Bjorn found love and his dream job in Raufoss

“I had never imagined that I would move away from the Netherlands. It simply wasn’t on the radar,” he says.

It took a Norwegian girlfriend, a master’s programme at NTNU in Gjøvik, a pandemic and a strong composites environment at Raufoss to move his life north.

Coincidences and new challenges

Like many good stories, this one started quite by chance.

In 2019 Bjorn met a Norwegian woman with connections to the Netherlands. She lived in Norway while he worked in the Netherlands, and at first they travelled back and forth.

“I worked for KLM and could easily catch a flight from Amsterdam to Oslo after work. That worked for a while, but eventually you get a bit tired of travelling back and forth,” he says.

He began looking for a way to live in Norway for a period without completely letting go of the Netherlands.

“I thought I could try living in Norway for a couple of years and see what it was like. Then I found a master’s programme at NTNU. Two years seemed perfect. I could study, we could live together, and I could get to know Norway.”

The plan was good. The timing, however, was not.

Bjorn started his studies in 2020, but shortly after society shut down due to the pandemic.

“It turned into two years in the middle of the pandemic. A lot digital lectures and not much social life. It wasn’t exactly the Norwegian student life I had imagined,” he says with a smile.

Still, the studies gave him an entry into the industry. Through lab work at NTNU he became familiar with the composites environment and with Ragasco in Raufoss.

“Ragasco was present around the university and they were very focused on composites. They announced a position as sustainability engineer, and that’s really how it started.”

“I was contacted by a recruiter, went through the interview process and was hired. It actually felt quite natural, even though it was a huge leap to make it permanent,” he says.

From aviation to composites

In the Netherlands, Bjorn worked with process optimisation at an airport.

“My job at KLM was about improving processes at the airport. It was exciting work, but it didn’t really relate to sustainability,” he explains.

His academic background is in industrial engineering and industrialisation and management. Transitioning to Raufoss meant applying his industrial competence to new challenges.

“I enjoy working at the intersection of technology, processes and business. At Ragasco I get to do that with sustainability as the starting point,” he says.

Settling in Norway

When Bjorn moved to Norway, he did not speak Norwegian. His girlfriend helped him, but most conversations were held in English at first.

“When I started at Ragasco, I told my colleagues that they should speak Norwegian to me from day one,” he says.

“If we got used to speaking English, it would be difficult to switch to Norwegian later. It was demanding in the beginning. I didn’t understand everything, especially when colleagues spoke dialect. But you learn quickly when you have to.”

Today he speaks Norwegian, and only the spelling of his name – Bjorn without the Norwegian “ø” – reveals that he is not from Gjøvik.

“It was quite funny in the beginning. Many people thought I was Norwegian and just happened to be called Bjørn. Only when I switched to English did they realise I wasn’t from here.”

Being Dutchman in the Gjøvik region

“I believe talented people can come from far away. The key is giving them a reason to stay beyond just the job,” Bjorn concludes.