Hello everyone!
Over the last few months the MEBA council (which is the group that represents all international Master students at NHH) has been in the process of organizing the yearly Business Trip to Oslo. The MEBA Business trip is a chance for around 30 full time international students from NHH to travel to Oslo and visit several companies as a way of networking with potential employers. This year, given my role in the MEBA council, it was my job to plan the details of the trip which took place this past week.
Wednesday evening, the group of 30 students met at the Bergen train station and hopped on the night train to Oslo! It was definitely an experience; the train ride to Oslo takes around 8 hours and given everyone’s excitement it took sometime for everyone to settle into their seats and attempt to get some type of sleep before the following busy day. Thankfully, the train wasn’t too busy and we were able to move around and get a couple seats each. And being on a night train in Norway, you were given a free blanket, earplugs and eyemask which helped a little with the rays of sun that came through at around 4.30AM.
Arriving at the Oslo station at 6.30AM the following day, we all rushed to the bathrooms to freshen up and afterwards check in our luggage for the day. We had a few company visits planned and noone wanted to drag their bags around. First stop was Telenor; it was the first year MEBA got a chance to visit their offices and everyone was blown away. The offices are located in what used to be the old Oslo airport and have a gorgeous view over the water on the other side. The employees who met us were extremely passionate and you could tell that they loved working for the company.
Next up was Statkraft, and for those of us studying Energy, it was our first time to get to see the offices of a company that is brought up in literally everyone of our classes. It was definitely cool to see the nerdy trading floors and get to hear from the employees what they think of their everyday job.
After two company visits everyone was exhausted, and it was time to check into our hostel! Later on, we went out to dinner as a group and afterwards met up with some alumni who work in Oslo for a mingling Happy Hour.
The next day, we woke up ready for two other company visits. First up was Hydro, another company that is bound to be familiar to you if you study Energy in Norway. The company visit was extremely interesting and the employees did their best to keep us entertained with a quiz at the end that tested whether we were paying attention during the two hours visit.
Afterwards, it was time for the combined company visit of Energi Norge and ADAPT Consulting, where they introduced us to possible positions that are available in the Energy field coming from an Economics background. One of the partners from ADAPT Consulting also presented for around an hour and a half on what he called ‘Consulting 101’. This was especially interesting to those who never got a chance to work in Consulting but were considering it as a potential career opportunity after graduation.
Overall, it seemed that everyone enjoyed the Business trip as much as the organizers did. There was definitely something for everyone during the company visits and the dinners and the mingles at night kept us all entertained even with the crazy schedule.
Friday night, a few of us made it to Bergen to prepare for the Bergen Half Marathon the next morning, while the rest enjoyed one more night out in the capital and got to sightsee a little the following morning.
A special shoutout for the two ladies who helped me tremendously with the planning of this trip! Couldn’t have done it without Filipa and Vale!
Lots of MEBA love,
Dom.
d_globetrotterin - الرحالة 