Inés Aréizaga Esteva (Spain), 27 years old, Chemical Engineer. She joined NNE Pharmaplan in 2006 as a graduate. After her two-year graduate programme she works as Process Engineer in the Process Area.

“After having finished my master thesis at the Technical University of Denmark I wanted to go back to join my Danish boyfriend. The NNE Pharmaplan graduate program represented the perfect opportunity, and it was a positive surprise to find out that NNE Pharmaplan is such a great company.

My education perfectly matches the first project I was assigned to, i.e. construction of a vaccine plant in Belgium. I was part of a working group testing a program to simulate the process. I have also been challenged with other tasks, for instance the environmental aspect of waste handling. You have to be proactive and open-minded as a newcomer and make it clear to your colleagues what you are able to handle. The pharmaceutical field is new to me. But busy as they are, most of my colleagues find the time to teach me, and they also trust me. Even though at the beginning it was a bit hard, with time I can feel that I am beginning to be taken seriously and that my contribution is appreciated. You have to look for your own path and find out where your main interests lie. Then you can always find people who are willing to help you move in that direction. This is one of the cool things about the graduate program. Personally I am very interested in environmental aspects, quality issues and risk assessment – more specific areas which form part of my personal and professional development plan.

I have already found a lot of good friends in the company, especially in the graduate team. Being part of this very nice multicultural group of people has been important to me as a foreigner in Denmark. We are very close both professionally and personally.

In NNE Pharmaplan, we have a very nice working environment, and I am surrounded by great people.  My manager is more like a friend than a boss. He is close to his employees, and we are all on an equal footing. Every Friday morning we have breakfast meetings. The fact that the company allows you to spend time relating socially with your colleagues during working hours really impresses me. In that respect NNE Pharmaplan treat their employees very well.

Flex time is another benefit that doesn’t exist in Spanish companies. NNE Pharmaplan not only offers people the opportunity to be flexible in planning their working days. They also trust you to fill in your own time records. I think this is one of the keys to NNE Pharmaplan’s success. If you are met with trust and confidence from your employer, you will work as hard as you can and do your best to live up to the responsibility. This makes perfect sense.

NNE Pharmaplan is growing more and more international. In the long term I can see lots of development opportunities. I don’t think I can find a better company”.