Have you always wanted to know what it’s like to work at a prestigious finance company? We spoke with a number of entry-level professionals and trainees in the finance & banking industry. In this series of interviews, you will find out what it’s like to work at NN Group, Van Lanschot Kempen, De Volksbank and PGGM.
Elise Bleukens, our fourth interviewee, works at Van Lanschot Kempen as Relationship Manager. Continue reading to find out more about what Elise studied before becoming a Relationship Manager, how she experiences working with bankers and why she thinks working at Van Lanschot Kempen is fun and diverse.
What is your full name and what is your position at Van Lanschot Kempen?
My name is Elise Bleukens, and I’m a Relationship Manager for offices in Amsterdam and Hilversum / Laren. I’ve been working at Van Lanschot Kempen since December 2020.
What did you do before starting at Van Lanschot Kempen?
In 2020, I completed my Financial Services Management study at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. During my third year, I did an internship at the Van Lanschot Private Banking office in Amsterdam. Afterwards, I pursued an in-depth minor in California at the San José State University. For five months, I focused on business and international economics with German as an additional language.
For my final internship, I worked at Omniplan, where I wrote a marketing plan for the launch of the Personal Finance Planner. After completing my studies, I started the pre-master’s program in Business Administration at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. At the same time, in December 2020, I started working as a Relationship Manager at Van Lanschot Kempen. I have now completed my pre-master and, in addition to my work at Van Lanschot Kempen, I am focusing on a Master in Management.
How do you experience your role as a Relationship Manager?
As a Relationship Manager, I work together with two bankers who each have a portfolio of clients. Together with the banker, I am the primary point of contact for these relations. This creates a fairly close and dynamic team, which is very enjoyable.
The great aspect of my job is having so much personal contact with our relations. At the beginning, I had to get used to this, but now I realise that I have developed a good trust relationship with our clients.
A typical workday can’t really be described in a few sentences. All kinds of issues arise with our relations, ranging from financing issues to estate planning, investing, and more. So, I am essentially dealing with the same topics every day, but aligned to the situation of the respective customer.
What is your experience in working for Van Lanschot Kempen and what stands out to you?
From a young age, I have been learning about the financial world as my father owned a business in this sector. I was occasionally able to assist him at his company and gain knowledge about this kind of work. One of the things I learned from that period is that building a good relationship of trust and personal contact can make a difference in the experience our clients have. Over the past few years, I have noticed that these values are also highly regarded at Van Lanschot Kempen.
Team Amsterdam is quite a diverse team, which makes it very enjoyable to work together. Besides the diverse characters in our team, you can also see a distribution between young and old in our region. One of the great things that Van Lanschot offers to its young employees is Young Van Lanschot Kempen. Everyone in the entire organisation, spread across the countries in which we operate, and under the age of 31, can join.
This association allows young professionals within the organisation to share knowledge and build a network in an accessible and enjoyable way. This ranges from study trips and beach days, to content-focused events that are aimed at getting to know each other better on both a social and professional level.
What is something you wish you knew before you started working in your role as Relationship Manager?
My biggest tip for students would be to carefully consider what motivates them and whether they align with the organisation at which they want to work. Additionally, I would say: enjoy your student days and travel before starting your professional career. I had always wanted to travel before I started working, but ultimately decided not to because I was offered the opportunity to start as a relationship manager and was eager to take it.
Can’t wait to get started as a Relationship Manager or do you want to stay up-to-date on other job openings at Van Lanschot Kempen? Connect with Van Lanschot Kempen on Magnet.me via this link.