What did you do before you started studying the Master’s programme in Service Management?
"I went straight into the Master’s from my Bachelor’s in International Management at Jönköping International Business School. During my Bachelor’s, I co-founded the association Students for Sustainable Actions, where I got to work with sustainability questions. I also worked part-time as a hotel receptionist, a backstage hostess for artists at events, and a cashier at a store. So, my Bachelor’s study period was mixed with a lot of service, sustainability, and my education within business management. Therefore, when I found the Sustainable Service Management Master's, it felt like the perfect next step to be able to merge these different interests in my life."
What was the best thing about the programme?
"The best part was definitely my wonderful classmates! It was such a diverse and international class! It made the classroom discussions even more interesting, as everyone came from such different cultures and career fields. The programme was really good at teaching us systems thinking, and it made me also really appreciate and understand the importance of research."
What is it like to study in Sweden?
"Since I did my Bachelor’s in Sweden, I was already accustomed to the Swedish teaching and writing style, so I think that helped me a lot in the beginning. However, the teachers and the structure of the programme were very helpful so for those who were unfamiliar with studying in Sweden. Compared to my studies abroad at an American school in Chile or at a Chinese University, I think the Swedish system is more about encouraging the students to take charge of their own education and learning journey by giving a lot of non-classroom time where it is up to each person to decide how to spend it as well as many of the teachers providing voluntary additional interesting sources to support those who want more."
What do you work with?
"I live in Malmö and work as a sustainability advisor and specialist for a SaaS (Software as a service) company called Position Green where I guide and support companies who want an easy and traceable way of gathering their sustainability data for their reporting. I help our customers with for example implementing the GRI standard and the GHG protocol in their reporting as well as making sense of their emission factors and CO2eq. calculations."
What is the biggest challenge in your current position?
"One daily challenge is finding good and reliable emission factors to make sure that the CO2eq. emission calculations for each company are as accurate as possible. This is difficult to do since very few emissions data organisations are transparent with their data collection and there are very few good public open sources to use, which makes it difficult and costly for companies to measure their sustainability impact. Thanks to my Master’s, I really understand the importance as well as the difficulty when it comes to researching sustainability. I also learned that we all need to work together to create change."
How do you use the knowledge you gained during your studies in your working life?
"My studies taught me to analyse and observe the world from many different perspectives and to look for the multiple connections and correlations that exist around us. I apply this way of thinking in my personal life as well as in my work life. This mindset helps me to really consider all aspects of an organisation’s sustainability impact which results in better advising on what they need to measure and consider improving. Additionally, I had courses that taught me about best practices in sustainability reporting as well as how to measure and define sustainability, all of which has been essential knowledge in my work life. Furthermore, I believe my knowledge within service management serves as a good foundation for all situations where relationships are shaped as well as where there is some form of customer experience, which for me happens every day in one way or another."
What advice would you give to new students?
"The programme is broad and might sometimes feel abstract, but the truth is that the knowledge gained can be applied to endless parts of working life. I would therefore recommend new students to try to always apply the readings and class material to their own interests and potential career plans. When I understood this, it helped me to better understand the importance of the field, as well as inspired me to ask the right questions in class and in my research.
Also, I would really recommend you have a place where you write down every thought, interesting concept, or question that pops up, so that when the thesis writing begins you have a whole list of ideas to draw from. In the end, I didn’t really use much from my list, but it helped me a lot to see what I was interested in and in brainstorming with my thesis partner while also keeping me focused throughout my studies."