Jarryd du Plessis

“In March 2022, I moved to Venlo from Cape Town. I lived there for many years, but I grew up in Mossel Bay, a small town on the coast of South Africa. I had been in Cape Town for quite a few years and wanted to see more of the world. During that period, an interesting position at Canon Production Printing in Venlo came my way. As a teenager, I had been to the Netherlands once, in Amsterdam. I had never heard of Venlo. I love traveling and meeting new people. The job at Canon appealed to me, so I decided to embark on the Venlo adventure."

"I am an industrial engineer and am involved in researching and improving the various production lines at Canon. I analyze all the processes and talk to the people who assemble the different printers. The goal is to identify improvements in the production lines to save materials, time, and ultimately costs. When we have identified a concrete improvement, I ensure a project team is established and that we work together to implement the improvement effectively. These can be very small adjustments, but also large, costly changes."

The best part of my job at Canon is collaborating with colleagues from all over the world. Many colleagues are seasoned experts in their field: they solve the most complex problems in a simple way. I learn a lot from that. I am part of the Young Canon Board, a group of young professionals who look at the organization with a fresh perspective and contribute ideas. I am also involved with the Canon Activity Team and am a member of the works council. Canon is continuously innovating. As far as I am concerned, innovation is the ongoing process of implementing small and large changes to improve the company and the products. Canon is really good at that. They also offer numerous opportunities to develop yourself and to advance within the organization. In Venlo or somewhere else in the world.”

"Here in Venlo, I had to get used to the cold and the food the most. By now, I have come to appreciate bittergarnituur, stamppot, and soup very much. I've noticed that people in Venlo and the rest of Limburg are very proud of their local traditions. The different dialects sometimes make it difficult for me to connect in a group where people continue to speak dialect among themselves."

"I live in an apartment in the city center and on the day I arrived in Venlo, everything was full of fences, stages, and people. I thought: what's going on here? The carnival was literally at my doorstep. I didn't know what was happening then, but it reminded me a lot of the Kaapse Klopse (or Cape Town Minstrel Carnival). People also go out in colorful costumes and painted faces into the streets of Cape Town. Even the brass music sounds a bit the same. So I immediately felt a bit at home that day."

To people considering working and living in Venlo, I want to say: always keep stepping out of your comfort zone, because that's when growth and satisfaction occur. Change is never easy, but if you go along with it, it can be very surprising. I miss South Africa every day, but I wouldn't want to miss this Venlo adventure for anything. Venlo offers all kinds of interesting career opportunities and is the perfect starting point to explore other European countries. As long as I can keep learning, traveling, and meeting interesting new people, I am in the right place."