A new quarter, a new addition to the team. The Tricore IT train keeps rolling strong and has gained a new passenger in recent weeks. Cedric Walczyk made the switch to Tricore at the end of May and has not regretted it for a moment.
I, Senne Snellings from Smeltpunt, sat down with him by the water under a beautiful afternoon sun to learn more about Tricore's proactive approach and what Cedric was looking for in a new job.
Who is Cedric Walczyk?
Cedric: “I am 34 years old, from Lauw near Tongeren, and I have been working at Tricore since May 26, 2025. By training, I am actually a marketer, but after obtaining my bachelor's degree, it quickly became clear that it was not my thing. I then started at a wholesale company in insulation while studying System and Network Management at night school. After that, I worked for seven years at an IT company in Hasselt.”
What was your role there?
Cedric: “I started there with ticket registration and after two years grew into a Support Engineer. My role at Tricore is now a bit broader. In my previous job, the different departments were more defined, while at Tricore everyone gets a taste of everything. This way, you learn much faster and are better informed about everything.”
Do you already have a specific specialization?
Cedric: “I still need to grow into that, because I had relatively little experience with firewalls and networks in the past. I do think that system administration will remain my preference, but maybe that will change.”
The internal training that Tricore organizes will perhaps provide more clarity on this?
Cedric: “Yes, I have already completed a few. They were more focused on my onboarding, such as getting to know the tools. In-depth training will follow in the future.”
How did you actually end up at Tricore?
Cedric: “Currently, three former colleagues work here. I worked the longest with Michiel, and that's how I got to know Tricore. Last summer, I reached out myself to see what was possible, but Noah got to me just before. In December, they called me back for a second interview.”
You already knew a number of people at Tricore, did that make it easier to adjust to your new work environment?
Cedric: “I mainly had to adjust to the way of working. At Tricore, there is much more structure in the processes such as implementation at clients, but also that there is one central tool where everything is bundled.
You notice that customers are also dealt with in a different way, there is more thinking from the customer's perspective. What does the customer actually need? How can we solve that as efficiently as possible? And how can we guide the customer in the process as well as possible? Less sales-oriented and more customer-oriented then.”
“Tricore has said from day one that proactivity is the way to go. Even before there was really a demand for it, that makes it a bit stronger than when a company only jumps on that bandwagon later.”
Tricore is known for its proactive approach. Do you notice that in this new way of working?
Cedric: “Yes, definitely. Much more time is spent trying to limit or even avoid reactive work as much as possible. If an issue does arise, a structural solution is immediately sought to prevent this in the future.
Nowadays, more companies are focusing on that proactivity, but Tricore has said from day one that it is the way to go. Even before there was really a demand for it, that makes it a bit stronger than when a company only jumps on that bandwagon later.
What made the change of employer worthwhile for you?
Cedric: “The team spirit, everyone is pulling in the same direction. In my previous job, I worked from home three days a week, that’s not for me. I prefer having colleagues around me to ask a question. We spend eight hours a day in the office, so it should also be a bit fun.”
What ambitions do you still have professionally?
Cedric: “Currently, I still get the most satisfaction from directly helping customers at the service desk. Implementations at the customer site also seem nice to me in the long run, but the first step is to continue growing in what I am doing now and to become fully familiar with the different tools.”
People are calling less and less, is that something you also struggled with at the beginning?
Cedric: “Calling has pretty much gone out of style among the youth, if I can still count myself among them. (laughs) When I just started, I didn't really like it either, but I learned that in my previous job. I was on the call desk and made about 30 to 40 calls a day, so now I have no trouble with it at all. Calling is still the most efficient way to solve a problem.”
You mentioned you are still a bit searching with the new tools. How do you handle it when you can't speak to a customer immediately on the phone?
Cedric: “In the beginning, that is always a bit of a stressful moment, but customers are usually very reasonable about it. They know they will be helped, and no one makes a fuss if it takes a little longer because you need to check something. So that is the advantage of being in the office, you can immediately turn to all the colleagues around you.”
Tricore is heavily focused on employer branding, how do you experience that?
Cedric: “Initiatives like the trip to Malaga are really next-level. But also the articles with employees. That already gave me a good idea of how things are here. The work remains the same, but it’s the people who make the difference. I”
“The work remains the same, but it’s the people who make the difference.”
So you were undoubtedly looking forward to doing this interview?
Cedric: “I certainly wasn't jumping at the chance. (laughs) I'm naturally a bit more reserved, but ease comes with age, right?
Otherwise, shall we suddenly plan a Bytes & Insights?
Cedric: “For now, a written interview is sufficient. (laughs)”
Then I have one more question for you: how would you describe Tricore to your friends?
Cedric: “A workplace where colleagues grow into friends. That horizontal hierarchy within Tricore makes it a very pleasant place to work.”
Looking for a job in IT where you have the space to further develop yourself? Are you not averse to the work hard, play hard mentality? Then this is the place to be.