Calvi Heroes: Wouter van Geffen

About Wouter

Hi everyone, my name is Wouter, and I’m 46 years young. I live in Udenhout with my wife and two kids. In my spare time, I’m quite active and enjoy doing several different sports. I’ve been practicing Aikido for almost 20 years. Aikido is a Japanese self-defense sport, and I’m proud to say that I achieved the black belt 5 years ago. I am also very passionate about running. I’ve ran three marathons in my life; in New York, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. My goal was to complete the marathon within 4 hours, and I finally managed to do so in Amsterdam. Aside from Aikido and running, I am also a hockey trainer and coach for my daughter’s team and I love to see my son participating in judo tournaments.

What did you study, and how did you end up at Calvi?

I studied Administrative Information Sciences at the University of Tilburg. I chose this study because it offered an interesting combination of IT, Administration, and Economics. This study provides students with a helicopter overview of an organization and teaches you how you can use IT within the organization to improve operations. After obtaining my Master’s in Administrative Information Sciences, I started looking for a job. Eventually, I ended up at a big Dutch organization and developed myself in several positions. I worked as a Software Engineer, Functional Designer, Team Lead, and Project Manager.

After 18 years of working at the same organization, I felt it was time for a change. I started looking for a new job and posted my CV on LinkedIn, which was picked up by a recruiter who introduced me to Calvi. A short while later, my first meeting was scheduled at the Calvi castle, and I was immediately convinced that Calvi was a perfect fit for me, due to the personal touch and international playing field. Luckily, they thought the same, and I was hired as Calvi’s Project Manager.

What do you do in your role as Project Manager at Calvi?

As a Project Manager at Calvi, I’m mainly concerned with managing projects and ensuring that we can deliver according to the pre-defined specs and on time. What I like most about my job is aligning every part of the project. A Project Manager’s work is somewhat similar to being a football coach; you use the right people with the right skills and try to win. 

Some challenges that I have in my work are dealing with setbacks. A project is very predictable on paper, but unexpected situations can always arise, and then it is my job to solve these. It sometimes means that you have to make compromises to meet everyone’s needs.

What do you like most about Calvi?

I like the vision that we have, we are always looking ahead. We always know exactly where we want to go and come up with creative ways to get there. What I like the most about our organization is that we never rest on our laurels and think about the next steps we are going to take.

What energizes you?

Happy colleagues and happy customers. It may sound like a simple answer, but I get a lot of energy from satisfied colleagues when they achieve great results and enjoy their work. I think it’s important to focus on good coordination, so that every colleague gets the space they need do their job to the best of their ability. I also get a lot of energy from our customers when projects are running smoothly or when they finish, because this ultimately results in satisfied customers.

Why should CSPs choose Calvi as their partner?

When I look at it from our perspective, I believe they should choose us because we have an incredibly innovative and customer-focused character. I’ve never received a question or request from our customers that we couldn’t answer. Our customers always know where to find us with the right questions and product suggestions.

Calvi in three words:

“Inspiring, full of team spirit, and lots of fun”

 We continuously challenge each other to come up with creative, innovative, and new solutions. Alongside this, I also believe that we are taking great steps in our Human Resources by focusing on personal development and growth more. Everyone at Calvi works extremely hard, but what I like the most is the team spirit that can be felt throughout the entire organization. And besides that, I believe that we all truly enjoy our work and have fun achieving our goals.

What is your personal motto?

“Every journey starts by taking the first step.”

What does that mean for me? I think it is important to know what your goal is, and to never lose focus on achieving it. Sometimes things can take longer than you initially expected, or you may want to do more, but it’s simply not always possible to do everything at once. Remember that you’ll be closer to the finish line with every step you take, no matter how small it is!”

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.