"Jun Wang: "I get a lot of energy from organizing activities""

Jun was born in China and grew up in the east of the country, about 2-hour high-speed train from Shanghai. "After 2 years of my bachelor study in China, I ended up in Leuven through a collaboration program. I knew nothing about Belgium, but I thought: I'm young and it's a great opportunity to do something completely new, so why not?"

After his studies in Leuven, he initially would return to China, but things turned out differently. "I met my wife, who is also a Chinese, in Leuven. “We moved to the Netherlands together. I first worked for a family business in Twente for five years. Just when I was ready for something new, TMC came my way. I had already spoken to people at TMC Belgium, but at that stage of my career I chose a company in the Netherlands. When I contacted them again, there were plenty of opportunities. I knew what I wanted, and they turned out to be an excellent match. I already knew that they help people realize their ambitions and offer all the support and training for this."

Communication is the key

That is how Jun ended up at Frencken in September 2021 and started a year later as a Supplier Quality Engineer at ASML, a position he had been aspiring to for some time. "I had done different projects for ASML before on supplier-side, and it was clear to me that I had to take on this challenge. I have built up a lot of technical expertise and in this position I can combine that with more communicative aspects, such as contacts with suppliers. Those aspects plus problem solving interests me a lot. To solve the problems, communication is the key."

Chemistry between colleagues

TMC Expat Community is an Employeneurs based project, which started in 2017 and now it is part of the standard ways of working of TMC.

Being an expat himself, Jun soon decided to actively support the Expat Community. "I'm very social and I really enjoy organizing all kinds of activities. It's motivating and it gives off a good energy." The second month after he joined the community, he already volunteered to co-organize a family activity. "We went to the Discovery Factory (Ontdekfabriek) in Eindhoven with a number of colleagues and their families, including children. They give workshops there in which you can come up with and build all kinds of inventions yourself, such as a small car. The collaboration between parents and children and between colleagues was special to see. The children loved it, but I think the parents might have liked it even more! Last autumn we organized a trip to Maastricht with a boat trip and an excursion to the caves. Especially in autumn it is beautiful there. Currently, people from 49 different countries work at TMC The Netherlands. With the Expat Community, we also want to help them get started in living in the Netherlands and introduce them to all other colleagues." The activities are certainly not exclusively for expats: everyone including their partner is welcome. "It is with such a mix of different people that chemistry arises." There are also plenty of great events planned for 2023. "We now have a very nice team with Employneurs, business managers and an international movements officer. Thanks to the support of TMC, we have the freedom and the financial resources to organize really valuable activities."

Good Chinese restaurants

Jun is always open to challenges, but in the Netherlands and at TMC he has certainly found his niche. "I also have plenty of plans at ASML, so I will definitely stay here for a while. My daughter is five years old and is used to life in the Netherlands, although we speak Chinese at home."

Are there things from his homeland that he misses in the Netherlands? "Of course family and friends, but every year we go to China, or the family comes to Europe. Due to Covid, that was not possible for a few years, but next year hopefully there will be the opportunity to see family and friends again. In the beginning I also the missed the Chinese food. Luckily a lot has changed in the past fifteen years, and now you can buy just about anything you need in store or online. Apart from that, I found out there are some really good Chinese restaurants. My favorite in Eindhoven is a small family restaurant."