Embrace Open-mindedness and Explore
Doha believes in staying open-minded, exploring various opportunities, and not limiting oneself to a specific field. She considers her internship at Arla Foods Ingredients as a unique chance to work in a completely different area than what she had initially imagined for herself.
Originally, Arla Foods Ingredients wasn't her first choice, but Doha knew that she wanted to explore how she could use her knowledge and previous experience in a different setting. In this article, we will delve into her journey from working on crime prevention in the police force to gaining hands-on experience in food quality at a global company.
From the Police to Arla Foods Ingredients
If you had met Doha five years ago and asked her about her future aspirations, she would have confidently answered, "I want to be a police officer." Her original dream of joining the police force sparked an interest that led her to study Emergency and Risk Management at University College Copenhagen. Alongside her studies, she worked within the PIU (Passenger Information Unit), focusing on risk analysis and crime prevention. But how did this path eventually lead her to Arla Foods Ingredients?
Global Quality Assurance & QEHS at AFI
Doha's journey began when she stumbled upon a job posting by coincidence. With an open mindset and a positive attitude, Doha seized the opportunity, wrote an application, successfully went through interviews, and landed the internship at Arla Foods Ingredients. Now, she was ready to join the 40 colleagues working across the quality teams.
Doha joined Arla Foods Ingredients while they were in the process of reviewing and updating their crisis and incident handling system. This gave her an exceptional opportunity to bring the theoretical knowledge from her studies into action in a global company setting.
Getting Involved in Real Work
The internship kicked off with workshops involving people from various departments within Arla Foods Ingredients. These workshops focused on defining crisis and crisis handling, providing Doha with unique insights into different perspectives on how the organization works and prepares for unforeseen challenges in a fast-developing world.
In times of crisis, when stress levels are high and unforeseen challenges arise, a robust setup is necessary for leaders to make quick decisions. Doha played a significant role in developing tools and guidelines that will enable the organization to react effectively in the future. One of her key contributions was creating a flow diagram that guides Arla Foods Ingredients on the necessary steps and actions to be taken during a crisis. Additionally, she helped develop action cards as a supporting tool, enabling crisis leaders to react swiftly and appropriately, ensuring easy access to relevant and structured actions.
Making an Impact and Driving Projects
One of the aspects that Doha finds truly great and motivating about her internship is knowing that her work will impact the organization's crisis response. The fact that her internship assignment has been a priority and has given her the opportunity to create ready-to-use materials has been a driving force throughout her internship period.
The biggest learning from the internship
Seek perspectives, understand the receiver, and be sharp when you need to deliver your message. These are the things Doha call-out as the biggest learnings and something she has had to constantly focus on during with AFI.
‘’It’s have been great. A lot of unique insights and learnings that I will bring into play in my future work life. I got an amazing network, got the chance to put my knowledge and skills into practice. And last but not least, my advise to students joining Arla Foods Ingredients: be open. It's your enthusiasm, work-ethic and positivity that will be remembered for.’’