Meet Callista
"The fact that you have plenty of room to grow is characteristic of Action."
Callista Jongsma, HR Administrative Employee IIHi! Could you introduce yourself?
My name is Callista and I've been living in Grootebroek with my boyfriend for two years. I've been working at Action since November 2021. I started as an HR Administrative Employee I and after a year moved up to HR Administrative Employee II. At the moment, I'm working more broadly as an all-round HR employee.
What is it you do as an HR Administrative Employee II?
I take care of onboarding new staff together with my colleagues from the Hiring team. We make sure the workplaces are well equipped, alongside a whole host of other tasks. As a more experienced colleague, I create the contracts and check any contracts created by my colleagues. I also focus on more complex cases relating to the handling of documents and help colleagues out if they get stuck. Together, we process all the applications from head office and the stores. That's 80 employees and 10 trainees a day on average, so they're not small numbers!
Why did you join Action?
After training in specialised childcare, I worked in that field. However, that didn't turn out to be the right place for me. So when I moved to Grootebroek, I looked around for another job. Several vacancies at Action caught my eye, as the organisation's size, international outlook and the range of opportunities on offer appealed to me straight away.
"The opportunities you get here to continue to develop"
Has anything surprised you at Action?
The opportunities you get here to continue to develop. After having been with the company for a year, I said I wanted to continue to progress. This was addressed immediately at the time. Now I'm itching to develop further and I'm currently enjoying the opportunity to focus more broadly on HR. I now spend some of my time working in the Change team. I now know that this scope for growth is characteristic of Action.
What's the best part of your job? And what can be challenging?
The dynamics. The work alternates between scheduled and ad hoc. We're also regularly confronted with new laws and regulations. I also like the fact that I work with the head office and the individual stores. We do, however, have to deal with really busy periods, such as when there are many holiday workers during the summer. That means we have to pull out all the stops!
What are you proud of at work?
Personally, I'm proud of the huge steps forwards I've taken in recent years. Looking at the work, I'm proud of our new apprentice registration system. This was less well organised to start with, but it's now done in just a few clicks.
What's the atmosphere like?
I work in a great team with professional colleagues. Everyone's keen to get to know each other and willing to help. The range of different backgrounds within the team makes work even more interesting. Sometimes everyone brings snacks and you can try a particular French or Polish delicacy for the first time. How nice is that?
Do you have any tips for future colleagues?
Submit an application, and just be yourself. We're much more interested in who you really are rather than what's on your CV.. And if you want to grow and develop, you've come to the right place. Our motto is that you're never too old or too young to learn.