What makes Van Ginkel Groep a great employer? Joshua Riemers explains

Joshua Riemers (38) has been working at Van Ginkel Groep for 18 years and plans to add many more years to that. What makes Van Ginkel Groep the perfect employer for this working supervisor?

Stable because of varied and challenging work at a real and close family business that’s always there for you

Before Joshua started working at Van Ginkel Groep, he tried out different jobs. “I was really searching to discover what I like. I used to be a road worker and I also worked at the C1000 supermarket.” He also had some jobs at the Kruidvat and the candy manufacturer Look-O-Look. “I didn’t like it, at all. I didn’t like working indoors. I’d rather be outside and I need to get my hands dirty. I was happy as a road worker, but then you have to sit crooked on your knees all day. Let’s just say some people can handle that better than others.”

He kept looking for a job that would suit him in the area where he lives. ‘I came across Van Ginkel Groep on the internet. I walked in and was welcomed with open arms. They didn’t have that many people yet and they were very happy with my arrival. At Van Ginkel I found exactly what I was looking for. The work is very varied and there is a challenge every day. And my hands get dirty, that makes a difference”, Joshua says with a grin.

The atmosphere and mentality within the company also make Joshua feel at home: “Van Ginkel is always willing to help me. They always help everyone, we only have to ring the doorbell and we get help. This is not the case with many other companies. We are quite a close club, a real family business.”

Van Ginkel Groep professionals offer effective internal training

Joshua works as a working supervisor. “I blast, paint, metallize and I am currently training as a painter. I also help to build up work tents.” He has been trained internally by professionals and now also provides such guidance himself. “I had a teacher, Vincent Doeleman, who taught me how to blast and what it involves, and now I am a teacher for a new kid in training. In the past I spent some time walking on Maasvlakte 2 (where Van Ginkel Groep has been assembling offshore foundations on behalf of SIF for years, ed.), I was a team leader there and I also trained someone to be a team leader. That kid is still around and that’s going very well, which makes me very proud.”

At Van Ginkel Groep you can keep learning

At the moment Joshua is also following a learning trajectory, in which he is guided internally. “Edwin Baumann teaches me everything about spraying: how do I get the latex on? How can I see if I hit everything right? How should I prepare the coating and how should I apply it? That’s really quite a process. I have already sprayed my first waste containers. At Van Ginkel, we spray everything from car parts to construction work.”

Metallizing is a smart way to extend the life of objects

In addition to spraying, blasting and building work tents, Joshua metallizes objects, but what exactly is metallization? “How am I supposed to explain that…”, Joshua says laughing. “Metallizing is making a metal or alloy liquid and then spraying it on something. We use machines for this. By making a controlled short circuit we electrically melt the wire. Like, for example, with zinc alu. That’s zinc wire with a little aluminum in it. This goes through the machine, where it finally melts at the gun and we spray it onto a surface using compressed air. Metallizing is a method that is often applied to objects that require a long service life, such as bridge parts.”

The atmosphere and challenge make working at Van Ginkel Group worthwhile

One of the nicest projects Joshua worked on was a job on a bridge in Yerseke and that had everything to do with his colleagues. “We did that job in a weekend. Everyone from the workplace was there, together with the work planners and André (Van Ginkel, ed.). We were just busy with our own people and it was a great weekend.”

In addition to a good atmosphere, Joshua is happy with the challenge that working at Van Ginkel offers him. That’s why he is such a fan of building work tents. These are gigantic tents (up to 850 meters long!) in which work on roads and/or bridges can be carried out without being affected by weather conditions and with climate control (hot, cold, extraction system). “You get somewhere and it always becomes a challenge to set up such a huge tent.”

Joshua also finds a challenge in blasting, which makes it one of his favorite pastimes. “What’s the best way to blast, can we reach everything properly?” Especially with wet blasting you have to deal with challenging working conditions, such as limited visibility. You can improve the view by carefully choosing the spot where you will stand during wet blasting: “If you stand directly in front of an object when blasting, you will get everything directly in your view, but if you stand a little bit away from the object, while holding the hose next to you, so it doesn’t spray right at you, you’ll have a better view. Just watch carefully where you stand.”

Name: Joshua Riemers

Age: 38

Born in: Rotterdam and has been living in Valburg for 28 years

Works at Van Ginkel since: 2003

Works as: working supervisor

Previously worked as: a road worker and as an employee at a supermarket and drugstore

Thinks Van Ginkel Groep is an irresistible employer, because: they are always there for you

Currently working on this job: removing chromium-6 on lock gates in Sliedrecht (and a rush job in the evening on a bridge commissioned by Heijmans)

Best job so far: working at the Post Bridge in Yerseke

Really likes a job if: there are nice colleagues working with you and if there is a challenge

Would like to work on: the top of the Eiffel Tower

In five years he sees himself as: executor

Gives the coffee at work a: 6 (but that’s because he has a very nice coffee machine at home)

At noon he eats: Bread and won’t mind putting cheese, peanut butter and sugar on it. AT THE SAME TIME

Known for: helpfulness

Loves this very much: sleeping in, but now he has children. Fortunately, he also loves his children very much and thus can do just fine without sleeping in

You don’t have to wake him up for: Brussels sprouts