Patrick, 25 years ago you chose to work at Bilfinger. What appealed to you?

“I met someone working at Bilfinger who spoke enthusiastically about the organization, it felt positive right away. I had come from a specialist consultancy company specifically for acoustics and I got the feeling that Bilfinger was much more broadly oriented. The organization has a large Consultancy team and the link with engineering really appealed to me, so I decided to apply.

During the application process, I noticed that Bilfinger is open to entrepreneurship from employees. This is something that I personally value a lot. I indicated that I wanted to set up a team of acoustic consultants and that was possible. I was immediately taken seriously and I still feel that way. I noticed that the organization values personal initiative and offers the trust to get to work on this. My drive to continue developing not only myself but also the organization fits in well with Bilfinger.”

What does your career path within Bilfinger look like?

“I started as an acoustic consultant 25 years ago. After three years, four acoustic consultants were working in the Netherlands and I became their manager because I wanted to increase the size of the team. I then became manager of the group environmental permits, external safety and acoustics, which I did for five years. During that time, I also served on the works council for a while because I wanted to exert more influence on the organization with my ideas. I left a year later because I was asked to join the management team as Consultancy Director of the Hengelo office. After five years, I wanted something different so I started working as a project manager on large projects and focused on sales. After some time, my old clients asked me if I could help them again, so I again started as a senior acoustic consultant. I still do this today together with sales activities.”

That’s quite a personal development over the years. How has Bilfinger supported you in this?

“The organization has given me freedom and trust. They fully supported the choices I made over the years, even at times when things were a bit tough. That made me a lot wiser and I think it made the organization a lot wiser too. The distinctive strength of Bilfinger is that they offer a lot of responsibility and opportunities for the future. That is also the biggest motivation for me to stay with the organization. A lot is possible if you believe in it yourself.”

What are the main reasons for you why you are still with us after 25?

“I stayed because every few years I could get a position where I was happy, could develop myself and was appreciated. In addition, entrepreneurship and freedom are important values to me and I experience them daily here. Another important reason is that we have a large Consultancy team, but an even larger Engineering team. We as a group of consultants have the link to engineering that many consultancy firms do not. This allows us to connect with the engineers for technical solutions and we as consultants are involved in projects from engineering to provide advice on our area of expertise.”

What makes your job as an acoustic consultant fun?

“The nice thing about my job is that I get to work at all major industries. For example, one day I am at a refinery and the next day I am at a pharmaceutical company, always taking in some of the production process and their knowledge. The variety makes it really fun. In addition, you always experience something special. For example, I have had to carry out acoustic measurements at a height of 60-80 meters in various refineries, or I was stopped by the police during a night measurement because they thought it was strange that I was measuring by the side of the road in the middle of the night. Because of my specialty, I have also been called in by the court as an expert witness to advise judges on certain issues.”

What highlight during your career are you proud of?

“I think it is important that clients choose Bilfinger unconditionally. I am therefore very proud of the fact that I have personally lost very few clients in the past 25 years. I believe that you have to put your heart and soul into a client’s business and it is nice to see that my clients apparently feel the same way. I have many regular clients where I am now almost a permanent part of their organization and I find that very valuable.

In addition, I am proud of the fact that I have been able to expand the team of (acoustic) consultants since I started at Bilfinger. I also like that the entire Consultancy team consists of a nice and close group of people who will do just about anything for each other. We are not a group of individuals, but really feel that togetherness.”