Anders Blesvik Gandrud
Age: 27
Location: Oslo, Norway
What is your academic background?
I have a Master of Science degree in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. During my studies, I specialised in Artificial Intelligence and Applied Optimization. My third year was spent abroad at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
I must say that all of the projects I’ve worked on so far have been super interesting while also being of strategic importance for Visma, which is really cool. If I have to highlight one particular project, it would be the one I did for Tripletex involving user behaviour analysis.
The project consisted of doing research to figure out what kind of tool to use for user behavioural data gathering. I also took part in the implementation of the selected tool and did an analysis of the gathered data. The project deliverables were a recommended infrastructure for user behaviour analysis in Tripletex and a dashboard showcasing some of the conducted analyses.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Working as a Management Trainee at Visma gives you a unique opportunity to gather valuable experience from five projects in different Visma companies. You also get to test out various fields of business and technology.
The project work is very flexible which allows for a lot of freedom in how you conduct your work.
Visma has a warm, inclusive and down-to-earth culture. They focus on fostering an environment of collaboration, creativity and innovation that puts employee wellbeing first.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
Spending time together with all of the trainees for a couple of months in Oslo was great. The creation of the traditional Management Trainee Christmas music video was the absolute highlight! I also really enjoy acquiring new skills from exciting projects while getting to know fantastic colleagues along the way.
Johanne Hagelin
Age: 26
Location: Oslo, Norway
What is your academic background?
I have a double degree in Business Analysis & Performance Management, and CEMS International Management from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and Esade in Spain.
I have also studied a year of English language and literature and done a semester of Sustainability studies while learning Spanish in Argentina.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
This is the worst kind of question, as all my projects have been really interesting in my opinion. I began with a benchmarking project at Tripletex, that gave me a deep dive into a fast-growing company with a unique culture and way of working.
This project provided me with a lot of tools and insights that I would not want to be without. My second project was for Visma Tech Hubs, where I worked on finding a location for a new Competence Center.
Here, I really got to extend my understanding of, and network in, Visma from a more international perspective. It also allowed me to go to Portugal to partake in the initial steps of the implementation of the new Competence Center.
Currently, I am working with some of our best internal resources from different competence hubs, on a go-to-market project for one of our eCommerce companies. Working on rethinking business and how we communicate to the market is for sure also interesting!
However, if I have to pick one (which I guess I do), it has to be the Competence Center project. It demanded a good mix of communication and analyses and drastically improved my holistic view of Visma. Also, it was really interesting to partake in the initial stage of the implementation in Portugal.
How is it really to work at Visma?
If I had to choose one word, it would be intriguing. I am surrounded by people that know so much about things I don’t even know that I don’t know – that are happy to share their insights, tips and tricks. In fact, I believe the general friendliness, openness and eagerness to share and help is one of the things I have been most impressed with in Visma.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
The biggest highlights, as you probably can see from my other answers, are for sure all the interesting people I have gotten to know, work with and learn from throughout my projects. Not to mention, the social events, travels and other fun activities – especially our MT-gathering in Copenhagen!
You might also be interested in: Three important skills of a Management Trainee
Henrik Kjærnsli
Age: 27
Location: Oslo, Norway
What is your academic background?
I have a Master of Science degree in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Here, I majored in finance, investments and financial management. Before that, I completed my Bachelor of Business Administration at the University College of Lillehammer.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
My projects have been very different, so it is hard to pick one. Working with the pricing strategy of Visma Real Estate was really exciting and gave me a good understanding of the whole real estate segment.
Having to pick one, I would like to highlight my project in Group Finance where I got to know the capital structure of Visma on a very detailed level.
It was really interesting to see what kind of derivatives and hedging instruments are used, and how we plan going forward. Working in Group Finance gave me a significantly improved understanding and overview of Visma in general, including all the companies that are a part of the organisation and their financial performance and development.
The project also introduced me to the budgeting and reporting process in Visma. I also worked on developing tools that will make us able to determine if our strategic decisions work as desired.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Visma is a really fast-paced and innovative organisation where you learn something new every day. My experience as a trainee is that you get to participate in a lot of different activities and courses alongside your daily working tasks.
