Felix, you graduated in June 2023 and started working as Junior Compliance Specialist at KPMG in September 2023. Can you tell us about the path to your first job after graduation?
Of course! I started my job search during the spring of my last semester. Without really knowing what I wanted to work with I looked at and applied for all different kinds of jobs in varying sectors. After having applied to several jobs I realized that it was quite time consuming so I decided to focus on applying to companies in the finance sector, mainly larger banks and Big4 audit firms, which eventually led me to my job at KPMG. I had my fair share of rejections so I know how discouraging it can be to look for a job but I am very happy with where I ended up!
My preparations for the job hunt mainly consisted of putting together a resumé that would seem appealing to the employers I looked for and highlighted features and achievements that were more in line with the jobs I applied for.
I had my fair share of rejections so I know how discouraging it can be to look for a job but I am very happy with where I ended up!
A big time saver for me was that I put together a template for a cover letter that I could adjust for each job I applied for based on what they were looking for.
What does your daily routine look like?
I usually get into the office at around 8:30-8:45am and start my day by looking through my emails and trying to get some sort of structure to my day. On average I have between 2-4 meetings per day so the amount of my own work I get done is really depending on how many meetings I have.
As I work in an internal role at KPMG I do not have the same short deadlines that most client facing roles have. This means that I rarely have to work really long hours and stay late and I get to go home at “regular” hours so usually somewhere between 17:00-18:00. I will say that during some more intense periods you might stay a bit longer than that but not on a regular basis.
What are the take-aways from your studies at LUSEM that you have found useful in your job so far?
I think the most useful part about studying at LUSEM and more specifically studying an international programme such as Economy and Society is that I learned to cooperate with a lot of different people from different backgrounds, cultures and nationalities which is something that I do everyday now as KPMG is a very diverse workplace.
One thing that I didn’t do myself but that I wish I had done looking back is to be more involved in LundaEkonomerna as I think it gives quite a good representation of what working actually is, and you get to do a bunch of fun activities during it.
What was your favourite part of the bachelor’s programme in Economy and Society?
As me and the other people in our programme had our first year and a half online due to Covid, I think one of the best parts was definitely just getting to have lectures on campus and actually seeing your classmates in person.
I really enjoyed writing my bachelor thesis as I decided to make it something fun rather than having it be filled with anxiety.
If I had to pick something from the programme itself, I really enjoyed writing my bachelor thesis as I decided to make it something fun rather than having it be filled with anxiety. I did this by going to Edinburgh to collect my data in the form of interviewing students at the University of Edinburgh. It was a great trip and it made the whole process of writing the thesis a lot easier as I got to go on a trip whilst technically studying which was really fun.
Where do you see yourself in your career in five years?
To be honest I haven’t really planned that far ahead, I am kind of just enjoying my time in Stockholm at the moment. I do have plans on living and working abroad for a period of time so maybe I will have done that already in five years but who knows? I would also love to be working a bit more with ESG-related questions in the future, but with that said I am very much enjoying the work I do today so only the future can tell.
