Can you introduce yourself? What studies did you follow?
Hi! I’m Sebastiaan, born in 1989, living (now) in Den Bosch. I started studying CIS in 2009. In 2014, I completed the Master’s in Business Communication and Digital Media.
Can you tell something about the company you work for?
Currently I work for Leapp, a company that sells refurbished Apple devices. With every generation of new iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, we see that the price goes up, but the devices don’t get much better, stronger, more innovative. In addition, the production of new devices is very burdensome for the earth because of all the precious raw materials that are mined and processed in the next iPhone. Moreover, people who mine these resources often do so under inhumane conditions.
Leapp gives Apple devices a second life. We do this by thoroughly inspecting used devices, refurbishing them where necessary and putting a clean software installation back on the market with a two-year warranty. That’s how Leapp solves the aforementioned challenges. We offer a cost-effective alternative to new Apple devices that place far less of a burden on people and the planet.
How did you end up at Leapp?
In 2018, I worked for a competitor of Leapp called SWOOP. Things didn’t go so well there and the company went bankrupt. I really enjoyed my work there and was also fascinated by the industry and the mission we worked on every day. Leapp happened to be looking for someone with my profile. For Leapp it was nice to have someone who was familiar with the market and the associated challenges. For me it was very nice to continue what I was doing with another player in the same market. A very good match!
How fast could you find a job after you graduated?
I graduated in 2014. That was a different time in terms of the labour market than now, because the aftermath of the financial and euro crisis meant that companies had little appetite to train a junior. In the end I found a job after 3 months.
Immediately after obtaining my master’s I followed a post-master course of 6 weeks at the recruitment branch of Marketing Intelligence company Cmotions. I don’t count that period, because I wasn’t available for a job at that time.
How did you select the type of job you wanted to apply for?
Because of that post-master course – which was about data driven online marketing – I knew I found two things very interesting: web analytics and SEA. I mainly searched for that, but I also applied for general online marketing positions.
My first job was at Kras, the tour operator. That’s where I started as a junior SEA marketer.
What is your current function called?
E-commerce manager.
Can you tell something about your daily tasks?
In my role I am responsible for the online sale of Leapp. In my daily work I am mainly concerned with the three pillars that lead to online success: how much website traffic we attract (and at what cost), how successful visitors are in buying a product and how we can improve this by designing the site smarter and, finally, which products we show on the website. Relevance and completeness of supply play an important role in the latter pillar.
To what extent is your study programme(s) reflected in your work? Do your studies and your work match well?
What especially helps me is the scientific training I received during my studies. There is an abundance of data in the online world. This means that you no longer have an excuse not to rely on data when making decisions. The scientific method is very suitable for converting that data into valuable information with which we can make predictions. This helps us enormously in making decisions and ensures that we can make optimal use of our limited resources in time and money.
In terms of content, online marketing is largely persuasive communication. Here, too, I see an overlap with the content of my study.
