Meet Thomas. ‘Learning from day one at Hydro’
Thomas Nordby Lundh, 32, an intern in Hydro’s HR department, has some career advice for you: “If you want to be part of a global family where you get great learning and development opportunities, you might be a good fit for Hydro.”
From
Fredrikstad, Norway, but I have lived in Oslo for the past 10 years.
Education
I have a bachelor’s in HR and Management and am currently taking a master’s in Leadership and Organizational Psychology.
Position and location in Hydro
HR intern in Group HR Organization & Leadership
Duties
I’m working on two projects: one is on Hydro’s employer brand related to future critical competencies. The other project is about how we welcome newcomers, especially leaders, to get them up to speed in their new job.
Likes
I like that the people in Hydro have been very generous with their time and value the diversity of perspectives others can contribute.
I really enjoy getting insight into various aspects of how Hydro’s Human Resources department operates and supports the company’s people and strategy.
Hydro is a well-established company, meaning that a lot of effort from smart and experienced people has gone into their current practices. That makes it challenging for me to find ways to contribute in a way that extends current practice, rather than ways that re-invent the wheel.
I like this sort of a challenge and my colleagues here have been very open to new ideas and encourage us to challenge their current way of doing things.
Socially
More social than I expected. They booked introductory meetings with people both in my team and related to my role, so that I could get to know them on a more personal level. I also have a buddy and we have a weekly lunch with the other interns. This made me feel very welcome and like I have the support I need for the challenging tasks they give us here.
Development
The theories on my studies can get very abstract. I loved being an intern in another multinational company during my bachelor’s and I feel like I’m learning just as much – if not more – now from day one here at Hydro.
Hydro is a large and complex organization, yet they have managed to organize their processes neatly.
Since I’m part of the Group HR department, I get to focus on applying my experience and theoretical knowledge on specific HR processes.
I believe this sort of challenge contributes a lot to my professional development.
Goals
My experience working as an officer in prison has given me experience with and a strong interest in philosophy, social psychology, and development of people.
A challenge for some people returning to society after being in prison is that they fall into old habits when they return to their old environment. Although participants in leadership development programs are not the same, I believe they can face a similar challenge: personal development on a program will not necessarily transfer to everyday work life.
This is a challenge I want to understand this challenge better and how personal development can be done in a more effective way.
What would you say to someone thinking about working for Hydro?
Check out Hydro’s Employee Value Proposition. If you want to be part of a global family where you get great learning and development opportunities, you might be a good fit for Hydro.