Career Direction

Where I Am Headed and Why

Not a wish list. A considered direction based on what I know about myself after this year, and how my portfolio shows I am developing toward it.

Career Statement

My professional direction

I am currently applying for roles in change management, consulting and project management, with a specific interest in the implementation of IT systems and AI solutions into organisations. What draws me to this space is not the technology itself, but what the technology triggers in people. AI adoption brings a different kind of resistance than most change management topics, and the gap between what a system can do and what an organisation is willing to let it do is exactly where structured change management becomes the difference between success and expensive failure.

My internship at AIQOS confirmed this direction. I saw first-hand that clients often expect the implementation partner to carry the change work, when in reality the change has to come from within the organisation. Bridging that expectation gap and building the internal capacity to carry the change forward after the consultants leave is the work I want to do.

I have no fixed sector preference. What I found at AIQOS, working across industries and clients simultaneously, is that variety accelerates learning faster than depth in one sector alone. I want to keep that model: a consulting environment where every client is a new context and where I can build a network across sectors rather than inside just one.

"I am not looking for the perfect sector. I am looking for the kind of work where the human side of change is treated as the real problem, not a footnote to the technical one."

Work Environment

Where I do my best work

Based on what this year taught me about my own patterns, not on what sounds good in an interview.

I thrive when

  • The people I work with give me energy. I pick up on the atmosphere in a team quickly and it affects how I perform.
  • Expectations are clear. Uncertainty does not make me more creative. It makes me inactive, and I have learned to be honest about that.
  • My manager trusts me to deliver without standing over my shoulder. Autonomy is not a perk for me. It is the condition under which I actually work well.
  • Feedback is direct and honest. A manager who tells me I am wrong when I am wrong is more valuable to me than one who manages my feelings.
  • I can take on real responsibility early. I do not develop well in roles where I have to earn the right to matter.

I am less effective when

  • Tasks are vague and direction keeps shifting. I have seen this cost me momentum and I now flag it early rather than waiting it out.
  • The team dynamic is flat or political. I cannot perform when the energy in a room is managed rather than genuine.
  • The company is so large that individual contribution becomes invisible. I want to work somewhere my output is seen and attributed.
  • My enthusiasm is read as inexperience. I am working on calibrating my energy to context, but I need an environment that can tell the difference.
On company size The size of the company matters less to me than the culture inside it. What I am looking for is personal attention and genuine investment in my development. A smaller company or a firm with a family feel, where colleagues actually know what I am working on and care how it is going, is more valuable to me than a prestigious name on a large org chart where I am one of fifty graduates.
Target Roles

The roles I am actively pursuing

I am not anchored to a single job title. These three profiles describe the types of role that match what I can offer now and where I want to develop next.

Change Consultant at an IT Implementation Firm

Consulting · Multi-sector · International · Client-facing
Closest fit

What attracts me

  • Direct exposure to the human side of ERP and AI implementations across industries
  • Client variety means I am never stuck in one sector or one way of thinking
  • Change management embedded inside the implementation, not bolted on at the end
  • International environment that builds my network across companies and sectors simultaneously
How my portfolio shows fit My AIQOS thesis research on sense-giving and resistance during enterprise system implementations is direct evidence. I did not just study the topic. I built a usable framework from it and presented it to practitioners. See Evidence 6.

What this role requires

  • Structured change management methodology and stakeholder communication
  • Comfort operating across sectors without deep domain expertise in any single one
  • Translating technical work into human terms for end users who did not ask for the change
  • Managing client expectations when scope shifts or timelines compress
Gap I am still closing Saying no to a client when their expectations exceed the agreed scope is genuinely difficult for me. My recruitment experience gave me a version of this practice, but the client relationship in consulting carries higher stakes. I am actively working on holding boundaries without damaging trust.

Junior Change Manager at an Organisation in Digital Transformation

Internal role · Mid-size company · Project-based
Strong interest

What attracts me

  • Being on the inside of a real transformation rather than parachuting in as an external party
  • Longer relationships with the same people, which plays directly to my strength as a connector
  • Ownership of a change process from start to finish, not just one phase of it
  • Learning how AI and IT adoption is managed internally before advising others externally
How my portfolio shows fit My work as a recruiter at a start-up shows I can operate autonomously inside a company that is building its processes as it goes. I improved the system, not just performed within it. See Evidence 5.

What this role requires

  • Navigating internal politics and competing priorities without formal authority
  • Sustained stakeholder engagement over months, not just project kick-offs
  • Translating strategic decisions into practical behaviour change for frontline staff
  • Knowing when to push and when to listen in senior meetings
Gap I am still closing Reading between the lines in professional interactions is something I am actively developing. High energy gets me into rooms. What keeps me there is knowing when to bring it down and let the other person lead. I do not always get that calibration right yet.

Project Manager at a Consulting or Technology Firm

Consulting or in-house · Structured delivery · Multi-stakeholder
Parallel path

What attracts me

  • Clear structure and defined deliverables suit the way I work best
  • Project management in a technology or consulting context keeps me close to the change space
  • A credible path toward change management as I build delivery experience with real clients
  • The role rewards the connector skill I already have: making sure the right people talk to each other at the right time
How my portfolio shows fit Hosting the Veranderen voor de Toekomst congress required exactly what project management demands: coordinating multiple moving parts, reading the room, and keeping things on track without controlling every detail. See Evidence 5.

What this role requires

  • Structured planning and milestone management under time pressure
  • Keeping multiple stakeholders aligned when their priorities conflict
  • Flagging risk early rather than absorbing it quietly
  • Delivering outcomes in environments where not everything is under your direct control
Gap I am still closing Formal project management methodology is something I have practised but not yet certified in. I plan to pursue a recognised qualification after graduating to make this concrete rather than assumed.
Next Steps

What I am doing about the gaps

Now, graduating

Practise scope and boundary conversations

Deliberately putting myself in situations where I have to hold a position under pressure and say no without damaging the relationship. The recruitment experience is the foundation. The next step is applying it in higher-stakes professional conversations.

Short term

Pursue a project management qualification

PRINCE2 or a comparable framework. Not because I lack the instinct for project delivery, but because formalising it gives me a shared language with the clients and colleagues I want to work alongside.

Ongoing

Calibrate energy to context

The feedback I received this year about reading the room is something I take seriously. My goal is not to become someone with less energy, but someone who knows exactly when to use it and when to step back. I am building that through deliberate practice in professional settings, not just reflection.

Medium term

Build expertise in AI adoption and change

The AIQOS research is a starting point, not an endpoint. I want to develop a genuinely expert perspective on why AI change initiatives fail and what structured change management looks like when the resistance is different in kind, not just in degree.