"Internship at Sundsvall Municipality – A strategic collaboration between academia and industry"
Business students Simon Nilsson and Irma Hübenette are doing their internship at the finance department of Sundsvall Municipality. Working in the public sector is a new experience for both of them, making the internship both challenging and exciting.
“It’s been incredibly educational to gain an overview of the many tasks handled by the municipality’s finance function,” says Simon. He explains that they’ve been involved in tasks related to customer resources (invoicing), group reconciliations, interim financial statements, and project accounting.
The municipality’s Service Center is a so-called Shared Services Center (SSC), where administrative functions such as finance, payroll, administration, transport, and HR are centralized. Sara Büttner, head of the customer and accounting department, is also the students’ supervisor. She explains that they’ve mostly hosted interns from vocational colleges in the past, but now see a growing need to welcome university-level interns as well.
“Simon and Irma came well-prepared and informed. Their curiosity and engagement have been greatly appreciated in our department,” says Sara, and adds:
“Like many others, we want to be an attractive employer, and it’s incredibly valuable to showcase our operations and the types of roles we offer.”
The internship has opened Irma’s eyes to the wide variety of roles available within the organization.
“You can really tell that people enjoy working here—some have been here for many years, which is a great sign,” she says, and Sara agrees:
“I’ve been here for over 30 years myself. No two days are the same, and there’s always ongoing development, which makes it exciting! If you’re proactive, there’s no shortage of things to dive into.”
Contact
