Highlights from the STEM Women Benelux Region Careers Event 2021

On Wednesday 27^th October 2021, we hosted our final event of the autumn season. This event was targeted towards STEM students and recent graduates who identify as female or non-binary, and are based in the Benelux Region.

We had 615 signed up for this event, with 329 attendees logging in on the day. Our attendees were studying a range of STEM related subjects, but predominately they were from computer science backgrounds, followed by data analytics and process engineering.

Attendees and employers had 760 conversations during the day, sending 2,718 chat messages, and attendees submitted 69 job applications. We also recorded a peak live presentations audience of 179.

The event began with a welcome talk from STEM Women Events Host, Sophie Chadwick. Sophie introduced STEM Women, gave an overview of the agenda and highlighted the exhibiting companies. This was followed by a welcome address from our event sponsors, Accenture. Nicole van Det, Country Managing Director Netherlands and Global Account Lead presented this session. Nicole spoke about her personal career journey through Accenture and the different roles she has had over her 22+ year long career. She highlighted Accenture’s passion for change and the importance of the technological advancement in the business.

Attendees were then invited to ask their questions to a panel of representatives working in STEM, the panel was hosted by Sophie Chadwick. Our fantastic panelists were Laureline Senequier from Deloitte, Ramona Pilotto from VMware, Marleen van Wingerden from Waters, Nikoo Delgoshaie from Accenture, Gowri Ries from ASML, and Vanessa Hitomi from Kraft Heinz. Our panelists had discussions around career highlights and challenges, the reasons they chose industry over academia and how to manoeuvre into a managerial role. Attendees also asked questions about how to decide what field to go into, and tips on how to enter a new industry without specific experience.

After the panel session, we then had a short networking break, where attendees could browse company stalls, apply for jobs and network live with company representatives.

At 1.30pm CEST, our employer speaker sessions then began with a presentation from Leontine Van Gerven, Solutions Engineer from VMware. Leontine began her session by speaking about her experience at university, how VMware contacted her about the role and how she found the application process. She spoke in detail about the interview stages and how she found the graduate scheme.

Next up we welcomed Laureline Senequier, Director in Risk Advisory Services at Deloitte. Laureline gave an inspiring talk on her personal career journey in the IT industry. She highlighted how her background and skills drove her career choices and offered some invaluable advice about being a woman in cyber. Laureline also spoke honestly about the gender bias she has experienced and how she overcame these challenges.

We then heard from Marleen van Wingerden, Director of Chemistry at Waters. Marleen spoke to attendees about her personal story, starting from the age of 17 years old, her experience through university to the beginning of her career. She also gave attendees more information about Waters as a company, their vision and how they contribute to a better world.

Nerosh Raga, Director SAP Advisory at Accenture then took over to present her session which covered her career highlights and the initiatives she is passionate about. She highlighted the exciting world of technology and why it’s an exciting industry to work in. Nerosh spoke about Accenture, what they stand for and the unique culture at the company. Nerosh ended her session by highlighting the importance of authenticity and staying true to your own values.

Next, we welcomed Agata Krasocka, Customer Excellence Lead Benelux and Rica Martyna, Environmental Health and Safety Continuous Improvement Senior Analyst from Kraft Heinz. Agata began the session by talk through her personal career journey, from university to her role in Kraft Heinz. She spoke about what she does in her role, the projects she has worked on, and the exciting opportunities offered at Kraft Heinz. Rica then took over to present about her journey through academia, how she secured her role at the company and why she chose Kraft Heinz.

Our final speaker was Gayathri Gangadharan Nampoothiri, D&E Metrology Manager at ASML. Gayathri introduced ASML to the audience and explained in more detail about what they do in the world of chips. Attendees heard more about the how the chip is made and the semiconductor loop. She also gave attendees an overview of her professional background, studying Physics at university to becoming a researcher, and finally joining ASML as a design engineer. She ended her session by talking about the highlights of working at the company and the exciting plans they have for the future.

Our final event of the autumn season was hugely inspiring, introducing even more STEM students and recent graduates to inspirational employers from the Benelux Region. Both attendees and employers gave us some great feedback after the event.

“The event provided a great opportunity to meet with many highly motivated and well qualified women who had a genuine interest in developing their careers in the space industry.” – Representative from EUMETSAT

We are also hosting a number of careers events in early 2022 and autumn 2022. For more information visit www.stemwomenevents.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for event updates.

If you’re interested in exhibiting at an upcoming event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Event Sales Manager, Lauren Jenkins, laurenj@stemwomen.co.uk.