Working at Convergence

Could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Jens, I’m 22 years old and I’m from Enschede. I’m currently in my third year of studying chemical engineering at Saxion. In my first year of studying I was introduced to Convergence by a fourthyear student who worked there and I’ve been working here ever since, so almost three years now.

What kind of company is Convergence?

That’s a pretty difficult question, since you could ask it to so many different employees and will receive just as many different answers. Convergence is a company to which you can go when you have a problem regarding membrane technology and want a mini pilot to test it out. It’s really customer oriented and makes machines to test membranes based on the specific demands and questions of the customer. It’s also a really unique company, probably because it’s a spin-off company from the university.

What does the function Assembly Assistant mean?

As an assembly assistant (AA) you have two main tasks:

Like the name already suggests, assisting with assembly: you help assembling systems for customers. There are a couple of systems that are completely built by AA’s. Since I’m the only AA that has worked here continuously for the past three years, all of these first go by me to check. As an AA you can also assist in the workshop, where you mainly get to work with your hands.

Usually AA’s also have to do small tasks like sweeping the floor, unloading the dishwasher etc. especially when you first start working here. You quickly get to prove yourself by working with your hands though, so if you do well, you can easily get bigger responsibilities. systems, which you will also learn from. Moreover, you’re given a lot of freedom to find solutions for things you may encounter during the work you’re given here.

What I like a bit less is the documentation, since our documentation will be used all over the world, the rules for documentation are pretty strict.

What were your expectations when you first started working here?

I didn’t really have any expectations, to be honest. I always liked working with my hands when I was younger, so I thought I’d try it out as a job. In my time here I’ve made a lot of different instructions on how to assemble certain machines and I got more responsibilities within the company pretty quickly. It started out a bit chaotically, but this has gotten a lot better over time.

How would you describe the work environment?

The work environment is really nice in general. There’s always music being played on the work floor and you can even listen to your own music, if you want. All of my colleagues are nice and each Friday afternoon we have a drink with beer and frikandellen. On Wednesdays we often eat fries with everyone and people bring treats and desserts from home. There’s also room for jokes. Before Covid-19 there used to be employee parties, trips and Christmas drinks etc. which were organised really well, since there’s even a committee to organise these kinds of activities.

What are some of the things that you really like, and maybe like a bit less, about this job?

I really like working with my hands, so that’s a big pro for me. You need some spatial awareness to properly assemble

What is the learning curve like at this job?

In the beginning you have to learn a lot of things pretty quickly, but after a while the curve gets a lot less steep. You do this by joining a more experienced worker on the job and learning things from them that way.

It’s possible to start working here pretty early; there’s even someone that started working here when they were only 17 years old. Convergence believes that it is good to have students working at the work floor in order for them to start gaining relevant experience earlier, since there’s a lot to learn here.

could use some new colleagues.”

Do you have any advice for our readers?

If you think you might like something as a job, just apply and see where you end up. You shouldn’t worry too much and should just try it. I ended up working here myself by just asking about it when I was interested. We have a one month trial period here, so if it turns out you don’t like it, you can always still leave then. So why wouldn’t you try to apply?