In this series we introduce our team to you one by one. What is their role within QS solutions? Who are they as a person? Why are they a match with the organization? And what do they actually do in their spare time? This will give you, as a customer, business partner or new colleague, an idea of the people behind our logo!
In today’s spotlight:
Ruben Deurhof – functional support consultant, gamer, and soon-to-be homeowner
Consultant in training
Ruben is the Benjamin of QS solutions. He started just under a year ago as a member of the service desk, but has a clear goal in mind: to become a consultant! This means that he spends every free minute during working hours on obtaining the necessary Microsoft certificates. And he’s doing well: he passed the first two with flying colors!
“Every opportunity to obtain certificates during working hours”
Ruben usually works from home, so he can easily combine work with learning. At the moment he still lives with his parents in Lelystad, but in the new year he’ll be looking for a house to buy, so he and his girlfriend can start living together. “Renting is a waste of money,” he says.
Problem solver
In his current position, Ruben has a lot of customer contact, especially about CRM-related questions. QS solutions provides CRM solutions to both healthcare and business customers. Since these tend to be custom projects, the questions that come in at the service desk are very diverse!
Ruben is someone who likes to solve problems for the customer, and does everything in his power to achieve this. As soon as a support ticket comes in, he immediately starts working on it. Sometimes he can solve it himself and in other cases he escalates it to a more experienced colleague.
“Increasingly involved in projects”
In addition to his work for the service desk, Ruben is also increasingly involved in projects, writing manuals and making system adjustments. He really enjoys that, as it fits perfectly into the training path to becoming a consultant!
Translation from customer request to product
What Ruben loves about working at the service desk is that he can actually help customers to solve a problem. He enjoys the appreciation that comes with this aspect of the job. At the same time, he is looking forward to his future role as a consultant, because he likes ‘translating’ customer requests into products, and to tinker with a system to be able to deliver a custom solution. Only then is he really in his element.
Ruben acquired some of the communication skills that are so important in customer contact during his studies, but also during (side) jobs in retail, especially in the more expensive segment of men’s fashion. How to deal with customers? How to approach them? How to create a dialogue? These are skills that are often taken for granted, but indispensable in dealing with customers!
The balance between computers and exercise
Ruben’s passion for computers started from an early age. As a little boy, he used to sit on his father’s lap while the latter was playing computer games. Ruben is a keen gamer himself (“it taught me more English than my teachers at school!”, he says), and he also regularly tinkers with computers. He even built one from scratch!
And yet Ruben makes sure to keep a good balance between his sedentary existence and exercise. Until a few years ago he was a fanatic korfball player, but nowadays he turns off his laptop at five o’clock – if at all possible – to go to the gym with his best friend. Not only does he really enjoy this, it’s also good for his health. In the evening he may go for a ride on his longboard or spend time with his girlfriend or friends to play a computer game or watch a Netflix series.
Ruben about QS solutions
“Working at QS solutions is the opposite of what my expectation of ‘adult life’ used to be! I always thought there would be much more hierarchy in companies, that it would be much stricter. That you’d just have to work from 9 to 5, with little flexibility or freedom. Fortunately, it is completely different at QS solutions!
“The appreciation I get here makes me feel good”
It is truly wonderful to work here. You get a lot of freedom and there is a relaxed atmosphere. I was allowed to draw up my own development plan and I am given every opportunity to obtain certificates during working hours. It’s nice to get one step further every day. I am increasingly able to answer customer questions myself without the help of a colleague.
I recently had a meeting with my manager, and he was full of praise for how things are going and what I’m doing. That kind of appreciation makes me feel good!”
Contact
Are you looking for a Microsoft solution for your company and could you do with some advice? Or would you like to join QS solutions, just like Ruben, and are you interested to know more about the career opportunities? Let us know! We’d love to talk to you.