Some of the projects you face as a trainee are quite challenging, and you need to gather input and manage expectations from various stakeholders in order to bring value to the company. This is why working in Visma is a great way to develop your knowledge and problem-solving skills.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
That would be to get to know my colleagues. Especially my fellow trainees, but also meeting different people in the Visma organisation during my projects.
Ingrid Schulman
Age: 25
Location: Helsinki, Finland
What is your academic background?
I have an M.Sc. in Technology from Aalto University in Finland. In my bachelor’s degree, I majored in Bioinformation technology with system analysis as a minor, and in my master’s degree, I specialised in complex systems.
In addition to my studies in technology, I have also completed some courses in industrial engineering and I did one exchange semester at École Polytechnique in Montréal, Canada.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
In my second project during the management trainee period, I got to work with internal communication in Visma Group. This included getting to know the Visma organisation and structure on a detailed level. It was very interesting and I got to gain insight into both the challenges and opportunities of collaboration and information sharing between companies.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Fun and busy—in a good way! The days go by really fast when working with interesting projects, and you never get stuck with something too long as Visma is full of great people always ready to guide you in the right direction.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
For me, the highlight so far has been getting to know Visma headquarters in Oslo where us trainees were welcomed with open arms during our second project. And, of course, also meeting the other trainees.
Also, in terms of personal development, a highlight has been to get concrete feedback on how to improve my presentation skills and get insight into how different leaders at Visma work.
Also read: Say hello to the Management Trainees of 2020/21!
Fredrik Jørgensen
Age: 27
Location: Oslo, Norway
What is your academic background?
I graduated from NHH with an MSc in Economics and Business Administration, and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland with a Master in International Management (CEMS MiM). During my studies, I majored in corporate finance and wrote my thesis on merger waves and the role of private equity.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
Don’t make me pick. They are intrinsically different and hardly comparable. However, I enjoy the constant variety and the freedom we have to influence our own projects.
Coming from a corporate finance background, I was excited to do my first project with the group M&A team. First, I worked on improving operational business processes within the team.
After doing scrutinous market research to identify potential acquisition targets, I told HR I wanted to see the other end of the M&A pipeline. After all, what happens after a company is acquired and handed over to its host company within the Visma Group? How do we realise the value we pay for in competition with private equity funds and other tech investors? And how do you balance light integrations without compromising synergies?
Consequently, for my second project, I was allocated to the Custom Solutions division in Norway. This department consists of multiple consulting companies that have been acquired over the last few years.
My mandate was to provide a shared market strategy for all the companies in the division, as the division sought to rebrand itself as one holistic solutions provider under one brand and not a horde of different companies.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Fun, but also a little messy and chaotic at times. The Visma organism is huge, and trainee projects are usually strategically important, meaning you have to juggle many stakeholders and all their expectations at once.
If projects were easy, they typically would have been done already. This can be frustrating at times, but also a great source of fun once you crack them!
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
Easy. Getting to know my fellow trainees, and going from complete strangers to a tight-knit group over just a few months.
Henrik Hesle
Age: 26
Location: Oslo, Norway
What is your academic background?
I have a Master of Science degree in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. During my studies, I specialised in Artificial Intelligence and Applied Optimization. My third year was spent abroad at the University of California San Diego.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
I have had the pleasure of working on a diverse set of projects in different Visma companies and find them all interesting in different ways. If I had to choose one, it would be my current project.
Here, I am developing a machine learning model for extracting and structuring resume data. I am working closely with experienced data scientists, specialised in natural language processing, and have learned a lot!
It is really exciting to bridge the gap between the theory learned at university and state of the art tools and techniques needed to apply machine learning at scale.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Being a Management Trainee in Visma has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of people with different areas of expertise. They have all been inclusive, passionate, eager to share their knowledge and fun to work with. The projects have been exciting, meaningful and supported my personal development.
What have been the highlights working as a Management Trainee this year?
The highlights so far have been all the things I have done together with my amazing fellow trainees. We have gone kayaking, played minigolf, created a Christmas music video, been to escape rooms, attended an AI conference, worked on group projects, attended courses, and participated in recruitment events, just to name a few.
