What do you learn with TOP CN?

Workplace supervisor

Your workplace supervisor assists you with your day-to-day work in the workplace. You can contact your workplace supervisor with any questions you may have about your work, your department, and the organisation. Your workplace supervisor is your on-the-job coach at your workplace, they are familiar with the work procedures and your specific field. You can discuss your day-to-day work with them and receive constructive feedback that helps you develop in your role.

Coach

As a TOP trainee, you are also assigned a personal coach. This coach supports you in your personal development and growth. You are entitled to several individual coaching sessions. You can use them yourself for issues relating to your return to the Caribbean Netherlands and your personal growth. Your coach is someone with local roots and in-depth knowledge of the (work) culture and society.

Training sessions

During the traineeship, several half-days are set aside each month for training courses. You attend these training courses alongside the other TOP trainees. You learn a wide range of skills that will stand you in good stead throughout your career. A selection from the TOP training programme:

• Strategic Stakeholder Engagement
  In this training course, you are introduced to various insightful and practical tools that can be used to analyse the environment, stakeholders, opportunities, and issues.
  We also look at your personal collaborative style and how it can be used effectively to achieve the best possible results in collaboration with those in your environment.
   
• Policy skills (basic and advanced):
  These training courses focus on the skills that policy officers need.
  The basic training focuses on the ability to place policy within its context (policy cycle, administrative dynamics, one’s own role, the difference between theory and practice, and policy and implementation).
  The advanced training focuses on advising, justifying and evaluating policy options.
   
• Public Speaking:
  This practical, experience-based training course helps you to communicate and present with greater confidence, structure, and impact — whether in front of a group, within a team or during a pitch.
   
• Personal finances: 
  You learn practical ways to manage your money more wisely. You are given practical tools to improve your financial situation, and you actively work on developing new, healthy habits when it comes to money.
  This training course is designed to strengthen your financial awareness and help you make sustainable choices that contribute to your financial well-being.
   
• Language proficiency (Dutch or English): 
  In this training course, you work on further developing your business language proficiency in Dutch or English, both written and spoken.