At the time of writing this post, I have been a Global Business/Retail Graduate at Demant for almost five months. So far, the experience has only exceeded my expectations.
Before the beginning of this journey, I knew that the transition from education and student jobs into employment could be challenging and to some extent bewildering. The world of employment operates in quite a different way than most educational settings, as ‘university life’ to a high degree comprises explicit next steps and structure, clear tasks and deadlines, quest for perfection rather than efficiency, regular and objective performance feedback, also called grades, and a social life that is well provided for.
Demant’s Graduate Programme has by all means supported me in overcoming some of the challenges that a university graduate potentially could encounter. Being part of a structured development programme has truly helped me to navigate my own career path with huge support from the people around me, including my graduate manager, host manager, go-to-manager, and mentor. This is truly an exceptional opportunity that enables me to explore different areas of the business of personal interest and to get international exposure through a rotation abroad in one of our key markets. Specifically, working in Hearing Care/Retail allows me to work closely with our local markets, understand institutional differences across markets, and to see the life-changing differences that are created for people through hearing healthcare.
Another thing that is truly unique about Demant’s Graduate Programme is the very extensive introduction to the organization that you receive within the first few weeks of employment. Getting to know the different business areas within the company (Hearing Care, Hearing Aids, Hearing Implants, Diagnostics, and Communications) through site visits and presentations from key experts has truly broadened my knowledge about the organization as a whole. On top of this, the introduction received from my current team in Commercial Analytics (Hearing Care) has helped me to understand the company culture, to navigate ambiguous tasks and changing deadlines, to receive and provide irregular and subjective feedback, and to quest for efficiency. To me, such support has been essential for my natural transition into employment but also for my future journey at Demant.
Another great thing that makes the transition from student to employee very smooth is the young, professional network that you are a part of. In contrast to being a student, your social life becomes increasingly your own responsibility as an employee. However, I believe that the Graduate Programme has provided me with a strong, international network of professional and dedicated colleagues that I already, after five months, consider as friends. Being part of this group of like-minded people is something that I truly value. Not only can we relate to each other as graduates, but it is also so exciting to learn about experiences and tasks that differ from my own.
Altogether, my transition into employment at Demant has been very smooth and, by far, exceeded my expectations.
Janne Kildahl Brouer
jnuo@demant.com