Stockholm university

“Networking is about finding out what possibilities are out there”

Ai Kuno never imagined ending up in the pharmacy industry after studying public health. She didn’t even know that was an option, but maybe she would have if she’d talked more with students and alumni during her studies, she says: “Networking isn’t only about finding a job, but about widening your view on the job market”.

Ai Kuno sitting at a café
Ai Kuno. Photo: Anna Niva

It was Ai’s professor who recommended her to go to Sweden. She was studying psychology inclined towards statistics and wanted to learn more about the sociology aspects. She was told that Sweden is a good place to study sociology and as a bonus, many Swedes speak English. Ai talked to a senior student who had studied at Linköping University and was convinced, and so she went there for an exchange year in 2010. There she met a PhD student who studied epidemiology.

– I googled epidemiology and realised it was exactly what I wanted to do. I decided to continue studying epidemiology after my bachelor’s programme. I had a Swedish boyfriend – he’s now my husband – so I wanted to stay in Sweden.

 

Would choose the master’s programme again

Ai started looking for a master’s programme that would fit her interests. She found CHESS (“Centre for Health Equity Studies ”), now the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University. She thought the curriculum for their master’s programme looked great, but the programme started every two years and the application period had passed for the 2012 round. She started working in Tokyo after finishing her bachelor’s programme, but she had already decided to apply for the programme at SU for 2014. Ai started saving money for her master’s programme and when it was time, she applied and got in.

– The programme was great. We were about 50 % international and 50 % Swedish students. The very first course presented the essence of what was coming in the next two years. It was a brilliant structure as you already then can start thinking about your master’s thesis. If I had to start everything all over again, I would definitely choose this same programme.

Finding housing in Stockholm can be tricky, but Ai was lucky.

– At the time my Swedish boyfriend lived in Switzerland, so when I came to Stockholm I rented a room at a retired couple’s house. They were so kind to me and I felt very secure. I loved living with them. I stayed there for two years.

 

Should have been more picky with the first job

Transitioning to the job market, Ai believes she should have started looking for jobs earlier during her programme. When she graduated, many people told her that she should just get any job, just to get into the Swedish labour market. That it would be easier to be picky after finding her first job. But Ai found that it wasn’t really true, at least not for her and at least not in a big city like Stockholm. She has seen that more and more companies are putting emphasis on diversity and that experience outside of Sweden also counts.

– My first job in Sweden was as a project administrator at an IT company because I’d worked in project administration before I came to Sweden. Although I got opportunities to work with inspiring leaders and amazing colleagues there, the job was not related to what I studied. It took me three years to get on the “right” job track. I believe I should have considered my first job more carefully and its impact on my career progression.

Ai later found a job at another IT company within healthcare. There she learned about clinical trials, which was related to epidemiology. It was a stepping stone to her current job as a clinical trial coordinator.

 

Not the most obvious industry for her education

Clinical trials are about developing medicines by studying their safety and efficacy on human health. New and existing medicines are tested on people with illness and it involves a lot of parties; for example, hospitals and the Swedish Medical Products Agency. Ai’s working back office, managing the records of the trial or drafting contracts. Although she enjoys working as a clinical trial coordinator, Ai never imagined ending up in the pharmacy industry.

– The majority of people I work with have a background in biomedicine or other life science fields. Nevertheless, my knowledge from the master’s programme has helped me a lot to understand the most important documents to conduct clinical trials, which are called “protocols”. They describe the background of the study and the study design: for example what population is studied, how we conduct the trial and how we analyse the data. This is crucial to understand when you work in clinical research. I surely got the job because of my degree and I feel strongly that this is the right industry for me.

Ai’s working language is both Swedish and English, as her company collaborates with other Nordic countries where English is the common language.

– If you can speak Swedish you can make friends at work. International students here are probably busy with university and have no time for learning Swedish, but you can also start after you graduate. I joined an intensive Swedish course, and of course tried to speak Swedish with my Swedish boyfriend and with the couple I was living with.

 

Many values in networking

Looking back, Ai says she should have put more time into networking with other students and alumni during her studies.

– I wish I would have known earlier that networking isn’t only about finding a job, but about finding out what possibilities are out there. It’s about widening your view on the job market. If I would have talked more to other students I would have known more about opportunities outside of university. Not many people in my field is from public health. I didn’t know that this job was an option when I studied.

The corona pandemic kicked in six months after Ai started her job as a clinical trial coordinator. Therefore, she was involved in a Covid-19 clinical trial which was a really meaningful experience for her, she says. In the near future, Ai’s hoping to work more hands-on with the clinical trials.

– I would like to progress my career in clinical research. Right now I’m sort of working in the back office, but I aim for working as a clinical research associate. That means I would work directly with the people at the hospitals or clinics. Hopefully I’m there within the next two years.

The Master’s programme in Public health sciences: Societal and individual perspectives, starts every year.

 

Contact

Alumni Relations: alumni@su.se

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