Alumni views
Business Information Systems (MSc)
Name: Siemon van den Berg
Current position: Director/owner of Nxs Internet BV
‘When I started at the University of Amsterdam, I registered with the Chamber of Commerce at the same time. Over the next eight years, I would alternate between studying and working on my business, and in September 2008 I received my coveted Master's degree in Information Studies.'
‘As my business grew, so did the responsibility attached to it. With a staff that has since increased to 30, the temptation to drop out kept growing: after all, didn't I already have a good job? After a busy week at work, a weekend of studying wasn't exactly relaxing.'
‘But, however trite it might sound, no one can ever take that title away from me. Aside from the personal satisfaction, there are some situations where it's nice to have a objective measure of success like a university degree to fall back on, alongside a professional CV.'
‘By identifying interfaces between the Information Studies programme and my own IT business (and you'll always find them) you kill two birds with one stone. You can apply the theory, which furthers the learning process, and you learn to examine your business from a different perspective.'
‘My Master's degree helped me to see ever more such interfaces, enabling me to combine subjects in entrepreneurship and information studies with my work. With the right amount of drive and discipline, you have that degree before you know it.'