People at ALPLA - Interview with Esther Neven

Hello Esther, it’s nice of you to make time for us. Let’s get right into our interview. How would you explain your job at ALPLA to a child?

I help employees do what they did constantly as children, and usually subconsciously: I help them learn, in a wide variety of forms. Learning helps us develop as people, strengthen existing abilities and gain new ones.

What many people likely don’t know is that you started down a very different career path when you studied. Do you want to tell us what you studied and why you then decided to devote yourself to lifelong learning?

I studied to become a vet and did a Master of Science degree. Sadly, personal reasons forced me to reorient after I got my degree, but I was helped by things such as my perseverance, openness to change, willingness to learn and flexibility. For instance, I learned that such changes in life aren’t about weakness, but rather offer an opportunity to rethink and reshape life. They demand an open, flexible and learning-ready attitude as well as self-reflection.

‘The common thread throughout life can be a colourful one!’

This led me to develop my passion for lifelong learning in my character as well as through life experiences.

ALPLA makes a core promise to each employee that it will support their development. How do you put this promise into practice?

For our Learning & Development team, our work revolves around the learning and development of all employees at the Hard site. Our duties include advising, creating concepts, organising and overseeing for an extremely wide variety of learning and development initiatives and processes. We carefully study needs to provide a foundation for all further steps, which we adapt to the respective situation.

Is there a favourite project of yours that you have completed at ALPLA?

Yes, our three successful language cafés for German, Spanish and French. They are a fantastic example of social learning. The participants learn from each other at them and directly from native speakers who are masters at their language. The natives give valuable tips, gently correct any mistakes and share cultural nuances, which all makes the learning more effective and authentic. Learning together with others while getting support from experts at the same time is an ideal way to learn socially.

You come from the Netherlands and joined ALPLA in late 2021. What was it like moving to Austria? How do the two countries differ?
 

I’d wanted to move to Austria for a long while, mostly because of the nature and mountains. So, moving was something very positive for me and I’m very happy about it. Of course, there were a few things I had to get used to. I had to learn German and, simultaneously, I learned how to understand the various dialects in Vorarlberg. That was pretty tough at the start.

In the Netherlands, people often ride a bike and do that a lot – no matter the weather (which is usually windy and rainy, haha) and for almost everything (weekly grocery shopping, bringing kids to school or even going on a date in a nice dress …). On top of that, Dutch people are generally very open and direct. The people in Vorarlberg, on the other hand, are generally less direct and open, in my opinion. Yet these differences are what makes life interesting and an enriching ‘exploration’, something I enjoy. I find it stimulating to question things that I previously (subconsciously) took for granted.

But, if you look closely, you’ll see most of all what connects us as people.

I know you like to go hiking. What do you find attractive about it?
 

Besides nature being something that I enjoy a lot, hiking balances out the mind, body and soul for me. I could write a book about it, but there are already many of those. 

What hobbies do you have other than hiking?
 

Cycling, gardening, reading, journalling, crocheting, embroidering, cooking, baking …

If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you do?
 

People who know me well often say, ‘You’ve only got 24 hours, and that’s never enough for everything you want to do.’ That extra hour, though, I’d use mainly for spending more time with my loved ones.

Let’s go back to ALPLA: what would you recommend to new employees?
 

Be curious, about everything and everyone. Contribute your unique personality, knowledge and experience to your work and your relationships.

What three key words do you think describe ALPLA?
 

International, development, expert. 

Many thanks for our lovely chat!