I recently joined Semmtech after graduating from university. My colleagues are ambitious, easy to talk to and open to new ideas, this makes them a pleasure to work with. Semmtech believes in upskilling its employees and as a result, I feel valued and appreciated, even at an early stage in my career.

We are a young company, operating as an autonomous group of equals. We still have the enthusiasm and culture of a start-up. We respect and appreciate each other’s differences and added value and we are always open to input and no one’s concerns are ignored or dismissed. We are not afraid of making mistakes, because we are eager to learn. We are averse to machismo and corporate games. We try to balance being focused with a relaxed atmosphere and enough room for joking around and feel like a start-up team.

You will find yourself being part of a well-mixed team of people, with an average age of around thirty, who have different educational backgrounds amongst which information technology, artificial intelligence, civil engineering, linguistics, aerospace engineering, medicinal chemistry, architecture, and English language and culture. We believe in your ability to develop as a person and as a professional instead of a hiring a specific skill set. At the moment we are Dutch, Greek and Canadian and we speak English amongst each other to make sure expats feel welcome and comfortable.

The subject matter of semantics and linked data is intellectually challenging. Semantics is basically applying logic and structure to how people register information. Linked Data is about how all information is interrelated. We have a firm understanding of software development and an expertise in information modelling. And of course we know the domain of our clients, mainly active in technological industries like construction, shipbuilding and process industry. Our developers create software applications and a data platform. Consultants and analysts apply our software and third party solutions in the client’s environment.

Developers work in small teams in iterative cycles. Both front end and back end. Every developer has impact on the end products and our development approach. You will certainly use tools like Bitbucket, Bamboo, Docker, SonarQube, Maven, and Node.js. We believe that the actual IDE in which you work your magic, is up to you. Java is considered the first language within the development team for developing our performance critical services layer, aimed at offering reusable services for web applications. Our second language is JavaScript which is used to develop responsive, easily deployable, and accessible web applications for end-users. As a JavaScript engineer, you have a lot of freedom in choosing new technologies for producing versatile (web) applications. In order to build, test and deploy JavaScript applications, we use Node.js, Mocha, Karma, and Webpack.

A typical project for analysts and consultants is to start with analysing a client’s needs and processes. How do they work? What information is used? And how is information shared between people and applications? Based on semantic modelling methods the team designs an information architecture to improve business processes. This is an iterative way of working with a lot of client interaction, advising the client on adjusting the process itself. The design of information models is then used as a blueprint to create web based tools. Our analysts do most of the software configuration and learn from consultants, who are in charge of the design. An experienced consultant coordinates the teams efforts. When a tool is ready we help our clients to manage their IT environment and apply principles of semantics it in their day-to-day activities.

Our clients are big multinationals in technological sectors. We work for engineering and design firms, shipbuilders, contractors, public clients and consultancy firms. Some clients use our products and services project based and some adopt our deliverables as business standards, applying our software and information models throughout their company. Our ambition is for our deliverables to be used worldwide as well. We have the ambition to operate more and more abroad. And we want new colleagues to get the opportunity to work internationally.

Because we have just began to grow, your opportunities are endless. We have colleagues who started as analyst, became consultant and switched to become software developer. Some who just graduated delivered projects autonomously within two months. And we have new hires becoming team Leads in no time. Colleagues who care for widening their experience are involved in management responsibilities like marketing, finance, housing and human resource. We believe that you need to do what you are passionate about in order for our team to keep up with our growth as a company.
We invest in skills and knowledge on every level of autonomy and responsibility by joining internal and external courses. New hires are always guided on the job by more experienced team members. You are allowed to make mistakes because we think making mistakes is a way of learning. Everyone who is up for the job will grow along with the company.

As an undergraduate or graduate student you can join our team working on a research topic. Just take a look at our website for some research inspiration or contact one of our colleagues to discuss a topic of your interest. From just about every area of computer science and business processes in technology we need good students to dive into specific topics. For example: “Using linked data to improve Systems Engineering?” in the field of information management for product development. Or make “A SPARQL query builder for Linked Data” in the field of computer sciences. Please don’t hesitate to write or call one of us to ask for input. We like to help you out.

By graduating at Semmtech you will get familiar with a professional environment in a short period of time and within a comfortable atmosphere amongst peers. You will have the chance to learn from colleagues who graduated a few years ago and get to know different fields of information management and business processes from a wide range of sectors.

Telling you how great we are, will probably not do it for you. So let’s see if we fit.
If you aim for a job at a large corporate organisation, then we are probably not what you are looking for. We are wise enough to wear suits when our counterparts expect us to, but not because we value formalities. And we don’t believe in artificial hierarchy where managers confuse a position with an identity. We use structure merely to organise and we use good manners and respect instead of corporate rules.

If you feel flattered by established firms looking for ‘the best’, we understand. But making slides and calculations is not directly having an impact in our opinion. It is a story about having an impact. At Semmtech you change businesses and the way people operate step by step. Every single day. And working double hours is not considered cool or gets you status. We work to make progress, not for others to believe we are ‘the best’.

We want you to be authentic with a drive to contribute to shaping our company, knowing to be smart, eager to grow as a professional and motivated to get the job done. Join us if you are determined and willing to shape our company with the rest of us.

Semmtech is based within the Amsterdam area, near to our main airport Schiphol in Hoofddorp. Our office is easily accessible by public transport (and car) from all major cities in the area. From Amsterdam Central Station it takes a 20 minute ride to a train station close-at-hand, with our office being directly next to the station. Most of our colleagues live in Amsterdam or cities nearby like Haarlem, The Hague, Utrecht or Leiden.