Shortage in Technicians?

One of the many options students are faced with when deciding upon a study which will determine their future career path is whether or not to study full-time or part-time. In the Netherlands you can, among others, choose to follow a dual study, which means you divide your time between working at a company, going to school and studying. What are the (dis)advantages of this method of learning?

In the maritime industry the demand for well-qualified technical graduates is high. Dosign Engineering, a technical recruitment agency, saw an opportunity in this and introduced a dual learning programme in 2011. Ramón Feuth, managing director at Dosign: “The industry is dealing with a structural shortage of technicians. Since we found it hard to recruit them, we thought why not educate them ourselves?”

More motivation

Students who choose the Dosign programme can expect a full-time workweek. They will attend lectures on mechanical or electrical engineering for twelve hours a week at Higher Vocational Education level, and will be working 28 hours a week. Next to this, Dosign provides other training sessions such as communication skills. The company is also responsible for employer’s liabilities and the student’s education.

One of the recruited students is Jon
Sybren de Jong, completing his study
mechanical engineering at
The Hague University of Applied Science and also working as a structural
engineer at KCI, an engineering firm
providing design, engineering and consultancy services to oil and gas, and the offshore renewables industry.

De Jong: “After I graduated from my first study, I wanted to continue studying, however the costs were very high. The Dosign programme offered me the possibility to do it anyway, since Dosign pays for my study and salary. Furthermore, I think this is a great way of learning. You immediately apply what you learn at school and as what I design is actually built for customers the demand for quality is much higher. It is very motivational.”

Developing talent

De Jong’s mentor at KCI is Erik Berkman, head of the structural department. Berkman: “We have been doing business with Dosign for a long time now; they recruited the people we needed. In 2011 they told us about the new dual programme and we decided to participate because it is a good way for students to get more of a feeling with the working reality. On the one side we contribute to the development of technical young professionals in the Netherlands, on the other hand we hope that the students with great potential decide to stay when they have graduated.”

A success

In this case, both parties are very satisfied with each other. De Jong: “I have learned a lot, although the programme is hard. Of course you need a lot of guidance in the beginning, they have to familiarise you with the company and its processes. Unlike school, you are not presented with textbook examples of
a problem, but it is the reality. When
a customer has specific demands you have to be able to think of a solution which will actually work.”

Berkman adds: “This programme is not just theoretical, but solution-driven; and for us it is a solution to the shortage of technicians with low costs. The dual students are a step ahead of the full-time students; in practice but also at school. De Jong has been motivated from beginning to the end of the programme and has developed into an independent employee.”

After finishing his graduate research on turntables on cable layers, De Jong no longer has any contractual obligation to Dosign or KCI. “I am fully operational as a draftsman and I am starting to learn how to make technical calculations for KCI, which is what I really want to do. I think that KCI can offer me the challenges I would like to have in my future job.”

Anne Kregting