Meet Raphael. A 40-year-old Brazilian who has left his home country with his wife and almost 3-year-old daughter. He decided to leave the warm weather behind and move to the rainy Netherlands to join De Mandemakers Groep as an experienced Pega developer. Raphael said: ‘’It was the biggest and most exciting step in my life to take’’.
‘’A great opportunity for me, my wife and my daughter’’
When I received a job offer from BPM Company to work for De Mandemakers Groep, my thoughts were overwhelmed. What should I do? Are we really going to make this big step? For me and my family it will be a totally different culture. After some research and doing a successful job interview, we decided to move to the Netherlands for our daughter as well. Our daughter would have a better and safer future in the Netherlands than in Brazil. There are a lot of problems in Brazil, such as corruption, other dangers and poor health insurance.
‘’The work is the same, only the subject is different’’
In Brazil, I worked in a similar organization for almost 15 years. First as a developer and after five years I switched to working with Pega. That is exactly the technology that I am currently also working with at De Mandemakers Groep. So actually I have been working with Pega since 2013, which is almost 10 years. In Brazil, I worked for a telecommunications company, not a company that makes and sells kitchens. So working in this branch is my first time haha. At first, I never heard of a kitchen company that works with Pega. It's unusual for me because usually banks, telecommunication, or insurance companies work with Pega. Anyway, the base is the same and the platform is the same, so that’s nice.
‘’No sandwich for me at lunch”
What surprised me the most, and at the same time was a challenge, are the lunches in the Netherlands. Everyone here eats cold food at lunch. In Brazil, we always had a warm lunch, like rice with beans. We also had an hour-long lunch break, where we had a nice dinner somewhere at a restaurant close to work. Not to mention... Dutch colleagues often go for a walk during lunch and eat their sandwich at the same time. The first time I really thought.... WHAT! I can't do that, just give me a hot lunch in the cafeteria.
Furthermore, it surprised me how nice and friendly the Dutch culture is. My wife and I thought it would be quite difficult for us to integrate here and get to know new people. But in the second week, our neighbors that live across the strees came by; they rang the doorbell and said: ‘’I saw that you are new here; it's good to make new friends, so if you like it we can stay in touch’’. It was really nice and kind of them. We made many new friends in the neighborhood and that really helped us integrate into Dutch culture.
‘’I would recommend it to others to make such a big step in your life’’
I certainly don't regret my move and am glad I ended up at BPM Company. It is a company where I am supported in my personal development, with interesting clients such as De Mandemakers Groep and they also helped me to make the transition to the Netherlands as easy as possible. In addition, I think De Mandemakers Groep is a really nice organization to work for. The people who work there are nice and helpful. The organization is very flexible, they understand my situation and have always helped and supported me during the move to the Netherlands.
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