You might also want to read: How Visma’s Management Trainee Program kickstarted my career
Pauliina Koskela
Location: Finland
What is your academic background?
I have M.Sc. in economics and business administration from Aalto University School of Business with a major in accounting and a minor in economics. During my bachelor’s degree at Aalto, I completed an exchange semester at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
Impossible to choose as all of them have been super interesting! I have written a separate blog post about my first project at WeOptit. You can read about my experiences in the world of optimization here.
My second project was for Visma Software AS and it was related to a cloud ERP solution and to the segmentation of the customers. Currently, for my third project, I’m working for the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) team. Here, I’m screening the market, identifying potential acquisition targets, and doing due diligence analyses among other tasks.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Truly a great atmosphere—full of smart, fun, and friendly people. The projects have been challenging so I have used all the skills that I have learned during my studies, and I have learned enormously during the projects as well.
I appreciate that there have been no unrealistic deadlines, and employees’ well-being and opinions are highly valued at Visma.
What have been the highlights working as a Management Trainee this year?
The brightest highlights have been to live in Oslo with all the management trainees and have fun social activities together. More project-related highlights include all the presentations of my findings.
Whether the presentations have been formal with a big audience and polished slides or informal without slides, it has been fun to present my findings to the people who make the strategic decisions. This way, we have had some interesting discussions about the findings and business goals both during and after the presentations.
Sara Gustafsson
Age: 27
Location: Stockholm
What is your academic background?
I have studied Industrial Engineering and Management at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. My technological specialisation was computer science and machine learning and I wrote my master thesis about circular business model innovation.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
All trainee projects have been interesting in their own ways, but if I have to choose one I would say that my current project at Tech Hubs is the most interesting one. During this project, I get to deep dive into product usage data collected with Snowplow and technologies to segment users and automate user persona creation.
How is it really to work at Visma?
As a management trainee at Visma, I feel like you get a lot of responsibility and trust from day one. It is challenging and developing, and you have a great influence on what you do and how. I would say the culture is friendly, easy and ambitious, and people are always happy to help if you reach out.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
So far I think the main highlights have been the trip to Copenhagen for the AI conference, which was also the first time we got to meet all the trainees in person and doing the second project in Oslo. During that period we also created the traditional trainee Christmas movie which was a lot of fun!
Also read: Diversity creates a dynamic workplace
Daniel Cohen
Age: 26
Location: Finland
What is your academic background?
MSc. and CEMS Business Graduate. I majored in International Management and Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management. For my BSc., I majored in International Business. I did my exchange semesters in RSM, Rotterdam for my MSc. and St. Gallen, Switzerland for my BSc.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
My current project is pricing modernisation for Visma Software Finland’s Nova product, an on-prem ERP system. It’s challenging but allows me to work with a lot of stakeholders, think strategically and get down into the details with data.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Dynamic and flexible. Dynamic in the sense that the Visma companies all have a bit of their own way of doing things which forces me to adapt— which is a good skill to have.
It’s also dynamic in the sense that I know I am no expert (yet) in specific areas but I can always find people that can help. With flexibility, I mean the hours are what you set as long as you get your job done. Whether that means starting later in the day, having an occasional longer or shorter day or working from home or the office. I appreciate that.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
There are a few things. First, meeting all the other Trainees in Oslo! Second, is the ability to try out different things at Visma. Finally, the network I have been able to create so far.
Filip Matz
Age: 24
Location: Stockholm
What is your academic background?
I studied Industrial Engineering and Management at KTH Royal Institute of Technology with an M.Sc. in Machine Learning. I also studied Marketing and Philosophy during an exchange semester at UT Austin, in the US.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
I would say all my projects have been extremely interesting in different ways. I’ve managed to learn a lot across various business domains. But if I had to pick one it would be my current project at the SMB Segment at Visma.
The goal of the project is to “defuzz” innovation, which means that we want to work with innovation in a more structured, defined and optimised way. The project entails a lot of interviews with interesting and smart people at Visma as well as reading and applying best practices from across the tech industry to define our view on Innovation.
