“There’s nothing more powerful than knowing exactly what you want and don’t want.”
Diederik Rijkens
5/1 Splenic Projector · Career & Business Consultant · Licensed Certified BG5 Professional
200+ clients
400+ sessions
Hi, I’m Diederik
In 2018, I landed what felt like my dream job — recruiter at the Mercedes-Benz of recruiting firms. I wanted to work with people, understand their strengths, and help them find where they truly belonged.
I watched that enthusiasm drain out of me over months. The firm wanted volume over depth. Rigorous quotas, mandatory office hours, and a promise that if I just performed for four or five more years, I'd earn the freedom to work the way that actually worked for me. I was more effective the days I was home sick than the days I was grinding it out in the office.
The breaking point came at a quarterly review, when my managers scored me 3 out of 5 on teamwork. The one thing I prided myself on most, unrecognized by the people I answered to.
What most people didn't know was that I'd already found the missing piece two years earlier. Back in December 2016, five years deep into a master's degree and a career built toward oil and gas, I discovered Human Design. I'd spent years looking for a system to help me understand people — the closest I'd gotten was Myers-Briggs. Human Design didn't just describe you. It told you exactly what to do with what it found.
As a 5/1 Splenic Projector, I was built to function differently than a corporate recruitment environment was ever able to support. I started looking at the charts of friends, family, and colleagues, and watched their struggles and successes show up the same way.
By July 2019, I quit recruiting. The following year I started the first of five semesters (100+ live training hours) with the BG5 Business Institute — the body that teaches the career and business application of Human Design. I'm now a I'm now a Licensed Certified BG5 Professional, and I've completed over 400 sessions with more than 200 clients as a Human Design coach, helping people find what I call their Zone of Genius — the scope of someone's natural strengths and how they manifest in the right role.
I've applied these same principles at home with my partner, and it changed our relationship. We get more done and have more laughter and play than we did before. What changed wasn't effort — she stopped doing the things that drained her energy.
That's the thinking behind the Career Clarity call — an ode to my recruiting background, and arguably the most important step in building a career. Before coaching, before Human Design, before applying anywhere new: you need to know exactly what you want and don't want. Walk into a review or an interview with that clarity, and you're a force to be reckoned with.
You were made to thrive.
My story reflected in what I offer
— Career Clarity call — a 45 minute entry call to figure out what you want and don’t want
— Single Human Design reading — a one off session helping you apply your Human Design to your career and life
— 90-day coaching programs — recruitment/interview support, resume polish, Human Design work, narrative clarity
— Workshops — for business partners and teams to build understanding, workplace culture, and communication
My Human Design Chart
Licensed Certified BG5 Professional
Officially trained and certified through the BG5 Business Institute — the school that teaches the career and business application of Human Design
· Listed in the BG5 professional directory
· Host of The Projector Project
Where you can find me
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I'm a 5/1 Splenic Projector with the Left Angle Cross of the Alpha, in the Quad Right configuration.
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I completed five semesters (100+ live training hours) with the BG5 Business Institute, which teaches the career and business application of Human Design, and I'm a Licensed Certified BG5 Professional
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I've completed 400+ client sessions with over 200 clients as a Human Design coach, and delivered 25+ workshops.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The BG5 Business Institute is one of two official Human Design schools (the other being IHDS) and the certifying body that teaches the career and business application of Human Design. I completed five semesters (100+ live hours) there and hold their Certified BG5 Analyst credential.
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The BG5 Business Institute uses its own language for many Human Design concepts, built specifically to be practical for career and business application. BG5 Analysts are trained to deliver that information in a way that's easy to understand and immediately applicable, not just theoretically accurate.
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Because I believe everybody is a genius — and if you don't feel like one, you're probably working in the wrong role, or at least operating in it in a way that doesn't actually work for you, even if it works for someone else. Zone of Genius became my word for that: understanding how your genius is different from everyone else's, and what it takes to actually bring it to the surface.