Kim swapped the cabin for the Engine Shop

This summer, team lead Kim will have been with KLM for 17 years. She never imagined that she'd end up sticking around for so long. She started when she was nineteen as a cabin attendant and ended up in the Engine Shop by chance. Among the aircraft mechanics, Kim feels completely at home. Last year she became Team Leader Repair and manages 23 colleagues. That they’re all men doesn't matter bother her at all. But I do see an upward trend; more and more women are working in the Engineering & Maintenance division'.

As a little girl, Kim (36) dreamed of a job as a cabin attendant. So, at sixteen, she went to the ROC in Hoofddorp, now the MBO College Airport, and started the Aviation Services course. After an internship at KLM Cityhopper, she worked as a cabin attendant for 3.5 years, until she twisted her knee playing hockey. 'I had to do substitute work for a while, and I ended up in the Engine Shop. I loved the place immediately and enjoyed working normal office hours.'

Getting ready for the job

Kim decided to leave the cabin behind and make the switch to the Engine shop for good. She took a number of internal training courses and the three-day Engine Familiarisation Course. 'There, I learned the basics of a jet engine - which hangs under a Boeing 737, for example.' Soon after, she started as a material planner. 'Here I had to ensure that all the materials needed for aircraft engine maintenance were available on time. I always enjoyed doing the job, but after ten years I'd seen enough of it.'

Kim moved on to the Employee Direct Support Planning MRO position, where she took on short-term engine maintenance planning. After two years, she made the move to Team Leader Repair.

More and more women

As team leader, Kim has 23 colleagues under her belt. She laughs: 'And yes, they really are all men! I don't mind it at all, as a stewardess I was surrounded by women all day, so I actually enjoy it. But I am pleased that there's an upward trend: for a while I was the only woman on the shop floor, but slowly there are more and more ladies at E&M'. Why is that? 'I think women care less and less about stereotypes; they're no longer guided by the idea that engineering is only something for men.'

From all corners

The colleagues under Kim's care have diverse backgrounds. 'For example, we have metalworkers, car painters, welders, and kitchen fitters working here. Recently, we even hired someone with a background in software development.' According to Kim, you can work in the Engine Shop just fine without any experience in aerospace engineering. 'If you have good basic technical knowledge and enjoy being handy in your spare time, then you are very welcome. During our in-house classes, we'll teach you the tricks of the engine trade. At the same time, you'll be working on the shop floor, because it's by doing that you learn the most.

Sky is the limit

Fifteen-year-old Kim never thought she’d be working for the same company for seventeen years. 'There’s a reason that they say, “once you start working at KLM, you don't tend to leave quickly”. It simply never gets boring - just like the view of the runways from the Engine Shop. And the great thing is, the company is so big, you can always keep developing'. Kim doesn't see herself leaving for the time being. Who knows, maybe when I'm fifty I'll become a stewardess again - then I've come full circle!'

Does she have any advice for jobseekers? 'To young women I always say; choose something you enjoy. If you want to be an aircraft mechanic, you should just go for it, even if people tell you that it's a 'man's job'.