How is it really to work at Visma?
As a trainee you have the opportunity to work at a lot of different Visma companies, in different countries, targeting different customer groups and building different products.
I really enjoy the differences in these companies, and they’re all a part of Visma which leads to a sense of community. Even if Visma is a large group of companies, they all have a lot of freedom to act independently and that translates to you as an employee.
You have the freedom to work in the way that suits you best. Come in later, stay later, take a longer lunch break to get a quick workout in—you do you, as long as you do the work.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
Hands down, meeting all of the other trainees during our projects in Oslo. It is such a great relationship between trainees at Visma, we are friends at work. We are working at the same workplace and often have to handle the same type of challenges but we are never directly dependent on each other professionally. We have so much fun together!
Read more: —I hate it when someone says that women are not interested in technology, of course they are
Frida Värnlund
Age: 25
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
What is your academic background?
I have a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. My technical specialisation during my studies was in applied mathematics and optimisation. I did a semester abroad during my fourth year at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
All of my projects so far have been very different which makes it almost impossible to compare them to one another! I’ve actively requested varying projects in different parts of Visma to get as broad a perspective as possible of all the opportunities out there.
But if I have to choose only one project it would be my second project which I did in the M&A team at Visma Group. It was incredibly valuable to gain so much insight into Visma’s M&A processes and strategy, seeing that it plays such a central part in Visma’s overall growth strategy.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Working at Visma, I feel valued both as a trainee and employee. As trainees, we have the privilege to explore so many different areas to find what we are most interested in pursuing after the program.
Also, we meet so many interesting and smart people, as well as take part in different conferences, workshops and courses. The learning curve is incredibly steep, but there are always people there to support you. I find the culture warm and helpful, and I highly appreciate the flexibility and responsibility that we are given.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
So far, I think the best part of the program was when all the trainees were gathered in Oslo. During this time we had the opportunity to really get to know each other both during and after work hours! I also really enjoyed the pulse at Visma’s HQs and exploring Oslo during this project period.
Michael Sants
Age: 26
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
What is your academic background?
My academic journey started with a BSc in International Business from the University of Groningen. Here, I did an exchange semester at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China, where I studied Chinese Culture & Business.
After gaining some practical experience in Shanghai, I continued with an MSc in Marketing Analytics & Data Science from the University of Groningen. Following this, I was selected to partake in a double degree programme with BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, where I obtained an MSc in Strategic Marketing Management.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
For me, this was the Page Value Score project, where I worked with the Marketing Tech & Data Team. Our aim was to develop a data-driven framework to score web pages to lay the foundation for further optimisation of our online presence.
Using a tableau dashboard, we now can deliver an overview of web page performance to our business units, guiding them in terms of which web pages perform well and which should be considered removed or edited.
As you can imagine, a multinational organisation like Visma has thousands and thousands of web pages. These web pages largely make up our online presence, which is an important instrument in our marketing toolbox.
Thus, it was really great to contribute to adding value to such an important aspect of the business. If you want to read more about the project, feel free to have a look at this blogpost.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Working at Visma has exceeded my expectations. It has the benefits of working for a big corporation, but due to the flat organisational structure, it does not feel like that.
As trainees, we get real responsibilities and are in charge of executing the projects which truly deliver value to the organisation. So if you’re asking me what it is like to really work at Visma, the answer is that we really work at Visma.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
First, I have to say that meeting all the other trainees and having such a great group of international colleagues, that I see both during and outside of work, has really added up to the experience of being a Visma Management Trainee!
On a personal note, one of my highlights has been to develop and present the Value Score framework and it being adopted in the Visma Group. As a trainee, to see your hard work is appreciated and the organisation building further upon it feels great.
Tim Bruyn
Age: 29
Location: Delft, The Netherlands
What is your academic background?
After a bachelor in Applied Mathematics at the Delft University of Technology and a minor as a high school teacher, I decided to combine the masters of Computer Science and Science Communication.
