Nyah:

I am Nyah, 22 years old and working at StartDock Coworking for 2 years now. I did not enter StartDock like most of the employees through a job application, in fact, I first did an internship at StartDock. I graduated from the Business Studies Entrepreneurship course at Inholland Haarlem.

In the third year, I had to do an internship somewhere and I had no idea where exactly. I came across StartDock through a vacancy on a job platform. From the vacancy I knew immediately, this MUST be my internship. Because of my enormous enthusiasm, I applied immediately. I remember finding the first few days mega exciting and eventually I was invited for an interview.

Funny note: I hadn't been called before 15:00 on Friday, so I assumed this wasn't going to happen and had a boat trip with friends, I was eventually called on the boat if I wanted to come for an interview.

After the interview, it was even clearer, StartDock is everything I needed and was excited about. A beautiful workplace in a listed building, freedom to improve my personal and business skills, not to mention an environment full of entrepreneurs. Besides, I have real hospitality blood and my heart beats faster when it comes to making people happy in the facilities field. The lunches and triple treats were therefore right up my street.

My internship at StartDock brought me many qualities. You learn a lot from the different entrepreneurs and industries in the building. Customer-friendliness and facility tasks are further developed, and being part of a young and growing company provides a lot of ambition and opportunities. The internship ensured that I knew what the job market expectations were and I could develop without too much pressure. At StartDock, you can make your internship as fun and interesting as you like.

On the last day of my internship, Thom (CEO) asked if I wanted to stay for a while after 17:00. In this, I was asked if I would like to hang around StartDock a bit longer, as there was potential in enough areas. The environment and atmosphere of entrepreneurs, as well as the atmosphere in the team, did not leave me pondering. I knew immediately that this was what I wanted.

My job responsibilities were anything but clear and with another job in the hospitality industry on top, this was definitely going to be tough. Now two years on and employed full-time, I haven't regretted my choice for a moment. StartDock has an atmosphere and opportunity to let you develop in the area you want. If you see opportunities for yourself or have cool ideas, it is possible to implement them.

After completing my thesis in June, I have been employed full-time since September. I am responsible for Sales together with Max and Romano. I plan events/meetings for tenants and external parties every day and get the most energy from this. I also deal with the rental of offices and workplaces and perform support tasks in the Back Office.

StartDock is a unique workplace in that you get freedom and flexibility. I used to work in hospitality and plan events there. I started to miss organising outings and the like and so we set up a 'party committee'. This way, together with some other colleagues, I can plan events for our team, the tenants and everyone around them. This ensures that you get the freedom to do something you like, within the framework of the company. In addition, the mentality in the StartDock team is truly unique; you work with young and ambitious people who are ready for each other at all times.

Are you looking for an internship where you can develop your personal and business skills, with a lot of freedom and opportunities for your own ideas? Then StartDock is definitely the workplace for you. The company is transparent and you get opportunities to make your own choices for your development. All the entrepreneurs in the building provide more insights and you make networking relationships for life here. Drinks are also a must at StartDock, and together with the community we always have fun events and opportunities you can join.

Románo:

Initially, in my third year of HBO, I had arranged an internship in Australia. Unfortunately, this fell through last minute, leaving me in a time crunch for arranging an internship. I had to have an internship proposal within 3 days which is not so easily achievable. Fortunately, I came across a post by my internship coordinator on FaceBook that StartDock was still looking for an intern, so I applied immediately. I had my future internship supervisor, Lois, on the phone within an hour or two and I was able to come for an interview the very next day. This process went very smoothly which made my first impression already very good.

My study background was International Business, which I felt did not really fit in with an internship with many facility management aspects. Nevertheless, entrepreneurship really attracted me and what I could learn from all these Dockers. Because of the pleasant and open atmosphere with Dockers and the team, I was able to let my curiosity and learning take its course. Thus, I had the opportunity to experience several parts of the business world, which quickly showed that I had commercial aptitude. As it was my third-year internship, I had yet to complete my studies. However, quite soon after I completed my internship, I received a call from the CEO, Thom, whether I was interested in a role within the company as Sales & Account manager focused on our Virtual Offices product.

After a very pleasant and brief conversation, it soon became clear that this was a match and the rest is history! I have been working at StartDock for more than three years now and I still enjoy working at this great company immensely. StartDock is great as a work or internship place because of the working atmosphere, but also because of the beautiful buildings. This makes you feel proud when you arrive at work instead of 'we have to go again'. Not having this thought says a lot for me personally.

This is by far my best experience with an 'employer' or 'internship company', so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to grow with StartDock's success! This also means that I can develop along with the company, which for me gives a greater sense of belonging and responsibility towards StartDock.

The work I do also feels impactful on the company and there are regular tokens of appreciation. This keeps me motivated to put my best foot forward for StartDock as well as the (virtual) Dockers.

Tijn:

I was studying Facility Management and was looking for a graduation internship for six months. In the end, StartDock fitted the bill perfectly because the team is small and close-knit. I also wanted to come into contact with people during my internship and not just work on my thesis. In a coworking space, you meet plenty of people, and the Dockers' entrepreneurial spirit worked enormously inspiring for me.

