23-08-2022
Inge Helderman has been working as a Senior HR consultant at Quintop HR Consultants since May 2022. A big change, since she worked at an engineering firm for eight years, as an HR manager among other things. Yet she made the switch to consultancy. We talked about this switch, about her image of consultancy and about her first months at Quintop: ”You really notice that Quintop wants the best for the client and are not afraid of tackling different issues”.
You are already working four months at Quintop! How have you liked it so far?
Good! Those first months fly by. The onboarding at Quintop is well organized – right on day one I had all my stuff and people took the time to welcome me. What I liked is that I didn’t start right away on a project in my first week. I used that time to get to know my Quintop colleagues and their projects. After all, the role of consultant is still very new to me.
Indeed, you did something completely different before this. Please explain
Before this I worked as an HR Manager at TWD, an Engineering firm in Rotterdam. During the time that I worked there it grew from a start-up to a scale-up company. Together with my three HR colleagues, I was responsible for all HR matters; from recruitment to personal development and from payroll to coaching technical managers. When I decided to leave TWD, I started thinking further and realized that I wanted to broaden my HR knowledge. A start-up/scale-up environment is familiar to me, so I focused on a larger company or consulting. During my job search it quickly became clear to me that the ambition to broaden my HR knowledge and skills could very well be done as a consultant, hence this choice.
There are many consultancy firms to work for. Why the choice for Quintop?
It was mainly because of the culture. That is very important to me. At Quintop we work hard, but we also laugh, have lunch together and we don’t skip the Friday afternoon drinks. During my job interviews I already noticed that there is a family-like culture where employees give each other their best. Moreover, there is a real investment in activities to get to know each other well. I was lucky that in my first month I was allowed to join the Quintop anniversary trip to Hvar (Croatia). Besides all the fun activities, the delicious food and the great weather, I really used this weekend to get to know my colleagues better. That family feeling was emphasized once again during that trip, which really suits me.
After one week you could start at a client, can you tell what you do
My first job on behalf of Quintop is for a large online retailer and web store. I am working on a compliance check and a risk inventory of different policies and processes. What I like is that now, compared to my previous job, I am much more focused on the content. Before, as an HR manager, I was busy with so many different HR matters at the same time, whereas now I can focus on a client and a project. I quite like it!
What is the first lesson you have learned in your new role?
Above all, you have to be proactive and curious in order to gather all the information you need. You can’t, and certainly not as a consultant, sit back and wait for all the information to come flooding in. I knew this in advance of course, but a proactive attitude is a must. I am a go-getter who likes to solve things as practically and workably as possible. And I think that is why consultancy and Quintop have suited me so well up to now.
What would you tell someone who is considering making the same move?
If you want to help different organizations with your knowledge and skills relatively quickly, but also want to learn a lot yourself, then you should definitely choose consultancy. Pick an environment that suits you. At Quintop, even though you work for clients, you also have really nice colleagues, so you belong to a company. You are not alone and can always call a colleague if you want to spar or need advice. Even though you are often at the client’s office, many Quintoppers can be found at Quintop at least once a week.
About Inge
Inge Helderman has been a Senior HR Consultant at Quintop since May 2022. She is described as a cheerful and curious hard worker who loves practical solutions. Before joining Quintop, she worked for 8 years at TWD (Engineering firm). Within this organization she held various positions, including HR Manager. Inge lives with her boyfriend and daughter in Dorst, a small village near Breda. Besides work and her family, she loves sports. You can regularly find her on her racing bike.
