In 2021, Caithlyn Tschi became part of Avanade’s talent pool as a working student for the Talent Acquisition Team. She then was able to fit in another challenge: a graduation internship and writing her master thesis about leadership and integrity.

In ‘Post-internship’ we tell the stories of Avanadi who started out as interns and now have a flourishing career in their field of expertise. Each academic year, Avanade welcomes a big number of graduation interns within different teams and domains. We harvest young talent and introduce them to our way of working, while boosting growth and skills.

Starting as a working student

At the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Caithlyn followed a Bachelor in Psychology with a specialization in Organizational Psychology. She has an interest in human behavior in the ever-changing workplace, as work is a big part of life. Between her Bachelor and Master, she deliberately chose a break from studying, as she wanted to invest time in developing practical skills and gaining work experience. This led to two gap years in which she developed her skills and built a great network: “I was heavily involved with the NIP (Dutch Institute for Psychologists), being the chairperson of the national student section and later became a Student Ambassador Psychology for the university. During this time, I also started my position as a working student at Avanade. Now I am a Corporate Recruiter and the Campus Lead for The Netherlands and Belgium. A huge milestone and the starting point of my corporate career. I am proud of my accomplishments thus far and look forward to the future.”

Setting goals

Caithlyn started her professional career during the pandemic in 2021: “The onboarding was completely online, and I received my laptop at my home office. IT, as well as recruitment were both new to me, which was a challenge on its own. I had a lot of support and the communication between colleagues and my peers was optimal, even though all conversations were online or via phone. I learned I really like recruitment and HR: you must use your social and organizational skills and collaborate. After the first half year at Avanade, I started my Master's to fulfill my academic ambitions and specialize even more on the topic. Avanade was very flexible and gave me a lot of freedom to pursue my goals. Meanwhile, I was able to set and pursue a target within my domain: create ownership of the candidate experience flow at Avanade, and to be able to develop a stronger campus strategy with the team.”

Working on strategy

“Today, I work as a Corporate Recruiter and Campus Lead, and I am really invested in building a bridge between the business and the personal goals and ambitions of candidates. Every day I am really focused on creating a good and sustainable match. ‘Together we go beyond’ is a statement I propagate internally and externally. We work hard to harvest young talent for our different domains. Most of the talents stay at Avanade after an internship or graduation project, which is a result we are really proud of. In the upcoming period, I continue to work on a strong strategy and brand position, together with colleagues all over Europe.”

Click here for more information on careers at Avanade.