During my internship at StartDock, I was able to create a good balance between day-to-day operations on the shop floor, socialising over lunch, contributing to the StartDock brand through working groups and working on my thesis. This combined with the freedom I was given made this experience complete for me.

The atmosphere at StartDock's locations is nice and informal and well designed for work, but also for everything around it. Of course, there is also plenty of room for relaxation and fun. I have worked permanently in both cities and have been to every location. You can now call me a real fan of the concept!

All this led me to want to stay connected to StartDock in some form after my internship period. My ambition had always been entrepreneurship, and at the end of my internship period, we started talking about this. Eventually, I started a company together with a fellow associate of StartDock, who shared the same ambitions. Cross with us was born from this, and we now organise year-long projects for entrepreneurs in which experiences, challenges and successes are shared in so-called "Circles of Trust" with the aim of strengthening each other. StartDock plays an unmistakable role in this by having made the link and still gives us the opportunities to use the locations and even a piece of coaching, for example. Ultimately, this has ensured that I have found my niche even after my studies and am working daily on something I enjoy immensely.

Ike:

My introduction to StartDock was an eye-opener for me as a former entrepreneurship student. StartDock exudes youthful entrepreneurship and fosters it in everything they do. Throughout my internship, the StartDock community served as an endless source of inspiration, and it still does. It was during my final month of the internship that my ambition to become an entrepreneur became a reality. Now, I am the proud founder of two businesses and, as you may have guessed, still work from the beautiful facilities of StartDock. In fact, StartDock has become one of the key partners of one of my businesses. I hope to remain a part of this inspiring family for many years to come.

Rob:

From a young age, I was interested in entrepreneurship, which drove me to choose 'Business Studies' for my degree with a major in entrepreneurship. My goal was clear: I wanted to be my own boss.

When the time came to find an internship, I did not really know yet what I wanted to do within entrepreneurship. I was looking for an environment that would not only offer insight into the entrepreneurial world, but where I could also find inspiration for my own future venture. This led me to the concept of an entrepreneurial community or coworking space. A conversation with my internship supervisor Erik resulted in a crucial introduction to Johan, co-founder of a coworking space, and marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

At StartDock, which had not even been operating for a year at the time, I was able to take on many tasks and responsibilities. My main project was to generate additional income by renting out our beautiful meeting rooms externally. This initiative felt like my own small business within StartDock. I started by defining the offering and target audience, taking into account the fundamentals of the business model. I was then responsible for creating partnerships to increase visibility and generate leads. Final bookings and hosting was also my responsibility. This process of developing and implementing a business strategy from scratch was a really fun challenge.

My internship at StartDock was incredibly valuable. I especially appreciated the opportunity to contribute and develop my own ideas. The support of the community and the accessibility of the founders were very impactful for my personal and professional growth. The internship not only helped me boost my self-confidence, but also gave me many practical insights to become a better professional.

After my internship, I was allowed to continue working at StartDock as an event host. I was super happy to stay involved with StartDock in this way, since I liked it so much. After my graduation (final thesis also written for StartDock), I got the offer to join StartDock full-time as sales manager. I thought that was a great opportunity, so I grabbed it with both hands.

I also look back very fondly on my full-time sales manager times at StartDock. I had great responsibility and still felt very much at home in the team (which was growing nicely by now). A big project during this year was building and managing yet another new revenue stream; this time virtual offices!

Anyway, my dream of being an entrepreneur myself had never gone away. StartDock had offered me a lot of inspiration and only convinced me more that this was the path I wanted to take. During my full-time period at StartDock, I had been given an initial business idea which I started working on in the evenings and weekends with a friend. Eventually, I started taking this concept more and more seriously, things kept improving and I reached a point where I wanted to and could start putting my full focus on it. So after a year of working as a sales manager, it was time to quit that and take the serious step into entrepreneurship.

Of course, this did not mean a complete departure from StartDock for me, as I was given the freedom to join StartDock to work for myself. We are now four years on and I still come to StartDock almost every day. I find it a wonderful place to work and remain very attached to the team and community. I have a relationship with StartDock that they can always call me, should they really need some extra help. This has also allowed me to continue to do a little something for StartDock over the past few years. Since StartDock has meant so much to me, I do this with all my love.

If I had to sum up in a few points what StartDock has meant to me, these are mainly the following things:

• Self-confidence in my own abilities.
• Learning to function well in the workplace.
• A cosy working environment that really feels like my second home.
• A strong network from which an awful lot of help, connections and even clients have come.
• Friends

Entrepreneurship is doing, falling down and getting up again. It is learning an incredible amount about yourself and discovering what suits you and what does not. So now I am working on my third business. I have been working on my web design and development business for 1.5 years now and it is going really well. I really enjoy my work and I am very grateful that I can do this every day. StartDock has played a crucial role in my life and entrepreneurial career and I am incredibly grateful for that too. And. for now, they're not rid of me yet either! 🙂