RealDolmen : Young and coveted, but faithful!

We asked five young people from the Java team who have been working for Realdolmen for a year. They all started as interns and stayed with us after completing the acADDemICT track. We talked with Cédric Debot, Ruben Walraevens, Valon Xhafa, Simon Pollé, Jef Anthonissen and David Hemmerijckx (Java internship coordinator), and they told us about the fact that they're in high demand, the importance of cafés and the usefulness of set goals.

First of all, what was your internship and your first acquaintance with Realdolmen like?

'All of us, except Cédric, were in the same group. Right away, there was a great vibe and we helped each other when necessary. All the material we needed was available, and we worked on our exercises freely, at our own pace. We could choose our own internship assignments (according to availability), and the exercises were clear and to the point. An internship supervisor came along about once a week to see how we were doing. We found that sufficient, because it helped us learn to manage our own time. The supervisors are always reachable, but because they were not with us 24/7, we first had to rely on ourselves. That gave a boost to our autonomy, because when we had a problem we first started looking for a solution instead of immediately calling for help. Posing the question is often the best way to find the solution.'

'Since we spent a lot of time at Realdolmen, we really got to know the company well during our internship. We were able to experience the corporate culture, and we learned a lot from other employees during a Java café, for example. That is an informal get-together for all Java colleagues, and the interns are also welcome. By walking around the company, you really get to experience the atmosphere and how people interact with each other. We noticed that everyone was approachable, including people who were not involved in our internship. We were treated as colleagues during our internship, something that is not always self-evident.'

Left to right: Jef, Ruben, Simon, Cédric, Valon