Dual students on their travels abroad

The journey to a placement abroad:  

"It all started with a binding decision to go abroad during our theory phase. However, we were still in lockdown at this time and did not want to risk having to spend our intended time abroad studying online at home in Germany," says Jule. "That's why we got thinking with Carolin and developed the idea of moving the practical phase, which would take place later in the year, abroad. Once we had settled the organizational details, everything went very quickly and we have now been here for three weeks," adds Lisa. In order to make a stay like this possible and to enable all three students to work in their desired area – the area of “People and Culture”- our Talent Management put a lot of time and effort into organising and planning everything.  

What they do at the People & Culture sites:  

How can the tasks of the dual students be described in one word? Varied! Lotta explains enthusiastically: "I chose Oslo because I can help drive the Diversity Project forward here. I was able to hold my first big event there alone. We are currently working on a series for which we are interviewing people from a wide variety of diversity groups to learn and develop more about the working culture at Riverty."  

Jule, on the other hand, takes care of optimizing the onboarding processes in Helsinki: "That was a task that had to be done for a long time. Due to a lack of capacity, onboarding has not yet been optimized, but now I can take the issue into my own hands and drive it forward."  

Lisa is also working on improving processes within the company: "I am currently working on an employee retention program. In this way, we want to ensure that employees not only find their way to us, but also remain with us in the long term and enjoy their time here. It is with this in mind that we would like to interview the employees to find out what conditions we can still work on." Besides the larger projects, they look over their respective supervisors' shoulders and accompany them through their day-to-day work.  

Working abroad – is it really different?  

On the whole, not really. Lisa notes: "Cooperation at Riverty is equally important everywhere. That's why I didn't have to reorient myself here." There are minor differences, for example, in terms of the working day: "Here everyone only starts working much later. I usually start at 7:30 a.m., while my colleagues here in Helsinki come to work two hours later," Jule says.  

This is not limited to Helsinki, but has also become apparent to the two students in Oslo and Stockholm. They all describe a relaxed, yet efficient working atmosphere. How do the Scandinavians manage this? "The people have a very positive attitude, through and through. They don't get upset so quickly, but trust that there is a suitable solution for everything. For me, this is an attitude that I definitely want to take home with me," adds Lotta.  

What our three students hope to take away from their experience abroad: 

The reasons for going abroad hardly differ between them. For all three, refreshing their language skills is a top priority. "Improving my English is one of my main goals here. Not only written English, but also verbally. I want to be able to respond spontaneously to what others say," Jule explains. For Lotta, this is her first prolonged period of time alone abroad. "This is a challenge that I have set myself: eating out alone, gaining new experiences, and experiencing a new culture and working atmosphere." But of course, when they think about their time abroad, they are already considering their future career path, as Lisa explains: "Especially in the People & Culture area, everything is becoming increasingly international. This is the best prerequisite for keeping up with the changes. What's more, networking is never a bad idea."