This enthusiastic team player started with us as a graduate intern, but is now fully part of our team as a Technical Support Engineer! Of course, I’m talking about… Jeroen! In this blog, I’d like to introduce him to you.
Can you tell us something about yourself?
I’m Jeroen, a 25-year-old from Zwolle. After a day at work, I love to flop down on the couch and enjoy a movie or series. I’m not just busy with computers at work; I continue at home as well. Think tinkering with my Raspberry Pi, solving puzzles on TryHackMe, and gaming with friends. Recently, I’ve also picked up reading as a hobby again. During my train commute to and from work, I have plenty of time for it. I recently read the book “Ghost in the Wires”, which I highly recommend.
How did you end up at Shock Media?
To finish my degree in HBO Infrastructure Design & Security, I looked at many vacancies and companies for a cool graduation internship. Usually, there wasn’t anything that piqued my interest. If something did, I either received no response or heard back very late. I decided to check out the (online) career fair at Windesheim. Most companies just sent me to their website to look at assignments—as if I hadn’t already done that. I was about to give up hope when I met Aaron (System Engineer) and Sharon (HR) from Shock Media. They were genuinely interested in me, my interests, experience, and ambitions. They also explained what kind of company Shock Media is, which internship assignments were available, and of course, whether I was interested. I left my details and was contacted by Sharon the very next day. Two days later, I had a job interview at Shock, and the rest is history.
How did you experience your graduation at Shock?
Graduating was super fun and educational. This was mainly due to my friendly and helpful colleagues. If you have a question, you can always go to a colleague, and they really take the time to help you out. Besides work, there’s always time for a joke or a nice chat (which often revolves around interesting technologies).
Why did you choose to stay at Shock after graduating?
During my graduation, I got to know everyone and already felt at home here. The work atmosphere is informal and communication is open. You can address all colleagues informally, and you can approach anyone with a question (even the CEO). So, when I was asked if I wanted to stay, it was an easy choice for me.
What exactly is your role at Shock Media and what does it entail?
My official title is Technical Support Engineer. This means I mainly provide technical support by phone or email. This could be a simple question that’s solved in a few minutes, but also an issue that requires you to take your time to figure things out. I’m also involved in other tasks like maintaining and configuring servers.
What’s the secret to being a good Technical Support Engineer?
The secret is to listen carefully and get to the root of the problem. Clients often see a problem on the surface, while it’s actually caused by underlying issues. You have to tackle the problem at its core and resolve it in such a way that it can’t happen again. Acting preventively is always good to avoid problems. So, if you see that something might go wrong or is misconfigured, let the client know as soon as possible so they can address it immediately. By thinking along with the client in this way, you keep them happy and prevent things from breaking or getting stuck.
What does a typical day at Shock Media look like for you?
A standard day starts in the morning at the coffee machine with a cup of tea and pleasant conversations with my colleagues. Then I go to my workstation to check the calendar and mailbox for any scheduled appointments. Often, there are updates or other changes planned that I tackle first. Once those are done, I pick up new tickets and calls that I can really dive into. Before I know it, it’s 1:00 PM and time for lunch. All of us at the office take a break together. We get some fresh air, catch up, or challenge each other to a game of darts or table tennis. In the afternoon, I continue with incoming tickets and calls. If support is a bit quiet, there are plenty of other things I can work on, like improving our support website, learning about new technologies, or investigating bigger customer issues. In short, there’s plenty of variety and challenging work in a fun environment where I learn something new every day.
Where does your passion for IT come from?
From a young age, I was interested in all kinds of computer-related activities. It wasn’t until I started an economics degree that I realized something was missing for me. The prospect of doing the same thing every day for 50 years, just with different numbers, didn’t appeal to me. I decided to switch gears and started studying HBO-ICT. It quickly became clear that this was really for me. The variety of problem-solving and other technical tasks, combined with constantly learning new things and keeping up with changes, is exactly what I enjoy.
What makes working at Shock Media so special?
It might sound a bit cliché, but it’s the people. It’s the driven, young team with lots of technical knowledge that creates a great working atmosphere. During my internship and work here, I’ve come across plenty of things I had little or no experience with myself. I usually try to find a solution online or in our internal documentation first. If I still can’t figure it out, I can always turn to my colleagues. They’re ready to help, no matter how simple or difficult the problem is. There are also plenty of opportunities to develop yourself and learn new things.
What (technical) skill would you still like to master and why?
I have a lot of interest in security and automation. In terms of security, I want to gain more experience in identifying vulnerable servers and/or programs, as well as testing these vulnerabilities. Automation is something I have little experience with—just a few assignments for my studies and some tinkering at home with things like Ansible. At work, a lot is automated, and I’d love to broaden my knowledge in this area.
Do you see yourself working at Shock Media? Check out our vacancy page or send an email to hr@shockmedia.nl. Curious about our other colleagues? Then read our other blogs.
