I’d be a little bit more comfortable with the financial security provided by a full-time position, so that search takes up most of my time. I’m fortunate to have a fantastic family supporting me until I land on my feet, and I can’t thank them enough for their love and help. To my mother, father and two sisters – thank you. I know it hasn’t always been easy, but so far we’ve tackled everything life has thrown at us, and we’ve done it together.

To my IMBA family – I miss you all, and I hope you’re happy, healthy and safe, wherever you may be. Some of you have returned to your homelands, some of you are sticking it out in Holland, and some of you are exploring opportunities in  new countries – I wish you the best of luck.

To everyone else – stay safe and be good to each other. Wishing you and yours a very happy new year.

Harry Berendsen

PS – I’m not usually a very serious person, so I didn’t feel right in ending that post on such a somber note. Here’s one of my favorite videos from 2013. My favorite line comes at 3:41, so give it at least until there.

May Update

Well it’s been a bit since my last post, so I figured it was time to give a little update. There have been a few interesting transitions in my life since the last time I wrote anything here, in most of the big areas:

Thesis – My partner and I have signed the paperwork with the University and IBM, meaning it’s done and dusted. Our thesis will examine the financial and non-financial incentives in Smarter Cities projects, and we have begun exploratory research into collaborative models, stakeholder networks, incentive frameworks and exploratory interviews, amongst others. It’s still early, but it’s an absolute pleasure to focus in such an exciting area for my thesis – I feel genuinely lucky. I’ve mentioned before that I’m interested in a technology-related field, and it’s no coincidence that I end up with an IBM Smarter Cities project for my final thesis. If you don’t know much about these projects I highly encourage you to check out some videos, there’s plenty of material on the internet. Basically cities are using data to create societal advances in safety, comfort, environmental friendliness, efficiency and speed.

MBA – The program is over, sort of. The traditional lecture blocks are over and we’ve moved into our elective lectures, (I just finished my sustainability course last week with a presentation to Interface Flor, a company that seriously changed my perception of the carpet industry), and now we’re nearing our two remaining international modules, (China and South Africa for me), and a few remaining lectures. Then we focus solely on our final projects until graduation in September.

Arsenal – A huge win over Newcastle, (did I mention I saw my first live Arsenal game vs. Newcastle at the Emirates this season?), secured the fourth and final Champions League spot, pending a qualifier. It’s been a crazy year, with a dreadful beginning and an incredible finish – Arsenal finished with the best end-season form in the Premier League. The financial tide appears to be turning as sponsorships are renegotiated, (Emirates Airlines + Puma are the two big deals, with the Airline signed on but no formal agreement with Puma as of yet), providing the foundation for an aggressive approach in the transfer market. The annual war-chest rumors appear to be hovering between 70 and 100 million pounds, giving Arsene Wenger plenty to work with. Personally I think we need to reinvest into two, maybe 3 positions. I’d like to see a new starting striker, (Higuain and Jovetic have been linked, happy with both), a new defensive midfielder, (Gonalons and Capoue rumored, don’t know enough of either to make a comment), and potentially a new right back pending Sagna’s contract negotiations. With the right acquisitions I could see Arsenal making a strong push for silverware in 2013/2014, but a complacent and lazy summer could see the team stretch it’s luck a bit too far and lose out on the Champions League.

Job Search – Not much progress here. Projects, examinations and a wrist injury have kept me busy and unable to make serious advances in my search, but I’m beginning to feel a lean towards management traineeships. The cross-functional experience and (potentially) international setting combine to create a very attractive proposal for me, but I want to make sure the culture is a fit. I’m a long-term planner and I’m looking for an opportunity that extends past the short-term.

I’ll leave you with a quote I find worth remembering – “Work hard in silence, let your success do the talking.”

-Harry

March Update

In the midst of a heavily financial block at Nyenrode, (Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance, International Financial Markets and Supply Chain Optimization), I’m somehow finding the time to reflect on several topics.

