A look behind the scenes of our IT traineeship, with Parminder

At JAM-IT we believe that young talent is the future. That is why we developed an IT traineeship that prepares starters for a role as Mendix Business Engineer in a short space of time. But what does that really look like in practice? Rather than simply telling you, we would like to let you look through the eyes of one of our trainees: Parminder.

"It felt like a clear route straight away"

When Parminder started the traineeship, he was immediately given a clear list of training courses and modules he could follow. "I really liked that," he says. "I could see exactly what the steps were after my onboarding. That gave me a sense of calm and direction right away."

Alongside the technical training he also took an external course on effective communication. "That was so valuable. Not only for my work, but privately too. You learn how to express yourself clearly and work well together, which is at least as important as the technical skills."

Learning in phases, just like at school

The traineeship consists of three levels: Rapid, Intermediate and Advanced. Parminder has now successfully completed Rapid and Intermediate and is currently working on Advanced. "That structure is really nice. It reminded me of the structure of a university of applied sciences degree, with clear years and steps. That made it easy for me to pick up."

From theory to practice, straight to work

What makes the difference is that you do not only bury yourself in the books, but really get to work. Parminder works on the internal project VVS, where he took on various assignments:

• Building toast messages: showing notifications to users to give them extra information. "That was a good first assignment to start with, and it taught me the basics of Mendix in practice."
• Retrieving and filtering nested data: "This was quite a bit more challenging. I had to retrieve data from several layers and display it neatly in a table. This is where I really learned how to handle data within Mendix."
• Building an API connection: through an API he connected data on reception locations to an external party. "That was a hugely instructive assignment. You learn not only how an API works, but also how important it is to set up the right data mappings properly."

"The tips I got from my colleague Armando really stuck. It is exactly those practical things that you do not get from a book."

The first steps towards the client

Besides developing, Parminder is now also working on his soft skills. He has made his first contact with clients through email and meetings. "That is going very well so far. It adds an extra dimension to what you learn; you are not just working for yourself, but really for a client."

And that does not stop at internal projects. From 1 July, Parminder starts at Gemeente Rotterdam as a Mendix Business Engineer. A great next step in which he will put everything he has learned into practice.

"The traineeship feels like the perfect intermediate step"

"I actually thought I wanted to start in a permanent job straight away," Parminder admits. "But I am now very glad I chose the traineeship. You get far better guidance, you get a solid foundation, and you enter the field with much more confidence."

JAM-IT also suits him well outside working hours. "Several of us trainees started at the same time, so we are constantly helping each other. That not only makes it fun, we also genuinely learn faster."

Gaming and Mendix, more overlap than you would think

What is funny: Parminder sees a lot of similarities between Mendix and a game engine he likes to work in, Unreal Engine. "In both you work visually, you drag blocks, you build up logic and you see the result immediately. That makes it extra fun to work with."

Ready for the next step?

With a good dose of practical experience, several certificates in hand and his first client assignment ahead of him, Parminder looks to the future with confidence. "I want to develop further in Mendix and maybe one day bring my gaming world and my IT world even closer together."

Has this made you curious whether the IT traineeship at JAM-IT is something for you? Take a look at our vacancy and who knows, you may soon be at the start of a great IT career with us too!