An internship at QAssurance? How was it looking back?

Rebecca Botello

Background information

• BSc. Environmental Science
• Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau
• BA Graduate, Agriculture & Sustainability at ”McKinsey & Company”

My internship (Feb 2021-May 2021)

Hey, I'm Rebecca! I worked at QAssurance for 4 months in 2021 and it was an amazing experience. I was still living in Arnhem and working from home several days per week since it was during the pandemic, but we would go to the office in Rotterdam at least once or twice a week (I was lucky that at the time, two other students from Arnhem were doing internships at QAssurance, so we could always go there and come back together!). Working at the office was always really fun. The team at QAssurance is motivated, kind, generous, and incredibly funny. No day was ever dull, and towards the end of the internship, Cees even gave us a little tour of Rotterdam! This is one of many memories from my internship that I hold dearly. QAssurance has a talented and visionary team behind it. Towards the end of my internship, they were already expanding to multiple locations in Africa, and I'm sure this trend of expansion will continue in the future! Their technology is a game-changer in food supply chain quality assurance. If you're willing to learn something new every day and work in a dynamic, close-knit team, an internship at QAssurance is an amazing opportunity!

After my internship

Following my internship, at QAssurance I moved to Portugal for 3 months to write my Bachelor's Thesis in Desertification of Mediterranean Ecosystems, and then I moved to Frankfurt to start my first job. I have been working at McKinsey & Company in the Agriculture and Sustainability research team for the last 10 months and it has been a great experience! Once my 1-year contract at the Firm is done, I will be starting a double masters in International Development and Public Policy with International Management. I'm incredibly excited to start the programs and for all the learning opportunities and experiences ahead!

Claudia Munnecom

Background information

• BSc. Food Technology
• Van Hall Larenstein University of applied sciences
• Laboratory Quality manager ”Source Alma”

My internship (April 2021-Sept 2021)

My Time at QAssurance was fantastic! It's a welcoming, human-sized company where you'll be rewarded for your hard work. I'm so grateful for my experience because I learned a lot in food safety compliance and they aided my professional growth by showing a great work ethic in terms of pedagogy with high expertise in their domain and a positive working environment. QAssurance not only provided me with an internship but also with a job. They support me as much as possible by giving me confidence in my field of work and in where I see myself in the future. Joining QAssurance is more like becoming a member of a family than joining a company. It will always remain one of my favourite working experiences!

Andrada Mierlut

Background information

• BSc. Multimedia Design/Concept Development
• BSc. Food Technology
• MSc. Food Innovation & Health student
• QAssurance: Food Consultant/Food Export Program

My internship (Jan 2021- Jun 2021)

I wrote my Bachelor's thesis for QAssurance and my time there was amazing! I am so grateful for this experience and for being able to work for them now. During my internship, I learned so much about food safety compliance and could work independently on my project. In the begging, I attended the 5-day Food Safety Compliance training for quality managers given by the company. Furthermore, being part of this team I learned to speak up, be more open, and I improved my communication skills as well. The team was very welcoming, kind, fun, and always happy to help. They are great people and experts in food safety and IT and have developed an impressive food safety management system. Besides our office hours, Cees would organize great activities such as football, surfing, and dinners together. All in all, I really enjoyed my 5-month internship and I am forever grateful I am part of their team. This experience helped me grow professionally, but I also learned valuable life lessons from Cees.

After my internship

Currently, I am obtaining a master Food Innovation & Health at the Copenhagen University. Next to that, I work at QAssurance, my tasks vary and my job is flexible. However, the main ones are marketing, food export program, and networking. I am responsible for the marketing part as well as for our food export program. Besides these, I attend different events/fairs/conferences where I represent the company and share what we are doing with the aim of finding possible collaborations. I am also in charge of communicating with people contacting us and setting up zoom meetings with them. Nevertheless, I am always happy to help in other tasks where my colleagues need me such as giving presentations, working on our website, having meetings with possible clients etc.

Pedro Meijer

Background information

• BSc. Food Technology
• Van Hall Larenstein University of applied sciences
• Currently, doing a minor at Wageningen University.

My internship (Feb 2021-Jun 2021)

Last year, I did my six-month internship at Qassurance. It was corona time back then and at the beginning, we mainly worked from home and once a week we went to the office. Coincidentally, there were two fellow interns from my school who were also doing internships. Qassurance is a small company with a select group specializing in IT and food quality. This combination makes them a front runner in the market, partly due to the services they can provide. Later during the internship, the apartment in Rotterdam became available and we were able to work several days at the office. We followed a food quality course for quality managers. We also had fun outings such as a company soccer tournament in the castle of Sparta and a surfing day. The colleagues were all very friendly and not a day went by where there wasn't laughter. Often there was a richly enjoyable lunch where guests also participated. There were also people our age working there with whom we had fun outside of work hours as well. The guests who came all had interesting stories about the food sector. The activities I participated in were educational and added value to the company. If you are looking for a fun internship at an innovative company, I would definitely recommend Qassurance!