"From IELTS test supervisor to Head of Partnerships & Customer Support IELTS - my growth story at IDP!" - Vincent Blokker

“I started working with IDP as an IELTS test supervisor more than 10 years ago. I originally travelled to Australia from the Netherlands as an international student for my undergraduate degree. I then also did a masters and completed a PhD. On graduating, I moved to Melbourne and continued working for IELTS.  

Looking back, IDP has not only helped me grow in my career, but it’s helped me grow as a person too.

Company-wide, there is a strong focus on professional development. I’m fortunate to have been selected to a leadership development program, the Maher El Bakry Emerging Leaders Program. This program is facilitated and supported by our Global Leadership Team, and from it I received individual mentorship by our global leaders in line with the MBA I’m enrolled in. This experience showed me how much time our leaders invest to help us learn and grow. It also contributed to my recent promotion to Head of Partnerships – IELTS Australasia & Japan.  

Since 2013, I have worked in front-line roles directly supporting our customers, but also in our regional marketing and operations teams. Now, I look after IELTS’ external partnerships in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Japan. My role gives me the unique opportunity to work with universities, governments, and other organisations that trust IELTS as a reliable assessment of English language proficiency.  

I usually begin my workday with a 30-minute commute by bus and train. I love my commute because I get to start the day with music or a book. While IDP provides a flexible workplace and allows me to work from home, I prefer working from the office, as it’s where my colleagues are, and being in the office helps me build effective collaboration opportunities.   

I love the dedication IDP has to our customers and I’m lucky to be part of an extremely high performing team. All my accomplishments are also the accomplishments of my colleagues, and I am particularly proud that our Australasia & Japan team was the first in the world to have successfully launched IELTS One Skill Retake. The development of a new product is massive, and our global teams did a phenomenal job. And while the implementation and delivery are equally challenging, it is so rewarding to see that we’re now offering a feature of the IELTS test that our customers have been waiting for and that adds value to our partner organisations.  

At IDP, it’s built into the fabric of the organisation that our people are critical to our success. We’re a leader in international education because of the diversity in our teams. In my office alone, people come from over 20 different countries, and each of them contributes to a richer, more effective work environment. I’m also fortunate to closely work with our teams in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Each time I visit team members from other regions, I learn something new.  

Recently, I was incredibly lucky to be the host for the IDP 2023 IELTS Test Centre Network Meeting in Bali, Indonesia. It was an extraordinary event where our IELTS teams from across the world shared ideas and celebrated their achievements. Being the host gave me a multi-dimensional perspective on the event dynamics and allowed me to directly engage with the audience. Personally, it was rewarding to reconnect with my colleagues not only from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Fiji, but also from Europe, Canada and LATAM, and the rest of the world.  

At IDP, we pride ourselves on fostering a caring and supportive environment that is both open and transparent. My team members are truly an inspiration, and it’s remarkable how we are always working together to solve complex problems, help our customers in their journeys to success, and actively support each other professionally.

Emotional support is also important considering that, like myself, many of our team members migrated and have family overseas. I am fortunate to have a team whom I can connect with for support when needed.  

Our regional leadership team, and my manager, Mike James, are particularly supportive and always motivate me to try new things, while actively supporting my growth within the company. 

Overall, IDP is an organisation that allows me to be me. It respects, celebrates, and appreciates differences. We have Employee Resource Groups fostering wellbeing, promoting sustainability, and supporting LGBTQIA+ people in our teams, and these are just some of the many reasons that make IDP a truly great place to work.  

What I look forward to most as I continue my IDP journey is learning more about our sector and from IDP team members around the world. I’m also very excited to be part of an organisation that is a global leader in international education, and the transformative, innovative products we continue to deliver across. I enjoy what we do for our customers, and for each other. And I want to be part of that exciting journey with IDP! 

Would you also like to be part of our global team that is making an impact on millions? Start by looking for opportunities here.” - Vincent Blokker, Head of Partnerships & Customer Support IELTS Australasia & Japan