Quest is an international transfer program which connects Arcadians from all over the world. Quest is sponsored by the Lovinklaan Foundation. Every week we are highlighting one of the stories our employees who went on an exchange. In this blogpost we cover the Quest story of Rafal Wróblewski who traveled from Warsaw, Poland to Shanghai, China.
Why did I apply for a Quest
“Quest is a great adventure that in addition to business knowledge also provided me with many unforgettable experiences!”
In retrospect, the question above should be “Why did I apply for Quest so late?” I think the main reason was incognizance. Before I learned about the details, I thought that it was dedicated to experienced employees who carry out strategic projects for Arcadis and I, as a young employee, would have no chance to participate in Quest. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Being even a young employee, you can take part in Quest and use it to expand your knowledge.
Participating in the program was suggested to me by Mr. Lai Pak Hung from the office in Shanghai. During a short conversation I was inspired to apply. The fact that there are several hundred times more Arcadis employees with my expertise in China was enough encouragement to get to know the Chinese market and apply for a Quest exchange in this area.
Learnings
The exchange program taught me mainly a new look at my specialization, which is Cost Management and the role of the Cost Manager on projects. While working on projects in my office, QS usually has an additional function where the main scope of Arcadis services is Project Management. Projects carried out by the office in Shanghai are so large that Arcadis often has a separate function as Cost Manager. I saw not only what the projects in Shanghai look like but also gained a lot of knowledge about the entire market in China, which is definitely bigger than our local markets in Europe.
Experiences
Throughout the week I had the pleasure of meeting several people with whom I talked about various issues related to the theme of Cost Management. We have discussed topics such as procurement, tendering or cost control. An interesting experience was also visits to investments conducted by the local office. The thing that will undoubtedly stay in my memory for a long time was the meeting of interesting people and the encounter with such an interesting culture.
Quest is a great adventure that in addition to business knowledge has also provided me with many experiences related to learning about Chinese culture.
The international transfer program Quest, which connects Arcadians from all over the world, is sponsored by the Lovinklaan Foundation.
