News from Central Denmark

During his first years in Central Denmark, Constantin worked a lot. Both to support himself, better understand the Danish workplace, and learn the language. But he later found a way to strike the work-life balance Denmark is famous for.

Text by Constantin Vidu, Key Account Manager at Eltwin Group

Why on earth move to Denmark? When I first heard about the high living standards in Scandinavia back in 2009, the idea of moving there slowly took shape. After some research, Denmark seemed like the obvious choice: they offered free education in English and the initial moving costs were somehow acceptable.

Fresh out of high school and full of big dreams, I moved to Horsens. The small city and university were chosen carefully – I wanted a place that would allow me to learn Danish and have decent entry level housing prices. Copenhagen and Aarhus were out of the question back then.

Starting out in Central Denmark

I spent my first years in Denmark studying and working different warehouse type jobs on the side to support myself. Later, I took a graduate position in sales and started Danish classes.

I worked an average of 14 hours a day  and kept this up for two years, even with an added 100+ traveling days per year to Italy and Spain in order to successfully position the Danish company and their products in these new markets.

Looking back, I didn't have much of a work-life balance. I sacrificed many evenings and weekends to improve and learn more. It took me a few years to realize that the best part of working in Central Denmark is actually the “life” part.

Finding the famous Danish work-life balance

Looking for a more sustainable way of working with long term perspectives, I was lucky to find a company with a friendly and inclusive culture that strives to have happy employees. My colleagues focus on having a happy life first, but without compromising on their sense of purpose.

For me work-life balance today translates to having enough flexibility to do things right and focus on delivering quality at work but also spending plenty of quality time after work is done. You soon realize one complements each other and the Danish work environment is amazing for giving you enough opportunities and challenges to make the above possible.

This year, I found the last missing piece of the puzzle: kitesurfing. A sport once considered extreme but now very accessible and safe if practiced properly. The best part about living in Central Denmark is that we are surrounded by the sea and there is a high amount of windy days. Regardless of the wind direction we have more than 100 surfing spots within a maximum of one hour driving distance.

Combine that with a healthy work-life balance and it is close to impossible not to enjoy life in Central Denmark! Hope to see you on the Danish water!