Monday, December 7, 2009

Where I am today - why Oslo?

How did I end up in Oslo? Sometimes I even ask myself this with a smile on my face. When I was writing my master thesis at Sony Ericsson in Lund (Sweden) last fall (2008) my focus was to get job in Stockholm. I had even started to plan where I should stay in Stockholm and think of how my life soon would look like. 

I had been aware of Orkla ASA for many years and thought of it as a very interesting organisation. My very first interaction with Orkla was through Göteborgs Kex as a small kid enjoying delicious cookies (especially Ballerina and Baddare ;)). Later on, I had daily contact with food from Procordia, Abba Seafood, OLW, etc but it was during my university years I got an insight into the company. I am member of the network Nova 100 which has a great track-record of recruiting young students into Orkla companies. It was through them I got the opportunity to speak with Orkla employees and later on book an interview.

The first interview was in Oslo. Of course, I was nervous but as soon as I entered the building it just felt so right. I was calm and the interview went great. The second interview was the week after and before I have realised what was happening, I was offered a job at Nidar AS. The position was as a Trade Marketing Consultant which I am still working as today. It is a interesting job with a lot of funny challenges, which I will describe in more detail further on. 

As I mentioned before, I had not planned to become a Norwegian “jente” (girl) but after my first visits at Orkla, Oslo, and meetings with some potential workmates I quickly changed my mind. I am very happy of that and that I got this job. I have during this first year experienced so many interesting things. Just to get a real insight into a totally new market (the Norwegian is surprisingly very different to the Swedish one) is a great experience. In the future though, I will probably move back to Sweden, hopefully to a company within Orkla, but I will never ever regret my time in Norway. That is just one of many opportunities within the Orkla-system; the possibility to live and work within organisations all over the world.

Orkla ASA | Nedre Skøyenvei 26 | Pb 423 Skøyen 0213 Oslo | Tlf + 47 22 54 40 00 | Faks + 47 22 54 44 90