61% of ICT projects fail to deliver on time and on budget, largely because of unclear objectives, communication and processes. I wanted to not only learn how to deliver on the technical side but also how to manage the process around it.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
This project I am definitely most in my flow. Partly because the project is interesting, and partly because I’ve grown to better understand my own process.
I am currently working with Visma ProActive on their customer journey and how to use that to improve their business processes. I love sparring with people about where we want to go and what the barriers are to get there.
So far, the problem has never been what people thought it was. The process of digging up the underlying issues and finding real solutions is the best part for me.
How is it really to work at Visma?
During our introduction week at the HQ in Oslo we were told ‘At Visma, we let the companies do their own thing. We give the Visma companies the freedom to make their own choices. They are already successful in their market, so we support their decisions.’ I remember thinking, yeah right, of course, headquarters would say that, but I wonder if the companies feel the same.
So at my first project at Visma Yuki, I asked people: what do you think of Visma? I expected a lot of things, but I didn’t expect the answer I got: We don’t. The people at Yuki told me: “Nothing’s changed. Oh sure, we have a new logo and it’s cool that we have access to these Visma talks, but we are still Yuki”. So it’s a trick question really because there is no one way to work at Visma. There are as many different ways as there are companies.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
Application training for students. The thing a lot of people don’t realise is that once you get to the interview, it is not about your skills. That’s what your resume is for. The first interview is about personality: Who are you? What is your attitude? How do you work in the team? And nothing shows personality as passion.
We developed a training where we focus on the things you love doing and what that says about you. From there, we craft stories that let you showcase your strengths by talking about the things you are passionate about.
I got to give this training to 70 students of my old university, at the same career event that I got to know Visma. There was so much energy in the room. Everybody was engaged and we got feedback from many students that it helped them think about interviews in a whole new way. It was amazing to come full circle and help students that are in the same position I was a year ago.
Also read: How Visma’s Management Trainee Program kickstarted my career part 2
Zhouxin Ge
Age: 27
Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
What is your academic background?
I have obtained a BSc. and MSc. Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology where I specialised in deep reinforcement learning for flight control.
My academic background might be quite an odd one if you compare it with the other trainees. However, my studies also focused on solving complex problems using optimisation algorithms for aerospace applications.
In addition to that, I have explored the realm of theory and applications of business and technology in my extracurricular activities and minor in Technology-based Entrepreneurship.
What is the most interesting project you have worked on so far?
The most politically correct answer; all of them! Of course, each project has something that is interesting to me, that is how I keep myself going.
My first project gave me the opportunity to work with Visma Data Lake and Tableau, where I had my first professional experience with Business Intelligence at Visma Software B.V. Here, I made an impact by providing them with a dashboard that would help the customer success team follow up on leads with the highest growth potential.
My second project was at Resolve, a team within Tech Hubs. Here, I could see up close how AI and optimization services are provided and implemented for companies within the Visma Group.
I was responsible for leading an integration project, and had the freedom to create a framework to aid the team with future integrations. Currently, I am working on a challenging but very interesting project for Visma Spcs, where I have to come up with a pricing and packaging strategy for valuable insights to eAccounting customers. This is something that is completely new to me, which makes it very interesting.
How is it really to work at Visma?
Really nice and great fun. The people are friendly and down-to-earth.
Also, Visma provides a great opportunity for exploring various aspects of a large organisation, while you can approach everyone in the organisation as if you were in a startup. It is a great place for people with a great portion of curiosity.
What have been the highlights of working as a Management Trainee this year?
Learning about Visma’s developments in artificial intelligence at the AI conference in Copenhagen, which was accompanied by nice social activities and our first opportunity to meet each other in real life.
I would say it was love at first physical sight! OK, that’s a bit too much, but I do believe that my fellow trainees are fun and great people to hang out with, as we did in Oslo, and wherever we have the opportunity to meet each other.
Another highlight would be the Instagram takeover on @vismatrainee. In addition to that, being part of a high-school musical production group where we were taking part in storyboarding, scripting, songwriting, acting, dancing and singing which are all incorporated in the so-called ‘Christmas video’.
Want to read more about what it’s like to work at Visma and what community investments we are engaging in? Visit our Visma Life category page on our blog.
