This month's star is Bart Collet
Every month we will introduce you to a colleague. This month's star is Bart Collet. He joined Signpost in February 2013 and is now Operations Manager at Signpost Hardware.
What exactly do you do at Signpost?
Bart: "I have been working at Signpost since February 2013. Currently, I am the Operations Manager at Signpost Hardware. In this role I supervise the technology, BYOD, production, imaging and Hardware helpdesk teams."
What does your day look like?
Bart: "I always start my day by taking my daughter (Mees, 7 months) to day-care. Afterwards you can find me at the Wolfsakker. Even during COVID, you could often find me at the office. I consider presence and accessibility on the work floor to be very important. My door is always open. My team can always count on me in case of questions or problems. This way, we can quickly intervene when necessary. My day is actually quite varied: solving problems, supporting the technical and BYOD team, coordinating with Pascal, Jens and Joris on more strategic topics...
One day a week, on Tuesdays, I make sure to leave the office in time. On that day, I babysit my daughter with great pleasure."
How did you end up working at Signpost?
Bart: "After completing my secondary education, I started my career in the construction sector. A few years later, I made a conscious decision to change the direction of my career and go back to school. Because I was very interested in hardware at the time, I followed the New Multimedia & Creative Technology programme at Howest. I gave up my plans to buy and renovate a house and took the plunge.
That is how I ended up as a PC technician at Signpost in 2013. I set up the entire service point in Kortrijk at the time. It was a combination of building and expanding a service point 😉 This involved laying floors, network and electricity facilities, installing cabinets... After running the service point for about 1.5 years, I started working as a technician on the road, which is how the current technician team came to be. Since the end of 2020, besides being responsible for the technician team, I am also Manager of the entire BYOD team (production, imaging, warehouse) and the Hardware helpdesk.
From PC technician to Manager of a wonderful team of about 60 colleagues. You can imagine that I am glad I took the plunge and decided to go back to school. You just have to dare to do what you are passionate about! And that is also completely in line with what Signpost stands for. It's a company that offers opportunities to its employees. Of course, it is then up to you to take those opportunities or not. This is also the way I manage my team."
What are your interests besides work?
Bart: "Of course, the building itch has not completely disappeared. In recent years, I have rebuilt our house together with my wife. Laying bricks and roofs together, landscaping the garden, it was a unique experience. If there is any time left, you can find me in the stadium as a loyal supporter of Club Brugge or behind the computer playing Call of Duty, Battle Field, Minecraft..."
