'You always learn something new in this job'

When Wendy told her job coach two years ago that she wanted to work in cleaning, she knew exactly where to start: the City Hall. Wendy: "We went to take a look together, and I liked it. I clicked with my manager and colleagues right away. I haven't been able to stay here since."

Graduated
Wendy quickly took the mandatory Basic Cleaning Training: "You learn all the important tricks of the trade there, like how to clean toilets quickly and thoroughly, how to mop, that sort of thing. And I passed, so I'm now a certified cleaner!" Wendy starts at 7 a.m. with her supervisor, Medina, on her first round of the City Hall. "That's when I pick up the dishwasher mugs, among other things, and check that all the rooms on my floor are tidy." At 7:45 a.m., she leaves for City Hall on the Grote Markt, where she and her colleague Mike clean until about 10 a.m. "Mike is my buddy; we're well-oiled. At City Hall, we clean the toilets, the scullery, the edges and ledges, and we check the rooms to see if anything needs doing."

First and second home
Wendy calls City Hall her "second home," and the City Office her "first home." Around 10:00 a.m., she's back at the City Office to take care of all the cleaning chores. "I do everything at my own pace. When I'm done with my regular tasks, I always ask if anything extra needs to be done. For example, checking all the rooms to see if anything needs restocking. I just let myself go. I'm finally done around 3:00 p.m. and then I go home."

Among the people
Work is very important to Wendy: "I can't stay home; I have to be around people. And it's just really fun with my colleagues. We also have a bit of fun every now and then: I'll put one of those Spanish jokes on my head like a wig. It's a real laugh." She's just had two weeks of vacation, but that's long enough for her. "I'm not going away either, I'm staying close by. I often use the vacation to give my own house a good clean—I don't usually get around to that. And every now and then I pop by work for a coffee together."

Tricks
Wendy is quickly improving at her job: "You're always learning something new in this job. Everything you can learn, you have to take." For example, she was recently taught the entire routine for dirty mugs: where they are, when they need to be picked up, how they should be treated, and where they ultimately need to go. "I'm good at that, you know; I learn the tricks of the trade quickly. And if I don't know something, I can ask one of the managers. I can rely on them; I can discuss everything with them. If something is missing or broken, I report it to them. And if there are any problems, they always find a solution."