Hi! My name is Evelien Haak, I am 21 years old and live in Franeker with my parents and younger brother. In my spare time, I play hockey for MHCL Leeuwarden in the Women's 1 team, and I also enjoy drinking wine with friends. I can often be found on Vlieland, a place I have been visiting all my life.

How did my adventure at WestCord Hotels begin?

During my studies at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, I had a 10-month internship planned for my final year. I already knew WestCord Hotels from my childhood, because I have been camping on Vlieland my whole life. I immediately felt a connection with the company because WestCord also started on Vlieland. I was also very impressed by the fact that it is a family business and how cool it is that, more than 57 years later, WestCord Hotels has grown into a large hotel chain with a total of 16 hotels. I thought: “This is where I want to do my internship!” And so, in September 2024, I began my adventure in the Human Resources department.

What made your internship at WestCord special or unique?

What made my internship so special was that I was truly seen as a full-fledged colleague. That gave me the confidence to take on responsibilities. Soon, I was allowed to work on recruitment and selection for Terschelling, as well as give presentations and tours to vocational schools.

That was all new to me, as I had no experience with HR whatsoever. Fortunately, my colleagues provided me with excellent guidance. At WestCord, you really feel that it is a family business: the lines of communication are short and everyone is there for you.

And the career opportunities? They are definitely there! On August 11, 2025, I officially started as a Human Resources employee at WestCord Hotels.

My current role

It may sound cliché, but I actually enjoy everything about my job! Within HR, I focus on day-to-day tasks such as drawing up contracts, checking invoices, and reviewing payslips. But in addition to the “hard side” of HR, there is also the “soft side”: recruitment and selection. Together with my colleague Eline Ligthart, I travel a lot to recruit new employees and interns. In Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and on Vlieland, there are colleagues who take care of this for their locations. It's real teamwork!

In addition to our daily tasks, we also sometimes help out in the hotels. For example, we recently had a very large event in Amsterdam called “SAIL,” where all of us colleagues from the head office stood behind the bar. That's another thing I really like about WestCord Hotels: everyone is always willing to help each other, which means that a lot of people know each other, even though we all work at different locations. 

''At WestCord, you can really feel that it is a family business: communication lines are short, and everyone is there to assist you.''

From intern to employee

For me, the transition felt very natural. During my internship, I was given a lot of responsibility and was taken very seriously. The biggest difference? Now that I have completed my studies, I can focus entirely on my work, which feels like a huge relief!

Future at WestCord Hotels

I am really looking forward to further developing my knowledge in the field of HR. Of course, I already have some knowledge of HR from my internship, but there is still so much more to learn. By taking on many cases and following online webinars, I am gaining more and more knowledge about HR.

I am also very keen to improve my skills in recruitment and selection and to really put my own spin on it. I hope to come up with new ideas and be able to implement them. For example, I did my graduation project on improving the onboarding process for interns. Soon, I will be sitting down with my colleague to see how we can implement my recommendations to really improve the onboarding process!

What advice would you give to future interns?

First of all, I wish my future intern lots of fun during his or her internship! And the advice I would like to give is: show initiative, listen carefully to what is being said, and remember that making mistakes is part of the learning process.