“We’re Building for the Next Quarter-Century” — Jeroen and Sébastien on 25 Years of STAR

STAR’s office in Antwerp. Located on the Eilandje, in a former grain warehouse dating back to 1904, with Art Nouveau facades and brick walls that have stood proudly for over a century. Here, they’ve always built for the long term. STAR is no different. Seated at the table are Jeroen de Clerck, an E&I Designer in the petrochemical industry, and Sébastien Remes, Director of Delivery at STAR Belgium. Together, they demonstrate how STAR works: a specialist who feels valued, and a consultant who makes that a reality every day.

Jeroen designs the invisible. As an E&I Designer, he draws up the electrical installations and measurement systems for a large petrochemical plant: the diagrams that determine how electricity flows, how pressure is measured, and how everything fits together. Indispensable work. But what really drives him isn’t the drawing itself. It’s the moment when someone on-site asks, “Jeroen, can you take a look?” And he’s more than happy to step in and solve the problem. “That’s what gives me real satisfaction.” Sébastien does something different, but with the same guiding principle: helping people perform at their best. He started as a Recruitment Consultant and, twelve years later, has grown into the role of Director of Delivery. Through hard work, but above all by doing what he enjoys. “As Director of Delivery, I build an environment where both consultants and specialists thrive and where they want to stay.” Sébastien: “I get to create an environment where people enjoy coming to work and want to excel. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but we grow through those losses.”

“We’re building a community of people, not a hit-and-run company” – Sébastien

What Makes STAR Different
At the Port of Antwerp, Jeroen sees how things work for colleagues at other agencies. Poor communication. People who feel like just a number. Contracts that end with a letter. Jeroen himself simply picks up the phone if he has a question or something doesn’t sit right with him. “Then I know it’ll all be handled quickly and properly.” Sébastien nods in agreement and emphasizes this point even further. “If Jeroen ever leaves a client, it won’t take me a week. He’ll even have the luxury of choosing from a number of new jobs.” That’s the safety net—not as a marketing term to entice specialists, but as everyday practice. The current pool of loyal specialists is therefore no coincidence. “Our focus isn’t on a six-month project, but on the next 25 years,” says Sébastien. That’s what STAR has built over the past quarter-century: not fleeting placements, but a community of people who stay.

But what perhaps sets STAR apart the most is the human touch. Jeroen’s wife joins him at the Christmas parties, and even his sometimes challenging home situation is known to STAR colleagues who ask about it. Not because they have to, but because they mean it. Jeroen: “That family-like atmosphere—I’ve really felt it here from the very beginning.” These are the kinds of moments Sébastien values highly. “At a get-together, you talk to each other differently. That’s when you create a real bond.” But what does that bond look like in practice? Jeroen used to run the Ten Miles for his former employer. When he joined STAR, he suggested doing the same. The first year, they ran with just a handful of people. Five years later, sixty of them were at the starting line—from the Netherlands and Belgium combined. “Those are initiatives that grow into something wonderful within STAR,” Sébastien says proudly.

“I don’t have one single highlight, but rather lots of little highlights that add up”—Jeroen

Not a single day of regret
At 52, Jeroen is still looking ahead: “If I can keep doing this until I’m 67 and I’m still healthy, I don’t see why not.” For someone who’s been with the same company for 16.5 years, that’s not a given it’s a choice he makes anew every day. A choice with a reason. STAR doesn’t just replace someone when things go wrong; it looks for solutions. “For us, it’s not about saying, ‘A specialist isn’t up to par, so we’ll replace them.’ For us, it’s about asking, ‘What can we do to ensure that a specialist is up to par?’” It sounds almost too simple, but anyone who takes a quick look around the industry can see how rare this is. Specialists who are sometimes left in the dark. Consultants who make calls just to hit KPIs. At STAR, things are different. Is that the secret behind STAR’s 25 years of success? Maybe “secret” is the wrong word. It’s simply what happens when you take people seriously. Day after day, year after year. Until what’s extraordinary becomes the norm.