What kind of industry is your company/organisation a part of?

Financial services

What do you spend the most time on in your work?

In my current role, I spend most of the time performing risk assessments of the participants in the Euroclear System (central banks, corporations, foundations, banks etc.). Each assessment requires (i) collecting and analysing large volumes of information to establish the overall participant profile and risk, and (ii) mitigating the risks occurring from connections to high-risk jurisdictions, tax havens, politically exposed persons, restricted sectors of activities, sanctioned individuals and entities etc.

For people interested in exploring this area, I recommend looking for example at the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive in the European Union. 

What is the most important learning in your working life so far?

One of the most important learnings in my career so far is that we must be proactive and perseverant in relation to what we want to achieve. This has helped me even in times when it was not clear to me what I wanted to achieve as I was proactive in finding pieces of the puzzle and persevered in putting them together. 

What motivates you?

In general, I highly value strong teams with members acting with commitment and fairness towards each other, and it is what motivates me the most to see.
In principle, I think that most of us want to excel in what we choose to do and, whether we like it or not, this requires a collaborative setup with initiatives, commitment, leadership, fairness and open communication.

What are your best memories from your time at AAU?

The “treasury hunt” game organised by the university staff in the first days; the groups formation method for collaboration on projects; the breaks in the campus with my friends; the interactions with the colleagues coming with so many exciting backgrounds; the nights at Studenterhuset; and some many more :)

What is the most important thing you have brought with you from Aalborg University?

At Aalborg University I consolidated what is perhaps my most valuable trait - the pleasure for continuous learning, which certainly eased my paths throughout my life journey. I found there a very fruitful environment to advance my personal and professional formation.

What made you choose your specific programme?

Knowing that I want to continue my formation as an economist after obtaining the bachelors degree certainly made things easier and Aalborg University had (and still has) very appealing programs to me in that sphere with amazing studying conditions. The MSc in International Business was my choice and I couldn’t be prouder of the program and the overall student experience for how it helped me in my formation.

With the knowledge and insight you have today, what advice would you give yourself if you were to start studying at AAU?

I still have the impression that I didn’t know early enough how to leverage the opportunities available for simply being a student. We are students for a reason and I would have certainly used advice in that sense such as: “ask around how the community thinks you can make the most of it”.

Your best career advice for students and newly graduates?

Choose with confidence one option from the ones available to you because you need to start from somewhere and then see where your interest lies and what kind of adjustments you want to make. 

To me this implies especially a continuous active involvement by listening to the people around you, speaking your mind, exploring the chosen sector of activity and keeping that motivation to excel.

Fun fact?

I had a baby tooth until the age of 28 years old.. I miss that little one 😄

Connect to Petre DODU
I wish you all success and no hesitations in reaching out to talk anytime before, during or after your graduation.