I studied Business Economics during my BSc at Aalborg University and continued to take my MSc in Managerial Accounting. I spent 6 months as part of my MSc studying at Griffith University in Australia.
➔ Hiring! Danfoss are looking for graduates right now. Have a look here for more details about their graduate programme.
Interestingly then I was part of the graduate program at Danfoss myself. I managed to secure a spot in 2016 and spent 2 years as a financial graduate. Having been a part of the program I know how important it is to the business and how important ensuring a talent pipeline for the future is for Danfoss. It was therefore quite easy for me to accept the role to head up our program.
What is the story of the Danfoss Graduate program?
The graduate program is an integral part of Danfoss. It was launched in 1974 and more than 500 graduates have been through our program since the beginning. We are a people first company meaning that a large part of our business relies on having smart people solve tough problems. That has always been the case and the reason why we have had a talent program for so long.
The program ensures that we have a pipeline of talents and potential future leaders. Today two of the executive group are former graduates, so as you can imagine the legacy of the program is strong and it’s something that everyone in the company knows about.
The impressive Danfoss HQ below
Why do you have a graduate program?
As I mentioned above we see our graduate program as a talent pipeline for the future. It’s a way for us to ensure succession for our management teams across the business. I think you can really tell the importance of the program by the fact that it has always been running even during external crises.
What kind of graduates are you trying to attract?
Our program has a lot of freedom to it. It’s important that we get in graduates that are able to drive their journey themselves. They need to be proactive and take initiative when it comes to selecting rotations and projects. We are looking for people who see the freedom in the structure as an opportunity.
On a more personal level we are looking for graduates that are smart but humble and are good collaborators. That’s an important skill as they will often be working with colleagues from other teams and departments.
On a more personal level we are looking for graduates that are smart but humble and are good collaborators. That’s an important skill as they will often be working with colleagues from other teams and departments.
The best thing about the program?
In my view it’s the fact that you are able to select your own projects and rotations. We let you decide which challenges you want to pursue and ultimately what kind of profile you want to build in Danfoss. Personally I knew a lot about Finance, but I also wanted to learn about business development, so I had the chance to do that during my graduate program. It’s really up to you to define what you want to learn.
Areas where you are still trying to improve the experience?
It’s probably the flipside of what I just said is that it can be difficult to very clearly lay out the path which you can expect to have on our graduate program.
It’s difficult to point to typical projects as all experiences are so different. It’s also difficult for us to say what roles they will get after the graduate role. So it’s really the flip side of freedom that we can’t clearly show what projects and roles they can get afterwards because it depends so much on the choices the graduate makes during their program.
This year we will be creating videos to show what kind of journeys people have had – hopefully that will make it clearer. They will be released in December.
Fun fact about your graduate program?
Probably the longest running graduate program in Denmark.
➔ Hiring! Danfoss are looking for graduates right now. Have a look here for more details about their graduate programme.
