Felix Bender
Data Scientist, Consumer
CMO Consumer Trainee 2017-2018

What made you apply for the trainee role at Telenor Sweden?
I always found the Telco industry very exciting. As THE enabler of digital services and connectivity, Telco operators provide the crucial infrastructure to connect businesses and customers alike. As a person that is passionate about all things tech and more specifically about data, Telenor Sweden, which highlighted its transformation in the description of the trainee role, was an especially attractive employee. Being an immigrant that is not very fluent in Swedish, a welcoming culture towards non-Swedish speakers was an additional requirement, which Telenor Sweden more than fulfills.

Please give me a brief summary of the role you have – what is it about?
I’m currently employed as the Consumer CMO Trainee. Within this role, I get to work with all things marketing: From pricing strategy, marketing communication, digital sales, to data analytics. More specifically, my role incorporates several activities: Firstly, I am responsible for consolidating and distributing crucial information about sales and operative performance to key stakeholders. Secondly, I get to follow our Consumer CMO around to every meeting I find interesting, covering the areas mentioned above and much more. Thirdly, I get to pick my own projects. In my case these projects are mainly about data science and analytics, but I can basically pick any project that I find interesting.

What is the best aspects of being a trainee at Telenor?
Having the chance to work with the whole spectrum of marketing activities and following the challenging day to day tasks of a CMO are definitely two of the most exciting aspects of my role. I further see the chance to pick my own projects as a great opportunity for my personal learning and development. And last but not least being part of the great team of Telenor Sweden, which is very welcoming to new team members. As a trainee you are able to work with a multitude of great people from various parts of the organization and always encounter helpful colleagues.

What is your biggest challenges so far as a trainee?
So far the biggest challenge is to say “No” to interesting meetings and projects.

What career opportunities, short term and long term, can you see that the trainee program can give you?
The trainee role is an ideal preparation to take on responsibility at Telenor Sweden or any other organization. Besides learning about the management and leadership practice in general, exciting projects that are related to marketing, analytics, B2B, finance, and sales help to form concrete specializations. The whole organization is very supportive in this aspect and you basically create your own trainee program, customized for your personal development.

What would you say to the person that is currently considering applying for trainee next year?
If you are not afraid to take on responsibility, interested in the Telco sector, and want to experience and steep learning curve, this trainee program is the perfect start after graduating. The whole team of Telenor Sweden is incredibly helpful, very experienced, and humble at the same time. After meeting some of the team on the assessment day, I was already convinced that this is the organization I want to work for.