Hanken alumnus Rasmus Öhman shares what he has worked with during the past few years
The first months of the year are, as well known, hectic for accountants. Also Rasmus Öhman was busy with financial reports during the spring, but still he managed to initiate a meeting of a handful Hanken Alumni in Zurich.
“Through my master's studies, I became part of the global CEMS network, which invests greatly in its Alumni activities around the world. I get to meet people with similar international educational backgrounds and experiences, from Finland and also other countries, and we have a lot in common. I therefore feel it would be an untapped resource not to keep in touch with other Hanken alumni. In the long run, this is also a way to give something back to Hanken that opened the doors for an international career path,” Rasmus Öhman explains.
In order to find Hanken alumni in Switzerland, Öhman wrote to Mira Aarnivuo, Alumni Coordinator at Hanken, who helped with connecting alumni in the area. The first joint meeting was held in May after connecting everyone in a WhatsApp group.
“To begin with, we will keep the meetings informal so that we can talk about freely without a specific agenda. We might go on a hike in the mountains or just sit down and have a beer.”
He describes Zurich as an international city with a high standard of living. You hear various languages, and there is also a constant demand for economists.
Öhman has Swedish and German as his mother tongues, and he did some exchange studies at the University of St. Gallen in the German-speaking part of Switzerland during his master's studies.
“There is a widespread view that you have to know German to be able to work and live in Zurich, but that is not true. German is needed for some jobs, but in general you can manage very well with English here.”
Another view of Switzerland is that the expence level is high. Rasmus Öhman states, however, that the wages correlate with the costs of living.
“I like to be here with the work and the surroundings. During the weekends I often go out and enjoy hiking in the mountains. There are a huge number of routes to choose from and they are mapped on websites so that you can plan your hike in advance.”
However, despite enjoying living in Zurich, Öhman wants to keep the doors open for new experiences.
“I have planned to stay here for the time being, but I am so eager to develop myself and to see the world around me that I can also imagine moving on to other interesting countries and cultures.”
Text: Johan Svenlin