Testimonial: Femke Davids

Two and a half years ago, Femke Davids came to Bechtle for the first time as a trainee. She has since progressed to the job of marketer. It’s about time we discussed Femke’s journey at Bechtle with her.

WHO IS FEMKE?

‘My name is Femke Davids, I’m 24 years old, and I’ve recently started living with my boyfriend Pieter in Achel. I’ve been working as a marketer at Bechtle since October 2020, but I was on a work placement here before that, from the end of February until June. If I include my work placement as well, I’ve now been working at Bechtle for 2.5 years.’.

‘When my work placement came to an end, I said that I wanted to start working for Bechtle. I had a dual work placement assignment, which meant that I did half of my work placement with the marketing team and the other half shadowing in the back office. In the back office, I mainly learned about administrative tasks while the main focus in the marketing team was on creativity. That was more my thing, so I applied for a position there. Due to changes in the marketing team as well as the COVID pandemic that was at its peak at the time, there were no immediate plans to take on anyone new. Once my work placement had finished, I started looking for a job, but many companies were looking for experienced people – I had come straight out of university. In September, I received a phone call from Bechtle saying that they could do with another person on the marketing team. I would mainly be performing administrative tasks under an interim contract, but this soon turned into a fixed contract and my set of tasks was also expanded. I now work as a full-time marketer focusing on campaign coordination.’

'Yes, but that is mainly due to the company’s new strategy. We were primarily known as a box mover a few years back, and Bechtle wanted to evolve as a company in order to become better known as a solution seller. That’s also why our campaigns have been tailored accordingly. We are now trying to communicate that message from Bechtle and to talk about what we can do and what you can contact us for.
Our marketing team is constantly working on getting that message across and to market these solutions appropriately.’

‘Yes, you are certainly given the chance to grow within Bechtle. When I started here, I had no ambition to grow. I always thought that if I felt at home somewhere, I would be satisfied. But I’ve now discovered that I’m more ambitious than I first thought. I want to gain more knowledge, among other things, and I was therefore extremely motivated to go on courses. When I told them at Bechtle that I wanted to do a postgraduate course in Digital Storytelling at PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, they did not hesitate for a second. They were immediately supportive, which only motivated me even more.
In the end, I had not only gained more knowledge after the course, but I had also grown as a person. I now have the confidence to do more and I don’t stay in the background as much as before. If I look at my growth process, I’ve evolved from a trainee to a marketing assistant and then to a marketer. If you tell Bechtle that you are interested in going in a certain direction, they will look at what is possible. That’s why I was able to grow towards the position of marketer and I was able to leave the administrative tasks behind. At Bechtle, you are given the opportunity to grow personally and professionally. The best thing is that they are okay with everything: it is fine if you want to stay in the position you are in now, but you are also encouraged if you have the ambition to grow.’

‘Managing social media continues to be my favourite task. Do you know what’s great about it? Many people don’t even know that it’s me who’s posting, but for me it’s something to be proud of. Ultimately, I’m the person who communicates on behalf of Bechtle to the outside world. Many people may not understand this, but for me this is one of the best things about my job. In addition, I create visuals and write copy, and it’s great to be able to work on creative tasks. It really motivates me. Focusing solely on social media channels 24/7 is a bit much, so I also work on employer branding, creating animation videos, supporting the team’s tasks, etc. I love the constant variety!’

‘I’m looking forward to working on our new campaigns in the new year. We’re trying a slightly different approach again, which is quite challenging. I’m sure that our marketing team will be able to create something wonderful. Furthermore, I’m more inclined to ascribe to the principle of “just seeing what the future brings” and I’m happy to just let it all unfold. I want to prove that I can do it, and what happens, happens. Everything always turns out alright in the end anyway.’

‘As soon as I walk into Bechtle, I feel right at home. Everyone can be who they want to be, which I think is extremely important. You are supported in the choices you make. This creates a fun and varied dynamism at Bechtle. I’m proud to be part of it. I also have a really great team, and I get on really well with everyone in my team. It is thanks to them, as well as my other colleagues that I enjoy coming to work every day. My colleagues and my relationship with them is what makes Bechtle unique for me!’