Märta Ransjö Zander and Fred Sörgård, two Industrial Engineering and Management students at Luleå University of Technology, spent the summer analysing the Swedish and Danish utility market. By interviewing utility companies, identifying general customer needs, creating an understanding of the competitors and relevant market trends Märta and Fred could give us a deeper insight into how the isMobile Case and Work Order Management System can support the utility companies in times of changing market conditions. In addition, Märta and Fred gave us valuable recommendations on how to collaborate, communicate and further develop our solutions to satisfy customer needs even better. We absolutely recommend other companies to team up with young talents. There are new insights to learn from. Let’s meet Märta and Fred.
Engineering Students ready for a summer job with responsibility
Märta, second time at isMobile. You spent last summer with us and decided to come back. Why?
– Well, I had a great time last summer and I learned a lot. I wanted to come back, but I explored other opportunities as well. However, we had a new approach, and we could take the analysis and the recommendations ever further, so it was a good choice for me and hopefully also for isMobile.
Fred, how did you get in contact with isMobile?
– I had heard about Märta’s job last year and that’s why I booked a meeting with Martin, COO at isMobile, at the digital student fair LARV. Martin told me about isMobile’s different summer jobs, and I found this project intriguing. The project, the energy market, isMobile’s expansion plan and the software all seemed interesting and that´s why I chose to stay up north over the summer and work at isMobile.
As the two students were hired at an early stage, they could discuss the assignment and form a project plan together with isMobile. This planning started before the school ended since the interviews needed to be done before summer vacations in July. At isMobile, they had their own office space and had booked weekly meetings with their mentor Axel. Our sales representatives and Martin contributed with insights and discussions regarding customer’s needs and business development. Interviews were performed over the telephone and Teams.
Looking back at your summer, how do you evaluate your time at isMobile and was it of value for you?
Fred: I have learned a lot. Firstly, I did not have any prior knowledge of the utility market, so getting to know a new market was one part. I also felt that it was stimulating to be at a software company and experience the great focus on customer-driven development. I enjoyed analysing and giving recommendations based on our insights. This is something I want to work more with. In addition, the culture at isMobile was definitely something that contributed to me having a great time. I immediately noticed a friendly and curious atmosphere. They were all interested in what we were doing and even if we didn’t work together, they stopped to have chat at our workplace. I also appreciate all the paddle games they invited me to. All in all, they really gave us a warm welcome.
Märta: isMobile gave us lots of responsibility to decide how we wanted to reach the objective and when needed they were there to elaborate and give their view on our questions. To feel that they were confident in us and the given responsibility both made us want to perform our best and it boosted our motivation.
"We felt that they had confidence in us. We had a clear mission and responsibility to carry out the mission to the best of our ability with support when needed. The responsibility triggered both motivation and top performance."
Important factors for a successful student summer job
A project plan with clear objectives.
An office space. Even if the work can be performed remote, being at the office facilitates getting to know the organisation and to get spontaneous insights.
Pre-booked weekly meetings with a defined mentor.
Last but not least. Value-creating work for both parties.
Giving recommendations was one of the highlights
You both mention that giving recommendations was one of the highlights of the summer job, can you elaborate why?
Fred and Märta: Giving the recommendations was quite big. At first, we thought that it might feel strange being a student giving all the experienced engineers our recommendations. But when it was time, we had data and input supporting our recommendations. We had had the opportunity to both collect and analyse market information which together with our knowledge and training made us feel that our recommendations were valid and valuable. Another great experience was to interview potential customers, listen to their needs and explore how isMobile can develop its offering to support the customers today and in the future. Both the departments for product development and sales are now using our insights in their work. It’s like a receipt on that our recommendations became valued.
Three tips to fellow students entering their summer job
Be confident that you have knowledge and skills. You do know a lot from start and above all, you will learn a lot during the work. Students are trained to learn new things all the time so you can quite fast create patterns and insight from new knowledge.
Participate in coffee breaks and internal events if possible. Get to know the colleagues and the workplace. The first summer we participated in a summer party and there could be casual hamburger lunches at the office. This year most employees worked from home but isMobile arranged a digital summer party and it was really fun, says Märta.
Don’t think that your questions are too dumb to ask. In the end, they are very important for the development and to the final result.
What are you looking for in your future employer?
In the same manner, as we analyse future customer needs, we are interested in what future talent value most when looking for their first job. You have one more year of studies and then you will both look for a job. What is most important for you?
Märta: I would probably say that responsibility, personal development, and open corporate culture are the most important aspects for me when selecting a future employer. I want responsibility that motivates me, and for me, it is important to feel that the company has confidence in me and allows me to grow with responsibility. Of course, I also want to work within an area that I find interesting as that is another important motivator.
Fred: For me, it's a lot about what job assignments there are. I want to work with business development in a growing company with an exciting and innovative product. I prefer speed and constant development.