Over 60 first year VAPRO B and C students arrived at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen on Tuesday 29 August. This beautiful Campus has been designed as a place where young talent, courses and companies can come together and connect with each other. The new students were taken on an ‘operator’s’ world tour; an occupation they have chosen to study. It was refreshing to see four female students among those opting for this technical course.
The day commenced with an introduction by Sebastiaan de Reede of the Chemelot Career Center, who gave the students a glimpse behind the scenes of the Chemelot Industrial Park and the Brightlands Chemelot Campus, as well as setting out the range of career opportunities offered by our site. Frederic Allard and Marcel Vijgen, both operators at AnQor, demonstrated to the young entrants the nuts and bolts of the operator’s tasks. Frederic and Marcel had prepared a great presentation, setting out exactly what an operator does, the advantages and disadvantages of the job, but perhaps best of all, just how much fun an operator can have.
After 45 minutes, the group was split into two. One group explored the Chemelot site by bus and were given a tour of the impressive factories. Meanwhile the other group visited one of the organising companies’ factories. They could choose between the OCI Melamine factory, the DSM Stanyl factory or the AnQore Acrylnitril factory. After lunch the groups swapped over, allowing everyone to obtain an accurate and outstanding image of the Chemelot world.
Sebastiaan de Reede of the Chemelot Career Centre emphasises the importance of welcoming groups of students. “We all need to attract talent. Shortages, an ageing population, innovation; all are issues that make it challenging to find a sufficient number of good people. We’re constantly on the lookout for new talent, at all levels. We have to ensure we’re able to fulfil our future global requirements. In the coming ten years alone this will involve 3500 – 5000 jobs at Chemelot and Brightlands, so it’s a concerted effort all round to attract and keep good talent.”
