The story of Sam Lansen, job coach

Job coach Sam Lansen (38) has worked at Werkse! since April 2022, before which he had to cut short the commercial career he had had until then. He does not regret that for a moment. ‘Since I started working here, I am in my power and work from my authenticity. At night, my battery is still 90 per cent full.’

‘Before, I worked from the view that you have to make a career and climb up. But I didn’t think enough about what I really wanted. In the logistics job I had last, I ran into that. I had to make sure everything ran smoothly, but to do that I had to do things that didn’t fit my values. Saying “no” when I would rather say “yes.” That started to rub off more and more. A psychological test showed that I was more of a collaborator and empath and belonged more in the social realm.’

‘Just at that time I read about a speed meeting of Werkse! They were looking for candidates for the position of job coach. I liked what I found on the Internet about Werkse! and my participation in the speed meeting made it clear that this was my place. Because I had no relevant education or experience, I assumed that I would not be selected anyway.

But things turned out differently. Based on the profile I drew of myself and the cases I had to work on and present, to my surprise and delight I was accepted. And so I started working as a job coach in April 2022. In six months, I completed my college education as a job coach and took one internal course after another. At the same time, I jumped in at the deep end and built a caseload, where I could always fall back on a colleague with questions and problems. That was great!

‘Since working here, I am in my strength and work from my authenticity. In the commercial sector, I always had to be on my toes. Here, I work with my core qualities, which makes my quality of life much higher. It actually energises me instead of costing me energy. At night, my battery is still 90 per cent full. And people are happy with who I am and what I do. This work also forces me to reflect more on myself: which (pre)judgements are alive in me, what can I still work on in myself? That way I grow too!

‘At Werkse! you enjoy a high degree of freedom. A good example is that of a man who was seconded by Werkse! to an external company. The company terminated the employment. Normally, such a person then has to start working in one of our apprenticeships. However, this man emphatically did not want that. I felt that if forced, he would call in sick. Then we would be even further from home. Colleagues recommended coercion anyway, but I chose to give the man space to stay at home. I was able to arrange this with the client, who was willing to continue paying me for two months.

I had firm discussions with the man, challenging him to say what he wanted instead of shouting what he didn’t want. That way, I put him at the centre as a client, and it worked. We eventually found him work as a work planner in home care and now he is happily at work. So my contrarian – and risky – approach worked well, and I am proud of that. And Werkse! gave me the space for it.’

‘What I love about this work is that I bring movement into the lives of people who are stuck. That I can help break patterns that get in the way of their quality of life. It’s super wonderful to be part of such a process. I’m very grateful for that!’