Production Engineering, Vestas Blades, Denmark
My Choice
After having worked in a smaller company, I wanted to build my experience in a large, multinational company where I would be able to try out different roles. The Vestas Graduate Programme, with the opportunity to see different parts of the company, was the perfect opportunity to pursue that ambition. Adapting in every new rotation takes energy, but you’re expected to hit the ground running regardless. That’s a great challenge every time and it is very satisfying when you manage to succeed. Besides that, I’ve always been in touch with colleagues in other parts of the world and frequent business trips have taken me to a wide array of locations – from wind farms along the black sea coast in Bulgaria to blade factories in the USA - so I truly feel part of a global company, as I’d hoped for.
Today, after 1½ year in the programme, the most valuable part is the close-knit global network that I’ve built amongst graduates and the colleagues you work with in your rotations. Professionally, this is extremely valuable, but I’ve definitely also built friendships that will last.
My role
I’m working on the rollout of a new product development process for the wind turbine blades, which describes how we want to execute new blade development projects for our future products. I’m responsible for the rollout of the process through educating colleagues and ensuring they can use the materials that we make available. On the side I’m trying to learn as much as possible about producing our blades, so I’m interweaving the rather theoretical process modelling with some hands-on time in the factory.
I also support engineering tasks in a specific area of our production process. The blade process rollout touches people on so many levels that it’s a challenge to ensure that everyone understands what we’re doing and that we get the support we need for the project. Interestingly, this project was spearheaded by another graduate and I now get to explain what we’re going to do to senior people in the organisation. The fact that young people are given these types of opportunities is extremely exciting; you can really make a difference from your first day at Vestas.
My everyday work life
There is no single culture in a multinational – I am in my third rotation now and I can say the atmosphere in each business unit and office is different. Over my rotations, I’ve frequently been thrown in at the deep end, in areas that I had no expertise or experience in. This mounted obvious challenges, but I’ve learned that I was always able to contribute to the given project or task when surrounded by the right people who want to share their knowledge. That is often the case at Vestas and you quickly develop professional skills needed for the task at hand, no matter how challenging it may be. Also, the flat and informal organisation is a common denominator at Vestas – people at all levels of the organisation can be consulted for help and you quickly feel like part of a team that has the same goal.
My opportunities
Within Vestas there are many great opportunities being continuously created, so I’m sure that I can shape my career the way I want – the key is to find out what you love to do and then match that up with the opportunities that arise. A good track record as a graduate definitely helps getting a good start. Even though you are in a privileged position to be considered a talent as a Graduate, there are no guarantees. It mostly comes down to performing well in a wide range of situations – you will be noticed if you keep your standards high and are open to continuously develop yourself.
My experience is that if you indicate that you are hungry to learn more and maintain a flexible mindset, managers will do everything in their power to help you developing professional and personal skills.
My life
In my spare time, I enjoy to travel and especially to combine that with my passion for photography. My weekends are usually filled with city trips, visits to museums, festivals or going to concerts. Working as a graduate can be demanding, but there definitely is time to relax and explore the interesting places you’ll be located.
