While doing an internship and thesis collaboration at Novo Nordisk, Pamela Roumpedaki came across many great people which lead to her current position, as a finance graduate at Lundbeck. It made her realize that a great network is key to success in professional life.

Greek Pamela Roumpedaki is a master student in industrial engineering and management, who just started a 2-year Graduate Program at medical giant Lundbeck. She came to Denmark to pursue her master program at the Technical University of Denmark and has by now taken the first important steps into a career in Denmark.

My first interview was a disaster

To get a job in Denmark was not the easiest. Pamela describes that the recruitment processes differ a lot between countries, such as what questions are being asked, how to answer them, and the usage of body language. She learned this the hard way during her first job interview in Denmark:

"My first interview was a disaster, but I learned from that, and in the following interviews I started performing better. I quickly understood that my key to success in interviews was to be myself, to relax and to keep my answer coherent"

With help from the career office at her university she gained understanding in how to perform better at job interviews and with better knowledge of what Danish recruiters were looking for she shortly after got an internship at Novo Nordisk.

Felt like a part of the team

The one thing Pamela wished she had understood before moving to Denmark, is the Danish mentality in the workplace. Pamela was used to a formal hierarchy and to pay great respect to senior management, which led to Pamela holding herself back in the beginning, but it changed quite quickly.

"Since the first day of starting my internship I felt like being part of a team, I never felt like being an intern, I was equally treated as my senior manager of my team. I was getting tasks and responsibilities, was always feeling comfortable asking questions and I could always share my thoughts with my colleagues, no matter the age and seniority level."

A flat hierarchy is standard in most Danish workplaces and regardless of position, all employees are valuable, that including both interns and student workers. At Novo Nordisk, they did not see Pamela as a student, but as a potential young employee, and for Pamela that was something brand new.

Thesis collaboration and internship lead to a graduate program

Through the internship, Pamela got offered the opportunity of writing her master thesis together with Novo Nordisk at their manufacturing plant in Kalundborg. During this collaboration, Pamela expanded her network tremendously.

"People really want to help you here. A network is very important to succeed in the Danish working environment, but of course, you also need to have competitive skills."

In addition to meeting great people, the topic of Pamela's master thesis gave her the opportunity of getting into the recruitment process of Lundbeck's graduate program. Shortly after, she successfully got the position as a graduate at the Finance Group.