“I came from Ernst & Young, where I worked with valuation and financial modelling, and really enjoyed the technical side of the field. What I missed was being part of the entire process. At EY, I was involved in parts of the work, but in M&A you get to follow a transaction from start to finish. That was exactly what made me apply for the position at Stratema.
My first day at Stratema was a kickoff, which set a positive tone from the start.
What surprised me most at the beginning was how close-knit the environment is, and how low the threshold is for speaking your mind. It was a pleasant surprise to see how open and informal the culture is in a company that works on such large transactions.
The onboarding gave me a strong start. I spent a week in Oslo learning the working methods, programmes and folder structure, and not least meeting my colleagues face to face. The only thing that presented a bit of a challenge was the Norwegian language, especially a dialect from Røros, but that is a detail I laugh about now. Today, neither Norwegian, “Svorsk” nor Swedish is a challenge.
One early moment that has really stayed with me was when my manager, Mattias, put me on an important project early on and encouraged me throughout the project. It gave me the feeling that I was in the right place. Here, you quickly notice that management believes in you and wants you to succeed.
I have grown a lot, particularly in client communication and relationship-building, in addition to developing my technical expertise within M&A and modelling. What is great about Stratema is that you grow naturally into your role. Among other things, I have had my own responsibility for a project on sales processes for tech companies in Sweden, in collaboration with Marte, and have introduced a quality assurance process for materials sent to clients.
An important part of my job is guiding companies that are selling for the first time. I really enjoy that. The ability to explain something complex in a simple way is also a sign that you truly understand it yourself.
I am now on parental leave until April next year with a little boy, and I am enjoying every moment. But I can already feel that I miss the team, the discussions and always being able to go to someone with a question. My colleagues at Stratema have become a kind of extra family, and that is not something you take for granted.”
– Michelle, Associate, Stratema in Stockholm
