Hanne
33 years
Communication Internship trough Universitetet I Stavanger
Married, 2 kids
An internship in Ocean Installers communication department is coming to an end. What a fun ride it has been! Hanne joined Ocean Installer on January 15 to learn more about the field of communication, as part of the University of Stavanger’s Communications studies.
She was focused, motivated and eager to learn more about the field of communication and off course how she could utilize the things she had learned at Uni in the energy sector. Hanne was excited about the challenges ahead, and more than ready to take on any task handed to her.
This is Hanne’s story, “A communication intern’s perspective”, from her time as an intern in Ocean Installer’s communications department:
15 January, 2025 was my first day of working at Ocean Installer as an Intern. Felt a bit nervous. Wondering what type of people I would meet and what they were like? I stood outside on the parking lot and saw a big black building, quite powerful looking.
As I entered the sliding doors, I was greeted by two smiling individuals from HR. What a relief, they were smiling, that’s a good sign. Felt a little bit lighter right away.
I was shown around the building before my first meeting was lined-up with the It department. They introduced me to the different systems and helped me set up my PC. After the meeting it was time to be shown into my office, the place where I was going to sit for the next couple of months – with Christian, my leader during my Internship – heartrate went up again.
Coming in to the office, Christian was already sitting there. He had put together a small welcome-pack for me, various Ocean Installer merch. Water bottle, socks, charger, coffee mug and a new backpack. I thought that was a nice touch.
When IT was standing by, ready to install my technical equipment depending on where I wanted to sit, I thought to myself – Ok, these people are really nice. Breathe. You’ll be fine.
This first couple of days was characterized by a lot of information and the first thought that ran through my mind was, okay, I must keep a cool head here. I was quickly put to work, and already on the first task I noticed that Christian liked to ask questions about why I chose to do the tasks in the way that I did. He wanted me to justify my actions. This was a bit scary at first, because I wasn’t used to defend the things that I do – nervous again.
But it did make me reflect. It got me to see my work from another angle, something I appreciated. I believe that It’s through challenges you learn. It’s through exploring different perspectives you find the best solutions. You might think that you have an answer to a problem, but then you suddenly see that you don’t– so you try again.
I quickly developed good chemistry with Christian, and some of the girls located on the second floor. They were really nice to me, taking me to lunch and inviting me for a coffee. What an inclusive group, I thought. Laura and I have had many nice conversations throughout my internship.
As I got more work in my pipeline I started to get used to Christian’s questions and debate. I felt calmer when I answered and even felt a bit more independent.
At this point I had written various internal articles on their intranet. I had the chance to collaborate with other Installers, HR in particular.
One of my highlights was to write a story about Jørn, Ocean Installer’s Chartering Manager and Red Cross volunteer, and his latest trip to Gaza. A really nice interview/sit down with Jørn turned into a nice story.
Another nice read is this one, about Ocean Installer’s internal life…
A couple of months into the internship, and this second phase, I became even more comfortable with my work. Now I had become so comfortable that I was not only calm when I showed my work to Christian, but I could discuss with him. During these discussions he smiled – debate.
“Debate is a good thing, you got to make sure you get your opinions and messaging across” – he said.
The finale phase of my journey, one that I would call the phase of mastery. At this point, Christian sends me work that he wants my view and reflection on. A really fun phase. Teamwork, right when my internship is coming to an end.
As I sit and reflect on everything Ocean Installer has given me in this short period of time. They have given me the feeling of being included, the feeling that my opinion matters (with a sprinkle of nerves in between) and of course, the feeling of mastery.
I’ve learned that being challenged is an important part of the learning process, and that it’s important to see things from different perspectives based on the situation you’re facing. The theory you learn at school can give you one solution to a problem, but it’s not before you assess the real life situation and see the problem from different perspectives, that you’ll be able to adapt your solutions to fit the problem. That’s why I think it’s really important for all students to try an internship – get a chance to figure out when to use theory from your curriculum and when to use common sense. After being an intern at Ocean Installer, I would love to pursue a career within communication or HR in the energy industry – preferably a combination of the two.
Thank you so much for a really pleasant and educational stay, Ocean Installer. I hope to see you again one day!
