Dear reader, 

My name is Jelle Klinkhamer, I am 22 years old, an ESHPM alumnus and currently working in the life sciences industry. Since I am still involved in our beautiful study association, as member of the Advisory Board, I was asked to write something about how I got my job, what it is like to be a ‘burger’ rather than ‘student’ and how I am experiencing this transition to adulthood. Of course, I am more than willing to do so, and I hope that you get something out of it, and if not, have at least enjoyed the read!  

In October 2020, I started working as a Market Access Advisor at Agendia. Agendia is a precision oncology company that was founded in Amsterdam, committed to bringing early stage breast cancer patients and their physicians the information they need to make the best decisions for the full treatment journey. Together with my team, I am responsible for ensuring patient access to our diagnostic tests in the EMEA region.  

I am happy with my job, since I knew that I wanted to work within Market Access since my 2nd bachelor year. Down the road, I was often told that it would be hard to start as a junior within market access, as it was generally a role you would grow into, starting from for example sales. Nevertheless, thanks to being persistent and a golden tip from an ESHPM alumna I was able to start my career within market access. (Take notes guys, networking is extremely important!) 

Working full-time doesn’t feel very different to me than doing the work I did as a student. The only real difference I feel, is that I must do my work on working days, instead of postponing parts of it to the weekends. It appears that the term ‘working days’ as a student never really got to me, but now I am forced to embrace it (which I don’t mind). Anyways, of course you have formal responsibility that you didn’t really have as a student, which could be scary to think of. However, that comes in naturally, as your education at ESHPM and maybe some extracurricular activities at SHARE prepare you well for it. 😉  

Obviously, as a ‘burger’ I would miss out on some Thursday nights at Vibes (in no corona-times), but in return I can finally fully enjoy weekends! What I am saying is, being a ‘burger’ isn’t that bad; it keeps you busy and makes sure you can bring home the bacon, while having fun. On top of that, you will still be able to partake in the same entertaining activities you did as a student, but now with more money to spend!  

So, for those ‘eeuwige studenten’ out there, it’s all right, come and join the ‘burger’-side!