‘Part of the Team from the Very Start’ – A Trainee’s Story

Sofia Hellsing: ‘My opinion was valued in every discussion’

Meet Sofia, a graduate from Gunnebo’s new trainee programme

Sofia Hellsing is one of the first graduates from Gunnebo’s new Upskill trainee programme. She has now begun working full-time for Gunnebo as a Search Engine Optimisation and Advertising specialist at our headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.

How was your year as an Upskill trainee?

It was a very challenging year, from the start I was given my own responsibilities in my areas, driving my parts of the team’s joint campaigns and projects – I was never just working alongside someone. But that was good for me, I wanted a challenge and it was fun. 
I got to meet so many people, it is such a large global company. I learned a lot of tricks that were not in the book, how to navigate the corporate environment. It taught me a lot about networking. 
I was always working together with the Marketing and Communications team, but I managed my Upskill project myself, with support from my “buddy” (mentor). That was the biggest learning – driving the project, connecting with people across the globe, understanding what they needed and how to help them. 

What did you get out of the classroom learning with the ESCP business school in London?

I learned a lot. There were topics such as Artificial Intelligence that I knew nothing about, and it was great to understand how these things were connected to my job. I got insight into other focus areas and skills. 
I enjoyed the cultural aspect too, everyone from different cultures and countries. We also had a section on cross-cultural leadership.

Why did you decide to accept the job offer with Gunnebo?

It was a simple decision! I really enjoyed my year, I was included as a team member from the start, it was a great environment to learn and start my career journey. My opinion was valued in every discussion, my perspective was always important. In my new role I am responsible for my area, but working with a team that has been so helpful, supporting, me, taking me under their wings – the team was a big part of why I wanted to stay, we work so well together. 

What are your ambitions in your new job?

To continue to learn. The purpose with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is to drive traffic to our websites and to improve the quality of the traffic. It is a process that is changing all the time, so there are always new things to learn. My ambition is to develop the way we work with this. 
Gunnebo Safe Storage has worked with SEO and Search Engine Advertising (SEA) previously, but it has not had a full-time, in-house resource in this area until now. Some digital marketing techniques are still new to the company, we are all learning together and it is very exciting to see where we could be in a year or two when we get up to speed with this. 

Read more about the Upskill trainee programme here