Due to the significant growth Van der Ende Steel Protectors Group currently experiences as a company, we need new men of steel. New professionals who give colour to our huge projects in infrastructure and industry together with our existing professionals.

These men are not exactly for the taking. Learning a profession is a beautiful thing, but nowadays, craftsmanship is more hidden than in the old days, when it was still an option at practical focussed technical- and other vocational schools. Unfortunately, we see less and less young people who choose to be (construction) painters, while market demand for good professionals remains consistently high. It’s a serious question to which there was no ready-made answer until recently.

Solid professional training
Now there is. Decisive as we are, Van der Ende Steel Protectors Group has created an answer to this question itself: in 2018, the Van der Ende Steel Protectors Academy was founded and we have been offering a solid professional training to young people since. This Academy has been structured entirely around the Van der Ende core values:

• Safety
• Perfection
• Innovation
• Working hard & efficiently
• Connection

How does the Van der Ende Academy work?

Recruitment and selection
Each year in November, the recruitment campaign starts. In a smart way we reach the target group of young people with work experience through social media. Sadly, many young people in this target group have been trapped in hopeless situations of temporary work through temping agencies, resulting in an insecure future. Thanks to the Van der Ende Academy, we offer these young people a future. But only if they are willing to fully commit. Based on that criterion, we make a selection of the applications that pour in as a result of the recruitment campaign. The final selection takes place after a series of extensive interviews, in which we persistently ask details that will later make the difference. Only real men of steel may start at our Academy.

Start and basis three-week training
Each year at the end of February, this selected group of young and yet inexperienced professionals start their training. We turn them into men of steel in the Van der Ende Academy thanks to our unique training programme. In the three intensive weeks, ten to fifteen different young people learn the basic skills in the field of steel protection. This takes place through a challenging and intensive programme. The training starts with the theory of the profession. This way, the talents in the Academy learn all there is to know about working safely, equipment, materials, applications, methods and techniques. Next is the practical training. Under the supervision of seasoned coaches, the new knowledge is put into practice on test objects. In between practice days, they work on perseverance, resilience and team spirit through boot camp sessions. The objective is to build a team of motivated young people, shaped by their own life experience and their individual and unique personality and background.

Based on periodic assessments, adjustments and intensive coaching, the participants will be trained to be junior professionals in a short period of time. It is hard work and we demand 100% commitment, discipline and a lot of ambition. Only the best will reach the finish of this three-week training.

From a three-week training to a four-year education
As of the first day, the young talents are employed by Van der Ende and they sign an employment contract. The three-week Academy training is seen as the probationary period. After a successful final test, the Academy student is an official Apprentice Construction Painter and a new member of our Van der Ende Steel Protectors family.

In the following four years, the Academy students learn the other tricks of the trade. After concluding this process, they do not just get a super bonus and a more than excellent basic salary, but also the title Professional Construction Painter.

Seminars
In addition to training new students, Van der Ende Steel Protectors Academy also offers seminars for clients and interested parties on various professional subjects. After all, the Van der Ende Academy is the main knowledge centre for steel protection and innovation.