Lene Mausson Pankoke, Sewage Planner at Forsyning Helsingør

What do you do at Forsyning Helsingør?

I work as a sewage planner at Forsyning Helsingør (supply of water, electricity, heat and waste management), where I have a number of different tasks. At the moment I am working on a discharge scheme for buildings with a sedation tank. I´m also calculating the possibilities of a separate sewage on a road, where a new rain water pipe is planned. Furthermore, I´m involved in building a rainwater basin, which is supposed to delay and stop heavy rains from flooding areas downstream. Finally, I answer a lot of calls from citizens asking different questions about their connection to the public sewer etc. 

What qualifications from your MSc programme do you value in your work? 

My ability to quickly getting an overview of a new field of work and my analytical approach to the tasks. I do not use the specific knowledge about the life in the ocean but the general mindset as a problem solver. 

What are the most significant differences between being a student and an employee?

Being off at the evenings and weekends, no more bad conscience, no homework and no more working all night. But there are also a lot of similarities. You do not choose your co-workers, you have deadlines and delaying them are not an option and you have more work than time.

How did you get the job?

I´ve been wanting to be a sewage planner for a long time, but since I could not see the careers opportunities I chose the wrong courses for it. Luckily my employer priorities my desire and energy over my qualifications as a sewer planner and was willing to teach them to me on the way. 
I was unemployed for one year and was applying for a lot of different jobs, since my education had so many options. In the progress I learned the importance of a job search both geographically and professionally wide. 

What advice would you give future graduates looking for their first job?

Don´t be picky and think about how much you want a job and how soon you want it. The first two month after I graduated, I only looked for vacancies in the Copenhagen area, but after that I started looking all over Denmark and a few months later in Norway too. I think it´s important that you find out what is most important for you; getting the right job or getting a job nearby. 

Job title: Sewage Planner, Forsyning Helsingør 
MSc in Aquatic Science and Technology (DTU Aqua, 2012) 
Thesis: Diurnal and spatial changes in the respiration rate of Calanus spp. in The North Atlantic
BSc in The Role of Protozoan in the Future Ocean: Effects of Temperature, CO2 and Bloom Structure