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My Career: From Start to Finnish

Dagmar wanted to learn from the work culture here

Get to know more about Dagmar via LinkedIn

Dagmar Ossenbrink, Germany. CEO

“The people are very quiet, but they are so innovative and ready to conquer the world.”

Dagmar has always loved the Nordic lifestyle, the nature, the fresh air and the design in Finland and wanted to explore more of it. She also felt that, as the Finns are so far ahead when it comes to digitalisation, technology and startups, she could learn from the work culture here. After being stationed for 12 years at the German-Tunisian Chamber of Commerce, she was looking to change back to a European environment, and so she moved to its Finnish office.

  1. If I could change one thing about Finnish working life it would be…
that because Finns are so humble and even though their work is amazing, they’re so not so good at praising themselves! They should do that more, especially in job interviews and negotiations.

  1. My favourite thing about Finland is…
the nature, lakes and forests and clean air. But also, the work culture of equality and freedom, and the Finnish innovations, that we’re doing our best to bring to the German market, too. The Germans can learn so much from the Finns!

  1. The piece of advice I would give to someone contemplating coming to work in Finland is…
that after a rather cool welcome the Finns will warm up to you and greet you with kindness, laughter and probably a sauna night. Just give them a little bit of time!

  1. My initial impression of Finland was…
that the people are very quiet, but they are so innovative and ready to conquer the world! You just must start the conversation and not wait until they start it, as this could take a while.

Published on 07.10.2019