Meet the team
Thomas shares his story
Who are you and what do you do at Northwave?
My name is Thomas. I am an Account Manager at Northwave.
My job mainly consists of communication with the customers we already have but also new ones. Therefore, I need the right channels and means of communication in order to explain to new customers what we do, who we are and why we do some things different than our market competitors. Referring existing customers I check which technical requirements are needed, what is the current mood of the customers, what else is needed and exchange with colleagues who are technically closer to Security Operation Manager.
How do you describe your job to your family/friends?
To sum it up real quick I would say we we protect companies' values and employees by identifying, preventing and minimizing their individual risks.
Incident attacks are becoming more and more common, so we try to prevent them so that you think twice before clicking on a possible phishing email and, ideally, recognizing it as such beforehand.
When did you become part of the Northwave team, and what background equipped you for your current position?
I am part of the Northwave team since September 2022. I am trained as an industrial clerk, got my university entrance qualification and then went to Mainz to study communications management. After that I worked for a few for some agencies.I noticed during my career that I also had other talents and then decided to go into marketing and advertising and later I also realized that I feel comfortable in sales as well.
Then we moved to Leipzig and I thought about what suits me best, what brings me joy and where I see myself in the future and that was talking to customers, traveling, building relationships, resolving any need for explanation and convincing customers to some extent and to stand there with passion. And that's how I ended up in the IT sector. A friend of mine saw one of Eileen's lectures and said, hey they have an office in Leipzig. So I applied and then it happened all very quickly. I was very, very enthusiastic from the start, it was like love at first sight when it came to the job and even more after the onboardring days in Utrecht. It feels very authentic and even more than what you might think at first glance.
What is your impression of your Northwave colleagues so far?
Birds of a feather flock together in a positive sense, because new people are always coming and then they fit in really well. I would say we are all on one wavelength, wave also fits, the “Northwave”. We are helping and supporting each other, if you're don't know something, you can talk to anyone and they'll be happy to help. You can also slack or call anyone, it's very familiar and you just feel very comfortable in the community. Also being together at the events, both professionally and personally is a pretty good feeling. It works very well!
What do you do outside of work?
I do lots of family fun, housework and gardening. I like to play the guitar and write songs. I played in a band and we had gigs when I was studying, that was pretty cool. I also like to play tennis, occasionally basketball and I've started jogging and do fitness together with my wife.
I started to meditate in the morning in conjunction with breathing exercises. It´s a nice morning routine and feels very good. Every now and then I write poems and not too long ago I discovered microfiction- you can google it, if you what to know more about it :D.
What do Northwavers have in common?
Definitely the wavelength, the enthusiasm and what everyone sees in Northwave. Working professionally for a good cause and creating added value for companies and customers is something we all have in common. Everyone wants to influence something, wants to change something. And that you know you are on the right side with the right people. That is an incredibly nice feeling and I think every Northwaver has it.
