Blog – Business and friendships in New York
My Quest Experience
Nhan Tran went on a Quest experience from Vietnam, Asia to New York, U.S.A.
In June 2016, an Arcadis U.S.A. colleague visited the Arcadis Vietnam office for a Quest. Her trip was about to understand the Arcadis Vietnam business, share the New York City resiliency experience, the lessons learned and to be an ambassador to bridge the knowledge gap. I had an opportunity to go on a return Quest for the first two weeks of November 2016.
My aims were to study water and infrastructure projects in New York, share Arcadis Asia experiences, to understand the Arcadis U.S.A. business and to discuss business opportunities in Vietnam with the U.S.A. team.
My first impression in the New York Long Island Office was that all staff were young and full of energy. The word proposal was the word I heard the most on my first day. Even the office manager was busy with a proposal. In the next few days, a list of proposals was given to me in which I could see Arcadis New York won many water projects. I believe that they are doing a great job. In addition, the design and programme management were introduced to me. I visited construction fields and attended a community meeting with Arcadis New York team. By the end of my trip, I asked the U.S.A. team for project documents. Thanks to its permission, I can use all of them to develop our young project management sector.
Arcadis Asia is the leading Cost and Contract Management company in Asia. In our projects, we have Project Management and the design and cost of a project. In the meantime a consultant in U.S.A. carries out all the work. Our strength in cost and contract was presented to the New York engineering team. For example, we support clients to manage the construction budget, assess contractor claims and claim on behalf the client against contractor and other consultants.
Business opportunities in Vietnam were discussed with the New York manager and the Arcadis Global Water Director. We all agreed to save the best for last.
Quest is open for all staff such as, QS, HR, Admin, Finance, IT, etc. If an Arcadian is interested in Quest, here are the steps you would need to take before going on a Quest:
- Create your account on https://arcadisquest.com/
- Find a host region
- Request for the home regions’ approval
- Request expense support from Lokvinlaan
- Finally, the home and host region Quest expenses are supported by Lovinklaan foundation.
My overall conclusion is that the Quest program makes a long-term relationship, both in business and in friendships. It has been a great and amazing experience!
Quest is an international transfer program which connects Arcadians from all over the world. Quest is sponsored by the Lovinklaan Foundation