Arjen Haayman joined IMAGEM in 2015. He works as a Senior Developer at the company and spends his days writing all kinds of code for clients, primarily in JavaScript. To celebrate his five-year anniversary, we asked him about his time at IMAGEM what he’s learned during that time.
I’ve cycled about 40,000 kilometers over the past five years, commuting to and from the office. That’s enough to circle the globe once. I think more people should cycle to work.
— Arjen Haayman, Senior Developer at IMAGEM
What is your background?
I studied geography at the University of Groningen. But then personal computers came along, and that became my hobby. So I turned my hobby into my career. As it happened, my work almost always involved maps. I worked at the Land Registry for eleven years and at various web design agencies.
How did you IMAGEM at IMAGEM ?
IMAGEM a client of my previous employer, so I knew Wouter [Brokx] and David [Jonker]. I enjoyed working with them, and the work was interesting. The day I spoke with Wouter about working at IMAGEM, I had just started a new job. I couldn’t start the other job yet because I still had to get the laptop I needed. Wouter poached me on my first day. The offer was too good to pass up.
[Note: Wouter Brokx is the CEO of IMAGEM David Jonker is the owner of Dotka Data.]
What are your fondest memories with the IMAGEM?
What I still cherish are the times when David, Wouter, and I would sit together in the ACEC building, our previous office. We’d have friendly, casual conversations over lunch and coffee at the big table. I also enjoyed working extensively with Smart M.Apps. Of course, it was also cool to go to Poland to meet with Hexagon—once by bike, when it was possible to follow me on my ride.
So what do you like about working here?
Especially the social interactions at work. It’s good for productivity—not just spending time together, for example during lunch or over morning coffee, but also the social aspect of working together.
What was the first thing you learned at the company?
There’s always a commercial aspect to the work; something has to be marketable. You need to keep that in mind. It makes the value of your time and effort—as well as the final product—clearer; people talk about it. Plus, it’s rewarding to work for government agencies. That’s what makes the work socially relevant.
If you could change one thing about the company, what would it be?
Unlike the ACEC building, the doors are now made of wood and there are multiple floors. This means there are more open doors, making it easier to run into people and strike up a conversation. Previously, in the ACEC building, there were glass doors and, of course, the table in the middle, and everyone was on the same floor. That made it easier to run into each other.
Who would you like to switch jobs with?
I don't know, probably none. Maybe Bryan [Veldkamp]? I'd really like to have his creativity, or be able to make the things he makes.
[Note: Bryan Veldkamp is a Marketing Design Specialist at IMAGEM, responsible for the design.]
Who was your first desk mate?
The first was Wim [Bozelie], who sometimes sat next to me. Now it’s Walter [Jansen], who sits across from me.
[Wim Bozelie is the Technology Director at IMAGEM Walter Jansen is a front-end developer at IMAGEM.]
Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.
I think everyone knows everything about me. What some people don't know is that I act in the PlusLeo theater group in Deventer, where we perform various narrative plays every year.
How do you unwind after a long day at work and a lot of cycling?
No, wait a minute. Cycling is actually what helps me relax and clear my head. When I was working from home during COVID-19, I missed cycling, so I started doing it in the mornings. Now I’m back to doing it in the afternoons. I can go in any direction, and I already have a few routes I know by heart. I’m out for about an hour. Hop on my bike, switch off, turn on a podcast, and off I go.
