29-05-2024 08:38

Nordea Graduate Case Competition winner: A source of innovation with the customer in focus

Last week Nordea hosted the Nordea Graduate Case Competition in Copenhagen. The purpose was to create solutions to a challenge that Nordea is facing at the moment. The winning team introduced a new concept called Nordea Digital Universe, which will reshape the way we communicate internally at the bank.
Graduate Case Competition winners
The winning team

The Case Competition was conducted among graduates who will complete Nordea’s Graduate Programme after the summer. This year’s challenge was to find a solution to the following problem: “How can we enable our front-line colleagues to become digital ambassadors for the mobile savings experience?” 

The jury had a lively discussion about who should take home this year’s prestigious prize. After a long debate, Nordea Digital Universe was announced as this year’s winner. The winning team consisted of  these graduates located in the following units: 

Tobias Vejlgaard Reinert: Technology
Lina Chen: Data services & Architectures
Anne-Claire Madec: Investor Relations 
Nicolai Johnsen: BB & LC&I Compliance
Viktor Hastrup: Integration Management Office  

“Our solution, Nordea Digital Universe, provides our advisers with a one-stop shop to find information that will help them support our customers,” says Anne-Claire. Viktor continues: “We have created a solution that allows advisers to do training, keep constantly updated about new mobile features as well as give feedback to our developers so that they can continuously improve the solution. On top of that, the Digital Universe offers a chatbot and a demo solution for interactive training and visualisation.”  

“It was exciting to work on a case that has real-life implications for our colleagues’ day-to-day work. We enjoyed working on a solution where we were given full freedom and with almost no limitations,” says Lina. “I completely agree with Lina; it’s been a challenge and we have worked on the case for a month and the three days spent together in Copenhagen made an enormous difference to finalise our ideas and the presentation,” adds Nicolai. “Combining knowledge from many different areas has been a winning concept and something we should consider doing even more in Nordea to create value for our customers,” says Tobias.  Now the solution will be handed over to the Launch & Promotions team to take it to the next steps. 

“Nordea’s accelerated digital development has allowed us to have an internationally award-winning mobile savings experience, with increased satisfaction and recognition from our customers. It can, however, be incredibly challenging for our front-line staff to keep on top of all the latest changes in the mobile offering given the fast-paced development and constant evolution of the digital offering in combination with their busy jobs of supporting our customers every day," says Joshua Salthouse, Head of Save & Invest, which is the sponsor of this year’s case. 

“This year’s challenge was a tough nut to crack,” says jury member Christina Gadeberg, Chief People Officer and Head of Group People. “Having had the opportunity to listen to all ten graduate teams, consisting of graduates across areas and countries, has been rewarding and fun. I’m very proud of our Graduate Programme, which enables our graduates to obtain much learning throughout the programme set-up and to add value from day one with the extensive knowledge they gain during the programme.” 

How to become a Nordea graduate

We are looking for talents with a collaborative and growth-oriented mindset. A few check points to keep in mind before applying:

  • You have completed your master’s degree before joining.
  • You have excellent English skills.
  • You have less than two years of post-academic work experience.

How do I apply for Nordea’s Graduate Programme?

  • Nordea recruits for the Graduate Programme in two waves; the first one in September and the second one in January/February each year. 
  • The programme is 18 months long and always starts on 1 September. 
  • The programme offers professional learnings, mentorship, coaching and rotation opportunities. 

Nordea will start the recruitment after the summer (September 2024) for the next Graduate Programme starting on 1 September 2025.

Read about the programme and meet our graduates
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