Anja: “Our Graduate Programme ensures that we have a pipeline of future leaders and specialists at Ørsted”

I joined Ørsted back in 2007 when it was still called DONG Energy. I was educated from the Engineering College of Aarhus and started out working as a developer. I’ve spent the first 10 years  working as a project manager and organisational change manager on IT projects before being offered to work on our graduate programme. 

➔  Hiring!  Ørsted are hiring graduates right now. Click here for more details on the programme. Deadline 13 January.

It was an interesting time to join as it was a bit of an inflection point – both for the graduate programme but also for Ørsted as a company and our new strategy.

What is the story of the Ørsted Graduate programme?  

I believe it was first created back in 2007. I’m not sure exactly how it started, but I think it might have been passed along by one of the companies that merged back in the days to create DONG Energy.

The graduate programme has had a lot of shapes and purposes. It has been a constant development over the years – ranging from not so important to the business to being very important. The last few years it has definitely been a core priority for the business and I believe it will continue to be so.

Why do you have a graduate programme?

The primary objective is to ensure that we have a pipeline of future leaders and specialists. It’s important to emphasize that we are also looking for talented specialists. Our company relies on having the smartest individuals to solve some very technical challenges, so you don’t necessarily have to aspire to be a manager to join our graduate programme. 

Our graduate programme is not just branding. It’s part of our workforce planning and we use it as a strategic lever.  It is an exclusive programme and it has a very strong reputation internally. We have high expectations for our graduates and want to help them succeed at Ørsted. 

What kind of graduates are you trying to attract?

We care a lot about diversity and are always trying to bring a diverse group of graduates both at the assessment centre, but also the final group of graduates.  On a personal level then we are looking for candidates that are curious, who have drive and who buy into our mission at Ørsted. 

Finally then it’s important that graduates have some degree of resilience in them. Being a graduate can be challenging and you will experience a lot of different experiences over the course of the programme. 

The best thing about the programme?

I’m very fascinated by the environment the graduates are able to establish between themselves. They always manage to build a very strong network – also to the rest of the business. But I’m particularly impressed to see how the current group of graduates have managed to pull together during this weird COVID year and still create a social relationship across tracks. 

Areas where you are still trying to improve the experience?

We always aim to make the graduate programme experience better year after year. One of the things we have been focused on this year is to ensure that we match the graduates according to our strategic objectives – both in the short and the long term. This is important to ensure that we hire the right talents to match our company wide strategy.

What other graduate programme do you admire?

I admire the companies that have been able to set up truly global graduate programmes. It takes a lot of effort, coordination, and alignment to establish really well running international programmes.

Fun fact about your graduate programme?

We had a business case for last year’s graduates where everyone had to read “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg. It was interesting to see that once we were done with the case the biggest fighters for women’s rights were actually the men in the room.

➔  Hiring!  Ørsted are hiring graduates right now. Click here for more details on the programme.