He bought an apartment and it changed his life 

Amund decided to buy an apartment at the beginning of his bachelor studies, obtaining a loan from Danske Bank – and the experience literally changed his life.  

“I bought an apartment in Trondheim. I was 19 at the time and knew almost nothing about buying a house or financing. I was a bit scared, but I met the world's nicest adviser at Danske Bank’s office in Trondheim. She gave me a thorough introduction to how a mortgage works, bidding on an apartment and everything I needed to know. She even called me a couple of times during my apartment search to check up on how things were going - she exceeded all expectations. 

“She then encouraged me to apply for a student job!” 

And Amund felt it would be a good move:  

''I liked the theory and what we were taught in school about banking and finance, and saw this as a great opportunity to get my foot in the door of one of the largest banks in the Nordics. To be honest, my grades were pretty average, and I hoped this student job would help when I wanted to apply for a fulltime job.'' 

For more than two years, Amund supported customers during evenings and weekends with everything from small credits to lost cards and payments. 

“It was a great opportunity to get to know the bank, the customers and to build internal relations,” he says. When his master’s thesis was finished, he applied to the bank’s graduate programme - and was accepted.  

“Starting as a graduate was a huge change. When studying, everything was up to me and I only ‘answered’ to my own grades. In the bank, though, we worked together towards a common goal. My job was not to be the most knowledgeable person, but rather to encourage and facilitate collaboration among the various experts in back-office, IT and customer-facing teams.’’ 

The graduate programme gave Amund a chance to get to know various aspects of the bank and – again – meet lots of people and extend his network. Something he had even specifically set aside time for in his calendar. 

Meeting people is easy 

When he finished his graduate programme in 2021, he didn’t feel like leaving: “I was having such a good time at the bank! I had made a lot of friends, it was fun! The bank gave me a lot of opportunities, and my work was appreciated.” Amund turned to his by now rather large network, and it paid off: He was offered a job as Relationship Manager in Business Banking.  

Now newly employed, there was one thing he missed: “I missed certain aspects of student life; social events, sports, professional events and so on.” So he decided to get things moving. First, he founded the bank’s golf club in Oslo, then he became involved in arranging social events, and soon he was recruited to Danske Next, a committee at Danske Bank in Norway that arranges large employee events with interesting speakers and social happenings.  

“I enjoy helping people meet, creating social interactions across departments and teams, and getting to know people along the way. I work in a small local team, so having a large internal network is very helpful. Knowing people everywhere means I can navigate around so much easier when I need help, and colleagues also come to me with relevant business cases.” 

Swapping the office for a mountain cabin - to kite on the snow 

Apart from meeting people, Amund has another huge interest: Kitesurfing.  

“All my money and spare time go on kitesurfing,”  Amund says. This is possible because Amund, who is now a sales manager in Investor Services, enjoys a lot of flexibility at work.  

“Ever since my first days as a graduate employee, I have always had lots of flexibility. I don’t necessarily need to be in the office to work, and if the wind is good, I can have a short day and work more later on instead. While it is perhaps strange to say, the pandemic paved the way for the flexibility I now enjoy”  

“Next week, for instance, I’m going with a group of friends to the mountains to kitesurf in the snow. So, we are going to get up really, really early, work for a couple of hours, go snowkiting, and then home to the cabin and work some more. 

“The bank has many nice cabins that employees in Norway can rent at a heavily discounted price, and I often work from those. And my managers have always been supportive. ‘Of course you should go kiting!’ they say. That flexibility and that mentality have given me the opportunity to lead the life I want!” 

Want to kick start your career link Amund? Check out our student opportunities here.