Alumni views
Business Information Systems (MSc)
Name: Jeroen Kemperman
Current position: Web manager at Hagemeyer
‘I studied Information Engineering at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, a university of professional education, which was fun but not challenging enough. Through a partnership between the the University of Amsterdam and the HvA, I had the option of doing the pre-Master's programme in place of my graduate internship. That enabled me to get started with the Master's in Business Information Systems, which was also encouraged by the HvA.'
‘I found the Master's programme to be a great supplement to my earlier study programme. It is a good foundation for learning to think critically, rather than parroting what you've been told. That has really benefited me in my work.'
‘I'm employed as a web manager at Hagemeyer. My main role is to support people writing the content. Alongside that, I have my own company developing web applications.'
‘After I completed the study programme, I found myself wondering how having the Master's degree would help me to add value to Hagemeyer, or even to the world in general. I got in touch with my thesis supervisor at the University of Amsterdam, and explained to him what my perceptions of Hagemeyer were. As a result of that discussion, I'm now working on setting up an international Community of Practice within the Hagemeyer Group, with e-commerce being the main task. My thesis supervisor is interested in what I'm doing and I keep him updated every couple of months. He also keeps me on my toes, and I'm grateful for that.'
‘I think career prospects for Information Studies students are very broad. With a background in Information Studies, you can move up to higher management - whether on the technical side or more social side. My own aim is to further develop my own company in a few years from now. My dream is to be able to give something back to society in that way. I want to do that by offering opportunities to people who wouldn't otherwise have them.'
‘At Hagemeyer I try to help wherever I can, and the Information Studies programme is a good foundation for that. I feel lucky to be in a position where I get to create something like a Community of Practice at the age of 25. It's also something that allows me to apply what I learn directly to my work. I thought the fun thing about the university subjects was that you really have to demonstrate a grasp of the theory. Only then do you make the grade. I also learned how to write well. I fell short in that respect when I was doing my applied programme and really had to work on it at the University.'
‘I found the University of Amsterdam itself to be well organised. It has good facilities and the lecturers were inspiring. It motivated me to push myself, and to flourish. Information Studies taught me to better analyse economic issues, notions of value and the significance of phenomena like Google, YouTube and social networking sites like Hyves.'