Meet Jolien Turner

In January 2015, after graduating with my Master’s in Business Economics, I moved from my home country of Belgium to the United States and enrolled in Chicago’s Loyola University. There, while pursuing Master’s degrees in Finance and Business Administration, I enjoyed taking a few supply chain courses. These courses inspired me to put my theoretic knowledge into practice and apply for a Strategic Sourcing internship at Yaskawa America, Inc.

I’m glad I did. During the summer of 2016 I worked for Yaskawa America, Inc. at the Buffalo Grove, IL location as a Strategic Sourcing intern.

I would describe Yaskawa as a very welcoming and supportive environment. As an international student with little experience, I was worried I would face difficulties integrating into the company. However, that was not the case and I immediately felt accepted as a valid member of the team. I took on many projects that allowed me to expand my skillset, and I was always able to reach out to various people for help and guidance.

This guidance continued even after I finished my internship – I stayed in touch with the Director of Strategic Sourcing, Andjelko Komlenac, and he encouraged me to apply for a Demand Planning position. This was an easy decision for me to make as I had such a positive experience as an intern. So I applied. And, just a few days after graduating from the Quinlan School of Business, I started my full-time position at Yaskawa as Demand Planner at the Waukegan, IL location.

My time at Yaskawa has been wonderful. My position allows me to continually improve my capabilities. As a Demand Planner, I get to work with unique software tools that allow me to leverage my analytical strengths. Being a part of a great team has helped me develop strong and valuable team-working skills. I also get to interact with many different departments outside of Demand Planning, such as Supply Planning, Product Management, Sales, Finance, etc. I have grown my knowledge base and social skillset significantly through these interactions.

I consider myself very fortunate that I get to work with amazing, fun, and knowledgeable people. In Dutch we have a word that would describe Yaskawa’s people and culture perfectly, and it is “gezellig” (pronounced heh-SELL-ick). This word does not have an English equivalent. It essentially expresses a feeling of coziness, of general togetherness. I am happy that I get to contribute to making this place “gezellig” and am excited to continue doing so.