Thesis – My final project is progressing smoothly, we partner and I narrowed down our research question this week. After 3 long months of exploratory research we have focused our project into the financial and collaborative models that can be used in Smarter Cities initiatives. As you may have read from several of my posts, I’m a slight geek, and I find Smart Cities to be absolutely fascinating – how can municipalities and local governments can use technology, data and innovation to create value and savings for their citizens. Our final project gives my partner, (a Romanian IT consultant), and myself the opportunity to combine our passions: technology and business. As I may or may not have written previously, finance is not my strongest or preferred business function, so a financial/collaborative thesis will be a major challenge for me – something I look forward to. I didn’t pick Nyenrode because I wanted an easy MBA, I picked Nyenrode because I wanted to push myself as far as I could to learn, grow, and better myself.

MBA – I have essentially two months of lecture left in my MBA program, and then the final 3 months are pure thesis. We are fortunate enough to have a few international trips on our agenda – I will be visiting both China and South Africa in the upcoming 2 months. We visited Brussels last week and spent a few days meeting the European Commission and several lobbyists. As we progress through the second half of the MBA, (already!), the pace is beginning to pick up again, and we’re facing a hectic April. Between lectures, Meet the CEO meetings, the thesis, our innovation projects, presentations and staying on top of the job search, I can guarantee April will be a busy month. But like I said above, Nyenrode isn’t supposed to be easy. And frankly, I wouldn’t want it to be.

Career – The career search has taken a surprising upturn, with several positive discussions. While I’ve made very little progress toward a tangible result, I’ve continued to move forward in identifying companies that would match my interests and passions. Updates to my LinkedIn and Twitter pages have kept me busy on the electronic side, and I’ve also ordered and received my first set of business cards. I will continue to search for the industries, functions, companies and colleagues that I find interesting and appealing – the next steps will include establishing decision criteria, narrowing my list and contacting the firms to begin establishing relationships.

Personal – I’m still finding the time to enjoy my hobbies and passions, thankfully:

• There are a decent number of IMBA’s who participate in some form of routine exercise, from the weekly football game, (soccer to those of you wondering), to near-daily weight lifting to occasional basketball games, so I always have someone to workout with.
• I’ve found a few games on my Mac that I can enjoy in small increments, (Nyenrode is too busy for any sustained sessions), most notably FTL – a phenomenal indie space exploration/combat game, selling now for $5.
• I’m still watching every Arsenal game, (predicting Chelsea/Tottenham collapses to find Arsenal finish in 3rd, Chelsea in 4th), and I’ve become quite addicted to season 3 of The Walking Dead.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to Skype friends or relatives very often, as the time differences combined with my busy and unpredictable schedule make it nearly impossible – hopefully my time will be a bit more flexible after the transition from lectures to thesis. My final update is that I’ve begun searching for apartments in the Hague, Utrecht, and Rotterdam – possibly for summer, possibly for post-MBA.

Until next time,

Harry Berendsen

Summer Internship Update

It’s been a few months since I last posted, so here’s a quick update.

I spent the first 7 weeks of summer working at an e-commerce firm in Andover, Massachusetts. I worked with 4 other marketing interns, primarily focusing on leveraging social media as a marketing medium. We had a surprisingly substantial budget, and I learned a lot about google advertising, cost per click, pay per click, conversion rates, advertising on Bing, and advertising on Twitter and StumbleUpon. We built a facebook page for our company, taking the fan page to 3,000 fans in the 7 weeks. We increased sales, traffic, click through rates, and several other metrics by huge amounts, between 400 and 700% each. We operated as a trial run for several different approaches to social media marketing, so that the marketing department for our parent company had a basic guideline of what could work for them. I had a difficult time personally but I had an amazing time professionally. I learned an incredible amount, earned some serious real-world experience, and achieved a few things that I’m quite proud to write on my resume.

Currently, I’m back to working at my local amusement/water park. I work long grueling summers, but I’m glad to be doing something with my time. It’s weird to head back to a place I spent 3 summers at. The days are long and I work hard, but I only have 3 more days.

Today is the 11th, and I leave on the 16th for the Netherlands, where I will be working for Crocs, the shoe company. I’m very excited to be going back to the country I was born in. I’ll be spending a month there, the longest amount of time I’ve spent in Holland since I left at age 5. I’ll hopefully post an update when I return.

Netherlands Antilles is no longer an official country

Netherlands Antilles ceases to exist as a country