Students conduct research at Prospact

This term, two new faces are walking around at Prospact to ask us their questions. They are Paola van Brenen (19) and Zeb Adriaansen (22), who are conducting research on employer branding while studying business management for small and medium-sized enterprises. Prospact is open to suggestions and if it contributes to filling our vacancies, we're in the clear! Paola and Zeb can be found at Prospact two days a week. We introduce them to you and ask what they are up to.

Via

Paola and Zeb are both in their second year of studying Business Management for small and medium-sized enterprises at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Tilburg. Besides the theory they learn there, they also put this into practice right away in the business world. The subject of the assignment is 'employer branding'. The company to do their research with, they had to find out for themselves and they were eventually able to do so with Prospact. "That really went via via and again via via" laughs Paola. "In the end, it came down to the fact that Prospact's upstairs neighbours knew that they were regularly looking for technical staff and that these vacancies were hard to fill. With the right contacts and a bit of luck, it was eventually settled within a day!"

Gather information

Zeb: "We started in April and the survey runs until the end of June. Now we are mainly interviewing the employees at Prospact and collecting all the necessary information for our analysis. So we cannot say anything about the outcome yet. Fortunately, Prospact employees are willing to make time for us. The cooperation is fine! Of course, it is also beneficial for them if we manage to find colleagues. In between, we have several deadlines, where we discuss some of the outcomes and progress. For the first deadline, we make a 'gap analysis' where we try to show the gaps between the current situation and the ideal situation. This way, we identify the bottlenecks and can try to make improvements."

Implementation

Paola and Zeb not only come to do research, some of their recommendations will actually be implemented. Paola: "As part of this assignment, we will actually implement a small part. The research really has a practical side. Of course, we hope to find the big problem, but several small solutions will also contribute to a better result." Insights also need to be implemented from within the study itself. Zeb explains: "For instance, we have several expert lectures where a guest lecturer from the field gives a thematic lecture. The other day, for example, I attended an expert lecture on neuromarketing. Then the real idea is to put that knowledge to use in the research we are now doing at Prospact."

We look forward to hearing from Paola and Zeb! Would you also like to help fill our vacancies? Then check them out here and apply!