Euflex—the name stands for Eindhoven University Flexibility—has been TU/e’s personnel service provider for 27 years. Thousands of students know the company as a secondment agency for suitable side jobs. Around seventy companies in the wider region know EuFlex as a source of potential employees, and in the eyes of director Leo Robben, that is far too few.

“Two thousand students work through us in jobs that range from occasional tasks at the university to long-term part-time jobs off campus. But nine thousand students have registered on our platform. Half of them have already uploaded a CV,” says Robben.

“The problem lies in the shortage of clients. On average, we see twelve applicants per vacancy. It’s not because there aren’t enough jobs in the region.” Robben describes it as a pond with too few fish.

Fishing rods

“Companies are looking for employees or interns and hire more recruiters to find them. That basically means adding more fishing rods to the pond, when what you actually want is more fish in the pond. EuFlex can help with that. Companies often don’t realize that there’s a huge pool of potential here at TU/e that they can reach through us.”

Maiko Cheng knows this well. The master’s student in Human Technology Interaction has been working through—and for—EuFlex for years. “In my second year I was still picking up shifts at the Spar, but I was looking for a job more related to my studies.”

“In my bachelor’s program Psychology & Technology I had a profile that included graphic design, and I saw a poster at the EuFlex office—which is located above the Spar, indeed—advertising a position as a student assistant for the Marketing and Design team at EuFlex. I’ve now been doing that for quite some time, eight hours a week.”

Connections

Cheng has also found an additional one-off assignment himself. “For Eindhoven School of Education (ESoE, ed.) I made a promotional video and updated the study guide. That didn’t come through an official vacancy at EuFlex, but through friends who were studying at ESoE.”

“Through those new connections I then got a longer-term assignment for 4TU.CEE. Now I work there as a communications officer and manage their website for four hours a week.”

He explains that the work suits him very well. “I like my week to be structured. There are also many on-call jobs, such as handing out flyers at the High Tech Campus, but that wouldn’t really suit me.” Although he doesn’t always say no to short assignments; in the main photo you can see Maiko Cheng working for MyFuture during the Career Expo.

As a student assistant for EuFlex, Cheng is actively working on finding new clients for TU/e students. “Together with the team we develop strategies to find more vacancies for students. For example, we advise companies to offer internships and hope that other side jobs will grow out of that. We connect with companies at the Career Expo and come up with digital recruitment methods for specific target groups.”

He knows there is a major shortage of employers. “I’ve seen vacancies that received thirty applications.”

Neighbors and birthday parties

Even though the supply is limited, the range of jobs is very diverse. Off campus, students work in hospitality at Airport Eindhoven, as a data analyst in a hospital in Maastricht, for the municipality of Eindhoven distributing work phones, and as a lab technician in Mierlo, to name a few.

On campus, the jobs often involve tutoring, recording video lectures, or assisting with information activities. Robben says he finds it unfortunate but understandable that many professors personally select their student assistants. “If a vacancy like that were published through EuFlex, all students would have an equal chance. That might be fairer.”

Another thing he would like to see is EuFlex gaining more word-of-mouth recognition. “Ideally, every member of the TU/e community who ends up in a conversation about staff shortages should mention that many technical students at the university are looking for part-time work.”

“Whether that’s on the street or at a birthday party. And if you hear signals like that, feel free to pass them on to EuFlex. All organizations, start-ups, scale-ups, and corporations that are looking for staff are very welcome.”

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.