Hi, my name is Filip Rönnblad and I work in the Fortum Corporate Brand team. I’ve been at Fortum for a couple of months at the time of writing this. So far my experience has been very positive! My normal workday includes doing research, attending meetings, presenting my work, discussing with colleagues and planning and improving my investigation project. The main project I’ve been working on is a holistic background investigation on sponsorships and trends and how we can best leverage sponsorships and CSR activities at Fortum to increase brand reputation going forward in the Nordics.
One thing I love about my work is that it is very flexible. I have flexible hours in the workweek, so I can sometimes have a shorter workday and compensate for it by working longer another day. This is very useful when I’m feeling extra productive and want to work longer or in contrast if I’m feeling sluggish or unproductive on a particular evening. I also have the possibility to work hybrid. The office I work at in Keilaniemi is really ergonomic and the environment is welcoming and social, which I prefer, so I have ended up working mostly at the office. If you ask any summer trainee about what makes the office great they’re bound to always mention among other things… the coffee machine. The top-tier workplace coffee really is a great bonus and motivator! Another way Fortum is a flexible workplace is regarding the task array for the summer. Other summer trainees can attest too, that you can have a big impact on the choice and nature of your tasks. My team gave me very free hands and lots of trust with my project, which I really appreciate. They still provided good support when I needed it. I recently had the opportunity to present my work in front of an audience of around 70 people from all over the world working in Fortum communications. This was something that really motivated me to make my work the best it can be and work extra hard. My work proved to be fruitful as I got very positive feedback after my presentation. This experience goes to show the level of trust and the opportunities you can achieve, even as a trainee, which very positively surprised me!
I’m studying International Business and Marketing as my major in the AACSB accredited Åbo Akademi University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Business, Economics and Law. The programme is a joint bachelor and master of science in economics and business administration programme. University education tend to be more theoretical in approach and I feel like learning how to put that theory to use in practice in a work environment is an essential part of learning and career acceleration. At Fortum I’ve been encouraged to provide input from my academic points of view, whilst also adapting new, different ways of working. I will be continuing part-time at Fortum for a while alongside my studies. This is a really great opportunity to study something that supports my work, but also work on tasks that support my studies. I have heard that it is possible to continue to become a (master’s) thesis worker for Fortum, which is something I would be interested in as well when the time for writing comes!