Christina is a Career Club DK Advisory Board Member, a nurse, and Functional Medicine Nutrition Coach, With a strong background in healthcare patient safety and quality improvement. She became a part of Career Club DK while still living in California. She added value and used this network from the start og her jobhunting. Now she lives in Denmark and works for Novo Nordisk in Global Safety.
Where do you come from and what motivated you to come to Denmark?
I am originally from California (USA) and my family, and I moved to Portugal in April 2022 and now have relocated to Denmark in January 2023. I have lived in Denmark previously when I attended København University before I had children. It was quite a daunting task to think about moving our family or most of my family to Europe. We made this decision because we felt we had to move out of California anyway as there are too many fires and housing costs are very very high. We could not think of anywhere else we wanted to live in the USA but our daughters had been living abroad off and on form years. We thought we would give it a try. My extended family on my mother’s side is all located in the greater Copenhagen area and I had my Danish citizenship so we though we would go to Copenhagen but wanted to try living in Portugal first.
Relocating to a new country can be isolating especially if there are large differences in culture and language. We did a lot of research before moving and felt we were prepared but there were things that did cause frustration along the way. I think moving as a family has helped all of us get through challenges and struggles. I don’t think our transition to a new country is by any means complete but we hope it will get easier especially the move to Denmark as the weather improves over coming months.
What is your professional background and what inspired you?
My educational background starts in healthcare. I have received nursing training and worked in direct patient care for years but have more recently transitioned to more administrative nursing, including patient safety program development, quality improvement in healthcare systems and systems development in general for healthcare organizations.
I have always been involved in caring for patients or people (my own children included). Working in healthcare organizations to make patient care safer has always been a passion of mine and I hope that I have made an impact over my career.
Tell us about your experience in building a career and a network in Denmark?
My experience in building a career in Denmark has been in two different eras. While attending the university in Copenhagen I also worked in a couple of different healthcare settings with patients. The most recent experiences have been just in the past 6 months or so during my job hunting time and starting at the company I am with now.
Building my network to really impact my job searching took sometime but after I connected with groups like Career Club DK it went pretty fast. LinkedIn was key for my job search and networking.
How do you find the working culture in Denmark compares to your own?
Both of my work experiences in Denmark have been positive and I think all the work environments have also been healthy and positive. The emphasis on work-life balance seems to be stressed and discussed all over the country but also so much in my company. A focus on well-being and good mental health seems to be a priority. I have needed to ask for some exceptions to work environments since I started work at Novo Nordisk and they have been very accommodating to my family’s needs.
Your best career advice from woman to woman?
I share and encourage with my female colleagues and my own daughters that you have to “put yourself out there”; meaning that reaching out to people you have connected with on LinkedIn and asking for a coffee meeting is the way to go. Also making “cold calls” to hiring managers is great to not only get over your fear of calling a hiring manager but also to learn about a company and positions being advertised. Just go for it is really my advice. Then after you have gone for it follow up. Even with minimal responses or a lack of positive responses on sending out CVs or making calls to hiring managers it can get you down but each email sent and each call made is a step closer to your dream job.
A job search is a full-time job. Allocating time and being organized is key but also setting up mental health breaks and surrounding yourself with supportive people is also key. Lean o; find people you can talk to about the stress and challenges; and finding breaks for nature and resilience is very important.
What does Career Club mean to you and how have we helped you?
Career Club has become one of my main networking groups besides general LinkedIn networks. Not only are the get togethers helpful but through the Facebook group I feel like I have resources of hundreds of international women. When this group gets together, I always walk away with a new contact and insights into future opportunities.
Interviewee
Christina Cassady
Advisory Board Member at Career Club DK
Nurse and Functional Medicine Nutrition Coach
Connect with Christina on LinkedIn!
