Ørsted is the venue partner of Polit Case Competition 2020, and participants in the Case Experience will spend their Saturday on solving the case at Ørsted’s corporate offices in Gentofte. We sat down with Peter Aagard, who is the Head of Corporate Strategy at Ørsted.
What excites you about working at Ørsted?
”Two things that really excites me about working at Ørsted;
Peter Aagaard. Head of Corporate Strategy at Ørsted.
A sense of purpose: Throughout my career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of great Danish and international companies. Many of these companies have established meaningful purposes and are doing great things. I have, however, never experienced a purpose that feels as rooted in the company culture as I have experienced here at Ørsted. From top executives to employees working around the world in our business units, people are committed to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. People are humble about the scale of this task and know that we cannot realize this ambition on our own. I do, however, sense a real sense of pride that we are making a real and tangible difference every day.
Dedication and competences: Ørsted has managed to attract and develop some of the industry- try’s brightest and most talented employees. It excites me to see the level of dedication and competencies from my colleagues around the world. We set the bar high and help each other to continuously push the bar even higher. Combined with a caring company culture, this environment creates great opportunities to develop and grow.
CURRICULUM VITAE
2019 – present
Ørsted, Head of Corporate Strategy
2018 – 2019
Widex, Senior Business Devel- opment Manager
2014 – 2018
McKinsey & Company Associate & Junior Project Manager
Consultant
Student Assistant
Intern
2012 – 2014
Hemonto, Business Analyst
2012 – 2016
Aarhus University, Teaching Assistant
2011 – 2016
Aarhus University
M.Sc. in Finance
B.Sc. in Economics and Busi- ness Administration
Exchange programmes at Har- vard University and NUS
When you combine a strong sense of purpose with dedicated and highly competent employees, you really have an exciting company to work for – and I am quite excited to be part of this journey!”
In your role as Head of Corporate Strategy, to which degree do you employ knowledge acquired during your education?
”I employ knowledge acquired during my education every day. I do not solve differential equations or apply advanced empirical finance modelling on a daily basis, but the ability to structure and solve complex tasks is at the core of our work in Corporate Strategy.”
How do you approach problem-solving in your work?
”In many aspects, Corporate Strategy work as classical management consultants. It is all about identifying the real issue, structuring the problem, identifying the few analyses that can quickly test your hypotheses, identifying the areas where deep-dive analyses are needed and developing a crisp logic for how to communicate your solution to top management.”
Do you think case competitions equip students with tools which make them attractive for a future employer? And if yes, how?
”Yes – to a very high degree. I have engaged in numerous case competitions during my studies and some of my closest friendships today were forged during late-night case-solving. I have been quite surprised about how much case competition work resembles the work you will be doing as a consultant or strategist. A case competition is all about teamwork, fast and efficient problem solving, and crisp communication. Elements that are at the core of our work in Corporate Strategy.”
If you should give one piece of advice to students interesting in pursuing a career like yours, what would it be?
”Take chances! As a student, you are really operating in a fairly risk-free environment. Leverage these years to gather as much experience as possible. Throw your- self into challenges where you are likely to fail. Learn from your failures and build resilience and an appetite for more. You have so many exciting opportunities to get a head start on building the competencies that will form the basis for the rest of your career. Engage
in student association work, sign up for case competitions, apply for internships and student positions, sign up for courses outside your comfort zone, take an exchange semester overseas – just to name a few.
Polit Case Competition and Ørsted look forward to welcoming participants to their offices on March 14th for the Case Experience.”