After participating in Oslo Business Region's career mentorship program and landing a job in Oslo, newcomer Manasi Markandeya is paying it forward as a mentor for others.
Manasi Markandeya has been on quite the journey since she moved to Norway just 7 months ago. She left all she knew from her vibrant hometown Pune in central India (pop. 7.3m), and started a new life and career in Oslo.
Her husband was working remotely for the proptech startup Modulize, and they made the decision to relocate. Manasi had never been to Oslo before and made the leap sight unseen, arriving last autumn.
One of the main challenges with the move was to find a job matching her skills and interests. In India she worked for 8 years in the software industry with multinational companies such as Accenture, L&T Infotech and Morgan Stanley. She has a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunications and a graduate degree in Advanced Mobile Computing.
When she arrived in Oslo, she joined Oslo Business Region’s 3-month career mentorship program for international partners of startup/scaleup employees. The program is facilitated by Contento.
“I happily enrolled in the mentorship program as I understood that it is specifically designed for immigrant spouses. When I interacted with the organizers, I was really impressed, because I understood that they are working on the real challenges and helping people out. It certainly makes a big difference for someone like me. Finding companies which match my skillset and domain, where English would be the primary language, left me with limited options,” she said.
With guidance from her mentor Gry Killingstad, Manasi received a job offer four months into her search and is now working as a cloud engineer at the global innovation energy company SLB.
“Gry is an experienced professional from the banking domain. She helped me not only in my career challenges but also to get settled here in Oslo. She guided me in all the possible ways: boosted my confidence and helped me analyze what best I can bring to the table for Norwegian companies as an immigrant. Moreover, all the other mentors from the program also helped me by providing valuable feedback,” explained Manasi.
What does she like best about her job?
“I get to build on my previous experience of being a cloud-DevOps engineer that helps me build expertise in the domain. The product and my team are super amazing, and I get a chance to learn a lot of new things from them,” Manasi explained. In the future, she wants to continue to develop her career to make an impact through technology.
Since starting her job at the beginning of the year, Manasi has now returned to the mentorship program but, this time, as a mentor.
“I wanted to be part of this team to help people like me because I have also been through the same challenging phase. It's my way of giving back to the society which helped me in my journey,” said Manasi whose mentee is Natalia Gawrońska-Kuntić.
See photos from the Spring 2024 mentorship program here.
“ It’s a rewarding opportunity to contribute to the growth and success of others. ”
Manasi’s Top 3 Tips for Job Seekers:
(1) Stay positive and open-minded: It will help you adapt more easily to the new country and the challenging career search journey. Enjoy the beautiful city, outdoor activities, and participate in local city events and meet-ups as much as possible.
(2) Network: It is crucial for professional growth, knowledge sharing, and exchanging ideas.
(3) Embrace the culture: It will help you integrate smoothly into the new workplace, social groups, and local communities.