Johanna Hammarberg

Tell us about your hopes and expectations ahead of your time in NXT

As I’ve had friends who have taken the trainee program and I’ve heard a lot about Briab, I had fairly high expectations. For instance that I would be able to develop, and learn more about working as a fire protection consultant, and also to try out other fields such as fire protection engineer. And of course I hoped to enjoy myself and learn a lot – which I did.

Did it live up to your expectations?

The day I got the phone call, that I was accepted for Briab NXT, I began to think about how the summer and my time in NXT would be. From that time I started to have hopes for a rewarding time, and my expectations were quite high. Soon after the acceptance call we had an info-meeting where I got to meet all the new NXTers and learn more about the company. I could tell right away that everything was well planned and thought out, which also turned out to be the case throughout my time as a trainee.

When we were on site in Stockholm we had two intensive weeks of training and meetings. There were speakers who were specialists in their business areas at the company, which meant I could quickly learn about the various areas, as well as about my future job as a consultant. The entire introduction was well planned, and we had time to socialize with our new colleagues, who gave us a friendly welcome. Right from the start the trainees were divided into the team for the business area Fire Protection Engineering, where we later worked in projects. The summer and the NXT time really lived up to my hopes and expectations.

Tell us about what you worked with, and how you found it. And about any particular challenges, unexpected occurrences etc.

As I said earlier, I was put in a team where we had internal meetings on projects, and I got to do some work with fire protection engineering. Before the summer I requested to spend time with another business area, to learn more about evacuation and crowd dynamics. And during the summer I got to accompany a colleague, so I could study these things, and I got to see the huge upgrade of the Slussen site in Stockholm. I learned a lot from this, and it was interesting to see what sort of work fire protection engineers can do. Before the summer, each trainee got to choose an internal project, which they managed themselves, and planned their own time for.

Because I got to work on my own with my internal project, I did a lot of my own planning. I enjoy this, but I also got lots of help from my colleagues. In the big Slussen project I really became aware of the complexity of major projects, where various stakeholders have to collaborate.

What was most fun and most rewarding?

The first two introduction weeks were very rewarding and educational. Working in a team gave me insight into what sort of projects there are, and the diversity of these projects was rewarding. The teamwork itself, that suits me very well and I enjoyed it a lot. During the summer there were also some fun events, like after-work meetups with the trainee crew, a boule competition, an end-of-summer event and a trip to the Kolmården Wildlife Park for a kick-off and training.

Do you think we practice what we preach at Briab? What about “Lead, don’t follow”, and #forwardtogether?

Forward together is a strong word for Briab, which I think reflects what they really are. Working in teams helps us work together toward a common goal in every project. Plus, it opens up the communication channels within the team and the project, which means there’s always help nearby. The joy of discovery was obvious, for instance I had the freedom to try out whatever I wanted within the company, and got the chance to test another business area, which is proof of the company’s open attitude.

How is it being back at university? Have you been able to work remotely yet? Has it worked for you?

I’ve returned to university, and I’m right in the middle of writing my graduation project. At the end of the summer I spoke to my team about how the fall would be, in terms of the distance program. Briab has been very clear that our studies come first, and that we trainees decide how much we want to keep working during the fall.

Thanks for speaking to us, Johanna, and all the best for the future!