Meet Beate Kiste Torgersen! As a senior consultant in the integration team, Beate is an active and essential part of Pearl's office in Sandefjord. But what does she like to do when the working day is over? And what should you keep in mind if you want to convince her to go hiking?
Position and country/branch:
I am a senior consultant in the integration team in Pearl Norway.
Where were you born/raised, and where do you live now:
I was born and raised in a small village in Telemark called Siljan. When I started working at Komplett in 1999, I moved to Sandefjord, and I have lived there ever since. I have lived in several places in Sandefjord - I started in Marumskogen, which was a not too abrupt transition from Siljan's deep forests, and eventually moved into the centre, where I have lived in a large, 100-year-old house for the past year. We plan to stay because we thrive here - despite the lack of insulation. In winter, it is freezing, and in summer, it is too hot, but in April-May and in September, the temperature in the house is fine.
My workday:
In the integration team, I work with different types of tasks. It is a nice mix of projects and new solutions, maintenance of old layout and daily operations, working on errors that occur along the way. I work with many different customers, and I am pleased about that.
My moments of everyday happiness:
Everyday happiness is coming home from work – or going down from the home office in the attic – and being with my daughter and foster son while they do homework and I make dinner. Apart from that, Friday is by far the best day of the week; good energy in the office before I go home, open a bottle of wine, make a delicious dinner for the family and watch Nytt på nytt before I fall asleep on the couch.
The trait I value most in others:
Helpfulness. It is invaluable to have colleagues who have both time and willingness to help, whether it's helping customers and colleagues out of crises or just being a sparring partner to handle the many small and big problems in a consultant's everyday life. I know many people like this, and I was utterly overwhelmed when I started in Pearl and discovered how many people here have this trait. I think it is safe to say that helpfulness is part of the culture of Pearl and perhaps the most important factor in making Pearl a great place to work.
«To me, everyday happiness is cooking dinner!»
The trait I value most in myself:
A good mood. I think smiles and infectious laughter are nice for others, but my colleagues will probably say they appreciate my quarrelsomeness if you ask them. There are many heated discussions at the Sandefjord office, also known as Pearl's friendliest office.
Work tasks I hope will be automated in the future:
My daughter wants a robot that can dress her and clean the room. But to be completely honest, I like "boring" routine tasks sometimes, both at home and at work. Sometimes it's nice just to get things done and let your mind wander. But I don't want tedious tasks to take up too much of my time. I would answer this by saying laundry, but I have outsourced that to my husband.
Best SAP technology:
For a large part of my professional life, I have focused on SAP PI. In the world of SAP, you don't get far without PI. By the way, the question reminds me of a very dedicated consultant that I worked with some time ago. "Don't you just love SAP?" he asked me one day. And you have to be fascinated when you see how SAP covers most needs in large companies, be it on the finance, warehousing or integration side. It truly is an exciting, and not least challenging, system!
After work:
In the past, when asked if I had a hobby, I always thought, "Oh my God, I have to find a hobby! Life can't just be about work! ». But I have gradually realized that food is my hobby and always has been. To me, everyday happiness is cooking dinner. I like to relax on the sofa with one of my hundreds of cookbooks, looking for new inspiration. Half the fun is finding different restaurants with the local food, atmosphere, and culture when we are on holiday. If there is a food course, we will sign up for it! I also grow some food myself in the garden and greenhouse. We are also members of a cooperative farm, where we work a few days every summer. We receive organic eggs, vegetables, and meat from the cooperative farm every other week. It's a bit of a stretch, but I can even be interested in outdoor activities if there's food involved: hiking to pick cloudberries, going a mushroom trip or going fishing, either at the cabin in Tuddal or the family holiday home in Bø in Vesterålen, where it's really fun to go fishing. In Bø, you can still get many kilos of cod and saithe in a few hours, which are then turned into the world's best fish cakes, or just a delicious dinner with fresh fish when we are back on land again.