Landing my first job at a career fair
Hear Lisandro’s way to securing an engineering job at Novo Nordisk manufacturing Hub in Kalundborg, Denmark, which he met at a career fair in Valencia, Spain
Before attending the fair, Lisandro was about to finalize his master’s degree, parallel to starting his hunt for a job. Today, Lisandro works as an Automation Engineer Professional within manufacturing, and is reflecting on his journey from being a student to engineer.
My journey
My name is Lisandro Andrés Mendoza Reyes, I am 26 years old, and today I live in Kalundborg, Denmark. I moved to Denmark because of the job opportunity I accepted after participating in Forum e UPV Job Fair in Valencia and met employees – now colleagues – from Novo Nordisk.
I had not heard about Novo Nordisk before, and soon I realized it is a huge pharmaceutical company. Novo Nordisk had several career opportunities for someone with my background. I attended the fair, because I was about to graduate with a master’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering, which is a degree that combines different engineering principles. My focus during my studies has primarily been on the integration of different branches of engineering to design and develop intelligent systems.
When I met with the people at the fair, we talked about job opportunities. I had a conversation with what later became my colleagues, about roles relevant for me. I signed up for a role within automation and was contacted by mail a while after. The first interview came quite quickly, up until then I have been patient to hear news. Fortunately, it ended up being great news, and I was offered a job starting in Kalundborg some weeks after.
Moving to Denmark
When I accepted the role, the planning on moving to Denmark started. I moved to Valencia from Honduras, Central America, when I finalized my bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering, to begin my master’s degree in the same field. So, moving from Spain to Denmark was not something that startled me.
What came as shock, however, was the shift in weather. In October, it was very rainy in Denmark, which is a contrast to the warm weathers in southern Spain. The first days without a bike, and being in rainy weather, were a quite different experience.
A wonderful thing is, that it is possible to live here as an English speaker, as I am learning to speak Danish at weekly classes. As a young person, there are different activities happening in the city or by the harbor. I spend time with friends and colleagues going to the gym, meeting for the Friday café, or we go on weekend trips together. Also, there is the opportunity to get support when moving to Denmark from the company side, which made the move quite nice.
Danish work culture
The team I work in is quite diverse and we are people coming from various corners of the world. It is also a young team, with others who have recently graduated. I have become quite close friends with some of my colleagues in the first months since I started here.
But it has also been challenging starting in a full-time job, because there are a lot of new things you need to know about. My job also requires a lot of training, and meeting with a lot of new people. Novo Nordisk is a good place to have your first job. They will not bombard you with tasks and they care about your well-being. It goes both for colleagues and managers.
I thought it was going to be too big of a challenge, being in a huge company, but I have been proven wrong. My colleagues are also nice here, and although someone might have a ‘high title’ they are still down to earth.
Future opportunities
When I was attending the career fair in Valencia, while focusing on my master’s thesis project, I was also a bit insecure about what the future would bring in terms of my career. But I have not felt that in a while.
I would not have imagined that I was going to live in Denmark because of the distance. But there are so many opportunities to develop personally and professionally within the company. In Novo Nordisk you are not stuck in ‘one role’, there is always the possibility to switch roles, learn something new and make new colleagues. Although the distance to my family is long, and it would take almost a day in travel time, I enjoy where I am.
At work, I engage in a large project, and I openly talk with my manager about my future role in Novo Nordisk and within the project I’m currently working on. That is something that excites me, and that gives a sense of belonging as well as a feeling of job security.