He began as a 15-year-old store associate in an Albert Heijn supermarket just around the corner. Little did he know that today, nearly 13 years later, 27-year-old Angelo Verbond would still be in the fold – but this time with Albert Heijn's mother company, Ahold Delhaize, as an international finance trainee. “I love working for an ambitious, high-performing company that wants to be a front runner in everything it does. That proactive, can-do approach resonates very much with who I am.”
“I come from a family in an environment where going to university isn’t a given. I guess that’s why I’ve always felt the urge to prove myself. My parents never had to ask me whether I’d done my homework. When I was 15, I got a part-time job at the Albert Heijn on the Krugerplein, a five-minute walk from my house in the eastern part of Amsterdam. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, I worked for two hours – the legal maximum for a 15-year-old – as a store associate, replenishing the shelves with wine and washing detergents. Ironically, all the money I pocketed went straight back to Albert Heijn on candy and crisps.”
Age doesn’t matter; personality does
What he remembers most about those four hours per week is how much he enjoyed them. He refers to his colleagues back then as ‘his second family’. “I felt I could really be myself. When I turned 16, I was allowed to work as a cashier. I loved interacting with customers – also because I realized I was pretty good at it. Not only did I get on well with the customers, but my colleagues also seemed to appreciate my social manner. I found they’d appreciate what I had to say and often tended to agree with me. I told my manager I would like to become team lead. He emailed his superior, enquiring whether it was possible to become team lead at the age of 17. His manager replied: ‘Age doesn’t matter: as long as the person is mature enough to take on the position, he can’. A few months later, I was promoted to team lead.”