My name is Lars Danielson, I am a finance graduate at Demant and as of writing this blog post, I have been part of the graduate programme for 8 months.

For me, one of the greatest features of the Demant Graduate Programme has so far been the social aspect of being a graduate. From the very beginning of the programme (and even before starting the programme) you are welcomed with open arms and made to feel part of Demant and a part of the graduates. There are plenty of professional learning opportunities and exciting projects I could talk about, but what has really been the cherry on top are the social events with the graduates. In this post, I will tell you about some of the fun things I’ve experienced with the graduates so far!

The first time I met the other graduates was in May last year, before starting at Demant. We met up in Kongens Have to play some games and to get to know each other. Afterwards, we had dinner with pizza and drinks. I was very excited and a bit nervous to meet everyone for the first time. All the other graduates of course turned out to be very lovely people and it felt as if we all instantly bonded. It was really great to have met up before starting at Demant, as this meant there would be a few familiar faces on the first day of work in September.

During the introduction weeks of the graduate programme, apart from getting a thorough introduction to all aspects of the company, the graduates from the 2021-batch had also arranged a two-day welcome trip. The activities they had planned on the first day included padel, minigolf, dinner and drinks. The next day we went for brunch and then to a board game café in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun and very well planned (kudos to the 2021-graduates). It was a really great way to get to know the new graduates as well as the “old” graduates from previous years. After the trip I felt as if we had all known each other for ages, even though we had only recently met.

There are quite a few social activities arranged by Demant for the graduates, but often we also arrange social events ourselves. This includes having dinner together, going out for drinks, padel tournaments, ‘julefrokost’ (Christmas party) and much more. In my opinion, this is very important, because it shows that we are also happy to spend time together after work. Since we are a relatively small group of graduates (11 in the 2021-batch and 20 in total), it’s quite easy to arrange events and I have the feeling of knowing all the graduates really well.

Another fun highlight from the graduate programme was our trip to Berlin in November. After having visited Demant’s production site and shared service center in Stettin, Poland, the graduates decided to stay in Berlin for the weekend. We rented a large Airbnb in Kreuzberg where everyone could stay. We spent the weekend browsing cool second-hand shops, eating brunch, singing karaoke, partying, eating Schnitzel and generally having a blast.

For me, the social part of being a graduate is not only about the activities that are planned outside of work, but it’s also about when you bump into graduates by the coffee machine, when we have lunch together in the canteen or when we meet up for a game of foosball or table tennis. It’s about having good colleagues who are also friends. When I signed up for the graduate programme, I expected to develop a lot professionally and learn a lot of new things. What I hadn’t anticipated, was that I would make a lot of new graduate friends as well.