Calvi Heroes: Rick van der Vliet

About Rick

"My name is Rick and I am 27 years old and was born and raised in Utrecht. I started working full-time right after completing a degree in Information & Communication Technologies, but eventually grew bored with the work I was doing and started looking for something more challenging. As I’ve always had an interest in computers and all things technical, but also wanted to learn more about the business side of things, I pursued a Bachelor of Science in Business IT & Management."

Can you describe your Calvi journey?

“While working on obtaining my degree, I started looking for a job that would challenge me on a daily basis. I was approached by a recruiter, and his first question was: “Do you own a car?”. At the time, I didn’t know why that was such a big deal, but when I heard where I needed to go for my job interview, I suddenly understood: Calvi's headquarters is a castle in the middle of the countryside, with little to no access to public transport. The amazing and unique location combined with the familial ambiance instantly made me realize this was the place I had been looking for. I started working as a Support Engineer not long after.”

"Fast forward two years to when I obtained my degree, and I got offered a different position within the organization. I was asked which department I would like to work at, and what sort of work I thought would suit me best. It had always been my ambition to work with the technical aspects of our software while remaining close to our customers. I decided that I wanted to work in the Consultancy team; where two worlds meet and where technical and business aspects are always closely connected. I was assigned to Rob, who threw me in the deep end of the pool, so to speak. He knew that I wanted to take the wheel during an implementation, so he let me. Everything went better than people expected of a first assignment, and this successful implementation led to this customer becoming my responsibility."

 “What I like most is that I can help with all kinds of things within the organization, due to the knowledge I obtained while working as a Support Engineer. I am involved with all kinds of projects and learn something new every day.”

What’s your greatest milestone?

“My greatest milestone by far is my first implementation. Even though I was still ‘in training’, they trusted me enough to do a full implementation. I was amazed by the amount of responsibility and freedom I instantly had, and I am very glad that it worked out the way it did. I’m incredibly proud of what I accomplished and the customer feedback I received was very positive as well.” 

What’s your ambition?

“I would really like to implement an English-only customer. Ever since I traveled to the United States when I was 17, I’ve been crazy about the American language and culture. My friends and I grew up with English movies and video games, and it is my dream to do an implementation overseas.” 

How would you want our customers to describe you?

"That’s a fairly easy question!"

 "I would want them to describe me as someone who understands the technical aspects of our solution, and who is also able to convey the desired information in a user-friendly manner.”

Where do you think our biggest opportunities lie?

“I have seen us change our solution from one that simply presents data to one that handles so much more than that, such as bill communication. We are capable of handling the entire end-to-end process of the invoice, and we have come a long way in terms of professionalism and development. What I see happening next, is that we will undergo a transformation in terms of what we have to offer: I believe we have so much more to offer in terms of communication and self-service.

What differentiates Calvi from others?

“Calvi is a medium-sized company with the ambitions of a giant multinational. With these ambitions, we have been able to match the achievements of those giant multinationals, while remaining a familial and close-knit company.”

What’s your personal motto?

 “Honesty is the best policy”

A workplace that you love isn't easy to come by. Are you interested in becoming part of our amazing team? Check out our career page to see whether we have an application open that fits you or send us an unsolicited application.