Thanks Anne!

This week we put our lovely Anne in the spotlight. She was in between studies and worked with us for a year in the warehouse and office. At first a few days a week, but that soon changed to ful-time. A gap year well spent, if she says so herself!

Hi Anne, thanks for participating in this interview. Today we want to get to know you better. so who are you, what is your life like?

My name is anne van Liesdonk, I am 22 years old, I live in Dongen with my parents. I have a boyfriend, a dog and a sister. In my spare time I like to meet up with my friends and go out for dinner. I also like to travel.

Nice, what is your favorite holiday destination?

I enjoy traveling to China.

China? How did that happen?

Well, I studied Chinese for 4 years, so that’s why I have a great interest in China and Asia.

You said you also like to go out for dinner, what do you prefer to eat?

Yes, surely Asian. I also really like Italian or Spanish tapas, but I prefer to eat Asian.

You just mentioned it a little while ago, you studied Chinese, Tell me, how was that?

I studied Communication in Maastricht at Zuyd Hogeschool with a specialization in Chinese language. Last year I did an internship for six months, that was my graduation internship, and in my third year I went to China for six months to study there.

Cool, what was studying in China like?

Very nice! it was in my third year, so I already had som experience with the Chinese lanhuage. There i had language lessons every day from Monday to Friday. So, Grammar, speaking and reading.

That seems very funny to me, arriving in China and being able to already read and understand things.

Indeed, that was very funny. You also learn the language super fast. Because I stayed in a part close to North Korea and they couldn’t speak any English there, so you really had to. In the beginning I found that quite difficult, because I had learned an accent at school and they didn’t really understand me there. Fortunately, at a certain point you get an accent from there, because you hear everything around you find out, oh if I say it like this or that they will understand me better. You do not only have an other accent, you also have to deal with those different tones.

Oh yes, the different sounds, I’ve heard of them.

Exactly, a word can suddenly mean something completely different if you pronounce it differently. You have to be very careful with that. All that took some getting used to in the beginning, but after two weeks it all went quite well.

Super fun, a very nice experience! How did you actually end up at Orange Planet?

For sure! Well my graduation internship was coming to an end and I wanted a job for summer. A friend tipped me off that you were looking for people in the warehouse. so i applied, and when I came here for an interview, it went very well, because the last question was: “when are you on vacation? We’ll schedule you right away.” That was at the end of May last year.

But last year you had a gap year?

Yes, I was not sure what I wanted after graduating. That is why I chose to take a gap year. Actually, the plan was to start a new study in February, but the study that I really wanted to do only started in September. So, a half year in between became a year. But, now I’ve started the Master Tourism and Leisure at Breda University in September.

Well, your gap year, has been spent well . You helped us out.

That is right, I was here a few times a week in the beginning, but due to the Corona crisis and the many orders, I started working full-time in March.

Did you like it?

Yes, I did like it. It was fun and and varied work. Otherwise I would have been sitting at home. And I couldn’t do much else anyway because of the corona, so it was really nice to be able to just be busy.

And what are you doing here in terms of activities?

Well, at the beginning of the corona crisis, I helped a lot in the warehouse, there were so many bol.com packages, over 600 a day. That was real hard work together. I also did some things at the office. These were administrative activities concerning products for bol.com and in Excel.

What makes working here just that little bit different?

Well, I like that there is a small team at work, that everyone knows each other and that everyone is sociable with each other. I also really like Ralf’s enthusiasm for the products. It’s very infectious.

We have a super wide range, but if you must choose one, what do you think is the nicest product?

So I had to think about this for a long time, because there is really a lot to choose from, but I think in this heat* I really have to choose the Cool Down Towel.

Why?

I find that it is a very funny product and it is also kind of my project. Because I have to put it all together. I have done that from the beginning, since I worked here.

Put together, what do you mean by that?

Well there are 4 colors that all arrived individually . Gray and pink are a pack and blue and green are a pack. When it arrives, I have to sort them, make packages and label them, so that it can be easily picked for order picking. Fortunately, the towels are now in bags per color, so assembling is now much faster. The assembly of different products happens more often, usually at the special request of the customer.

Finally, the last question. What can we wake you up for?

So, that’s something completely different. Well if you wake me up and say we are going to make a trip to a very beautiful faraway country, for example China or Japan, you will make me happy. Yes, I would like that, I would immediately say yes. But otherwise you shouldn’t just wake me up, I don’t like that very much.

*This interview was conducted during the heat wave.