Tell us about a typical day for you.

I work three days a week as a consultant to a Filipino recruiting firm. Working days are very different, but mainly they consist of making contacts and meetings to sell recruitment services.

I have days where I sit by the phone and dial out and do research from the computer. Other days I'm out on meetings with international companies, embassies, or the like. Two days a week, I use to work and continue my education as a coach. Apart from that I enjoy the freedom and do various types of fitness and participate in the activities in the expat environment. I like to have a fair amount of freedom to plan my days, and it's important for me to also have a high level of physical activity. Otherwise I simply cannot sit still in an office!

How close is your current career to the ideas about your career which you had during your studies?

I didn’t really have ideas about my future career during my studies. The training was very broad, and therefore I think there were many doors open to what one might deal with afterwards. The width of the training was both a privilege and a limitation. I saw it as difficult right after the study to find out what I actually could and would do.

I've never quite decided on any particular career, but I've generally been open to the opportunities that appeared. When I first started my studies, I probably hadn’t thought that I would end up working with recruiting and coaching. My focus on recruiting and coaching was more a result of the job opportunities that I have received and taken on the way than it was of my studies.

To what extent do you benefit from your training and specific AAU skills in your daily work?

I benefit very much from being able to familiarize with something new, manage complex problems and apply analytical skills. Recruiting is all about being able to put yourself into a company's core business, know the organizational and cultural characteristics, and find out what the position is about. After that it's about finding someone who has the necessary professional skills, but also matches on a personal level. Short deadlines coupled with analytical skills and the ability to grasp a problem and break it down into manageable elements is essential in order to work with recruitment.

In sales situations, and probably especially in my work as a coach, I employ my humanistic and social constructivist background. There may be several ways of viewing the world, there is no right or wrong, but everything can be challenged. By asking about and challenge a coachee’s way of looking at his situation, I can help her / him to seek clarification on e.g. career choice.

How do you keep your professional skills at the right?

I have just completed training as a Postgraduate Diploma in Organizational Psychology from Birkbeck College, University of London. It was through e-learning and a very different way of learning, just like the British academic tradition is markedly different from the Danish. I have never read so many articles on such a high level, but I still prefer the Danish model. I think it is a better way to create independent and creative thinking students!

In addition I have taken a coaching education, so that I now can work as coach. But this education has also developed my competencies within recruiting, as it has given me several tools in relation to for example questioning techniques. This way I keep my academic competencies up to date and I have gotten a theoretical education which strengthens my subject of work as I now find myself working more in the industrial psychological field.

Do you remember any exciting projects or cooperation agreements from your time of study?

My internship was very interesting. I had the privilege to get employment at CCI Europe where I had to teach a software program at USATODAY in Washington D.C. It was right after the 5th semester and a perfect time to get the more practical dimension in my studies. This lead to an exciting paper on my internship and gave me another perspective on my studies and the academic competencies when I came back from my internship. 

The best memory/memories from AAU?

I remember several projects for both the academic content and especially the social. The intense times with group work were demanding but had it not been for the groupwork I don’t think I would have gotten the same academic immersion. And at times with lacking motivation I think it was great that the social aspect was so strong. 

If you were to choose an education now, would you then chosse differently than you did?

With the knowledge I have today I might have chosen an education more focused on HR. But it is by chance that I am now working with recruiting and coaching is. Actually I started developing a Carreers portal for PwC Consulting so it was my MA in Human Centered Informatics that got me interested in the field of recruitment. If I should choose today I would like to get a MA in Counselling and Coaching.

Where did you get your professional network from - how much of it comes from your time of study?

My professional network, is mainly built up through my employments. I think it's because I have ended up a long way from my primary education. I certainly still have contacts from college, but it's mostly in relation to the social aspects.

What are your dreams for your future?

I take the chances that come, and I'm fine with that I do not really know where it ends. Right now I'm happy for recruiting and coaching and to work as a consultant with the freedom it provides.

If you could put your absolute dream job together, what would it include?

I like to work as a consultant because it gives a lot of freedom in the planning of my everyday life. I would like an employer, but I would also like to continue to continue as an independent consultant and coach.

Add a question and send the baton to the next alumni

How do you define your professional profile and what skills have you brought with you from the different subjects?

Can you briefly give reasons why you chose to point to the next candidate?

I have chosen to send the baton to my cousin Karen Melchior Jensen. She deals today with IT and project management in the North Denmark Region. Initially, it seems as though that is far from her majoring in Danish IT and project management - but it is not certain that's the case? I will be happy to read about!