Tell us a little about yourself!
My name is Håvard Stabell Somdal, I’m 25 years old, and I come from the pearl of southern Norway, Grimstad (something I mention as often as I can). I live with my girlfriend in the Ekeberg district of Oslo, in an apartment we renovated and furnished ourselves. Outside of work and school, football (especially my favourite club, Chelsea) takes up most of my time. I see, hear and listen to pretty much anything about the Premier League I can get my hands on. I’m studying Leadership and Organisational Psychology (Master of Science) at BI Norwegian Business School, and have a Bachelor’s degree in HR and Personnel Management. I’ve made conscious choices throughout my studies and through several internships, and am specialising in Talent Acquisition and Recruitment as part of my elective courses.
How did you get in touch with Embriq?
As part of my course of study, we got the opportunity to do an internship. After a career day at the school, Embriq popped up on BI’s career pages – and this job was simply spot-on for me. The internship consisted of working with employer branding and recruitment in the IT industry, something I was very interested in working with. After all, IT is the new oil, and we can all agree that a lot will happen in the industry in the coming years.
What have you helped us with in the course of your internship?
In my time at Embriq, I’ve gotten to be part of a team working with exactly what I wanted to work on: recruitment and employer branding, from A-Z. In terms of recruitment, we’ve focused on assessing incoming applications and conducting external searches for relevant candidates with the help of LinkedIn Recruiter. From there, we invite relevant candidates in for a chat with the recruiting manager and the HR team. If it’s a good match, they continue in the process.
When it comes to the employer branding part of it all, I’ve gotten to contribute to the People Stories project that the company has going, the purpose of which is to showcase the people behind Embriq. On top of all that, I’ve been involved in preparing the autumn campaign, which has just gone live on SoMe and other relevant channels. Together with my mentor Eilin Hambro , I’ve also been involved in the planning and implementation of various events, such as itDAGENE at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and JavaZone. In addition to recruitment and employer branding, I’ve been able to help update various internal documents, including Embriq’s HSE Handbook.
What do you think has been the most rewarding part of the internship, and what has been the most challenging?
The most rewarding part of interning at Embriq has been seeing first-hand how a rapidly growing company with solid ambitions works to achieve its goals. There’s a focus on quality and professionalism at all levels, which has rubbed off on me and the work I’ve put in these past eight weeks. While it’s rewarding to work with incredibly talented people and you learn new things from every single day, it’s also challenging. All in all, these eight weeks have left me with experience and acquaintances that I will no doubt take with me further in my career and value very highly.
What do you think has been most exciting (and unexpected) about working at Embriq?
The pursuit of good developers, who are such hot commodities. It’s a tough market, and there’s a real headhunting battle to snap up the best in the business. In our dialogue with potential hirees, we have to come off as their best option and attract the right candidates. The most fun part of recruitment is meeting new people in interview settings and getting to know them better. It gives you insight into a person’s life and the industry they’ve worked with – and that allows you to see if they’re a good match.
What have you learned from doing an internship?
What have I not learned? I mean, where do I begin? First and foremost, I’ve been able to translate acquired knowledge from school into practical competence. It’s increased my interest in quality at every stage of the recruitment process. I would also like to mention Eilin Hambro, who has been my mentor throughout my time at Embriq. We have the same Bachelor’s degree, but the way she works is truly an example to emulate. I’ve pretty much learned that to succeed in this business, I simply have to become more like Eilin!
While I’ve learned a lot about recruitment, employer branding, etc., I’ve also learned things about myself. I feel that I’ve developed in a number of areas and wish I had eight more weeks (if not more) to continue my development, both professionally and personally!
What is your top tip is for other students who want to intern at a company?
Find yourself a small/medium-sized company where you’ll be seen, heard and get to participate as much as possible! For my part, Embriq was a perfect fit. Here, you get to talk to everyone from your closest colleagues to the CEO and external stakeholders. There’s more room to ask “stupid” questions, and you get follow-up when you need it. In conclusion, I’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone at Embriq who has welcomed me with open arms and involved me in their working lives as if I were one of them.