High voltage – every single day

Julie Softe Stave Sandviknes (24) went straight from school to an exciting job in Jøsok.

– No working day is the same. At Jøsok, they are concerned that we should not specialize too soon, but become broad specialists. Therefore, I get time to get to know and learn all aspects of the power team. As a recent graduate, it is something I really appreciate, says Julie Softe Stave Sandviknes (24).

In the summer of 2021, she was employed as a project engineer at Jøsok’s department for power lines. She has a master’s degree in building construction from the University of Stavanger.

– Like many others who graduate from high school, I did not quite know what I wanted to become. The civil engineering program provides a broad platform and many opportunities. I therefore saw it as a safe choice, says Sandviknes

During her studies, however, she learned little about energy transfer and power lines. But it was a subject area that interested her, and when she wrote her master’s thesis on bridge construction, the transfer value to power constructions was great.
– I established contact with Jøsok quite early, and when I finished my studies I went straight into a permanent job here, Sandviknes says.

She has now been employed for half a year and is very happy. Not only are the work tasks varied, the work environment is also very good.
– I have my own mentor who follows me, which I find useful as I always have someone I can ask if there is something I am wondering about. At the same time, the threshold for asking others in the house is very low. I also like that there is a very varied age composition in the company, and that many people from different cultures work here. I thrive, says Sandviknes.

One of the things she highlights as important for the choice of profession was working on some of the biggest challenges of our time, clean energy.
– It was important. The energy subject is future-oriented and long-term, and not least I get to help solve the energy challenges. It makes it both fun and important, at the same time as I know that I can be in this industry my entire career, says Sandviknes.

– Never long until next
magnificent nature experience
One of the great advantages of working as a surveyor in Jøsok is that it is never long until the next trip, and the next magnificent nature experience.

– I travel a lot, often in terrain and nature you as a hiker do not normally visit, says surveyor at Jøsok, Frederik Iversen Styve (30).

He comes from Voss, is a surveyor from Høgskulen på Vestlandet and has worked in Jøsok since the autumn of 2020.
– I was looking for a job where I did not have to sit all day in the office. As a surveyor, the options are great, and you can choose a job where a lot of time is spent outdoors, but also a pure office job. I like to be outside, so therefore it was natural for me to go in that direction, says Styve.

In Jøsok, his job in practice is to find the best power lines, based on both line professional and financial assessments. The route choices are therefore based on a large amount of data, but the choices are always checked with physical land measurements.
– It is not always that the map matches the terrain completely, therefore physical measurements are important. The combination of office work and trips to nature makes the working day varied and exciting, says Styve.

When he, as a recent graduate, was looking for a job, this combination was important. At the same time, it was tempting to have a workplace where the working environment and collegial cohesion were good.
– In Jøsok, we are about 25 employees, which means that we get close to each other and get to know each other well. There is therefore a very low threshold for talking to and asking the sideman, says Styve.

He also emphasizes that you are given a lot of trust and that the company’s most important thing is that you solve the tasks, not how they are solved.
– In Jøsok, freedom is practiced under responsibility. I do not know what it is like in large companies, but this freedom to think for yourself and come up with your own suggestions for solutions, is something I really appreciate. For me, Jøsok has been a very happy choice. I enjoy both my job and my colleagues, says Styve.