European graduate program

Joost 

Commercial/Trading
Schiedam, The Netherlands 

A lot of responsibilities, international challenges, diversity in work and entrepreneurship are just a few key words that characterize my current job with Cargill. During my studies in business administration in Rotterdam, I gained interest in the food industry while doing my internship for Ola. After my graduation with two masters degrees — marketing and finance and investment — I wanted to utilize my financial background within a multinational environment in the food industry. 

This combination was perfectly matched in the commercial graduate program within commodity trading. My responsibilities are trading in diverse palm oil on the diversified commodity markets in both the countries of origin such as Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as the European markets. 

From the beginning you are given a lot of responsibilities and you can determine the investment of millions of dollars. Your negotiation skills are developed from the start — and you are affected by numerous macro influences from all over the world. Weather conditions affect the harvest, shipping can be delayed, and the plant can get into unforeseen difficulties in the production process. These are just a few variables that affect the price of the oil and these are the reasons that commodity trading is an unpredictable market. 

Cargill is a dynamic company with motivated people from many different backgrounds, which makes my job very interesting with a lot of opportunities. The international character of Cargill definitely gives an extra dimension to the work I do. If you feel comfortable in the world of trading, you will feel at home at Cargill. This is the core business that helped grow Cargill into what it is today.