Rik switched jobs at the age of 64

Category Success stories

Date 06 September 2022

The road to Carport Harderwijk

Rik started as a commercial employee at Carport Harderwijk in February at the age of 64. He has been employed by Carport Harderwijk since August 1!

Before his position at Carport, he worked as an account manager at a company specialized in solar panels. However, in December 2021 it turned out that this company was not doing well and Rik decided to look for other work. He then registered with several employment agencies and ended up at BergWerk.

During his first conversation, our mountain worker Susanne already had a nice vacancy ready. When Rik was enthusiastic, an introduction was immediately arranged at Carport. Rik says: ”I had a good conversation with the owner, Jan, and he was impressed by my CV and commercial attitude.” Despite another younger candidate being also in play, Rik has been given the job.

Apply later in life

Applying for jobs later in life can sometimes be complicated. Despite the fact that people over 45 are bursting with knowledge, they often experience prejudices during job interviews. Rik experienced this in 2013 when he started looking for a new job at the age of 54. He then had hundreds of applications and was rejected again and again before eventually ending up with his previous employer. Fortunately, looking for a new job, at the age of 64, was a lot faster. Within two months, Rik was able to start his new job as an employee of indoor sales at Carport. He was very happy with this!

What does a working day look like?

An average working day does not actually exist at Carport. Rik guides customers from A to Z and he does this largely all alone. He handles requests, sends quotes and visits customers throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. During such a visit to a customer, he measures the dimensions and discusses the customer's wishes. ”You experience everything. Sometimes I get a cat on my lap and other times a wagging dog comes up to me. The customers are always very friendly”, says Rik. After a visit, Rik makes a drawing of the carport and the mechanics get to work.

More about working at Carport Harderwijk

Notable stories

We asked Rik for the most remarkable stories of his time so far at Carport. And he had quite a few of those! For example, Rik recently sold a carport to an older couple who would purchase a camper and wanted to travel more often. No sooner said than done. Within no time, the couple's new camper could be dry under the canopy. But the camper was short-lived. Rik says: ”After the first holiday with the camper, the woman was so disappointed that the camper was removed. She never wanted to leave with the camper again. At that time they were still stuck with a high carport, especially for the camper. They contacted us and we shortened the carport. Now the carport has the perfect height so that the car can be dry and we are happy that we could help the customer again.”

Working at Carport

Carport has been around for 17 years now and supplies sustainable and tailor-made carports. Not only are the customers positive about Carport, Rik is also very pleased with working at Carport. During breaks he drinks coffee with the mechanics and on Friday a fish is usually obtained from Dries van den Berg. If there is something to celebrate, a tasty snack is also arranged. In addition, Rik was well trained by his predecessor, so he was able to get started right away! So never too old to learn. Rik also has a lot of contact with customers and is on the road 50% of the time. This makes his work very varied! We wish Rik the best of luck and (work) luck!