International studies from VIA University College’s Constructing Architect education and practical placement abroad are really good ingredients for a coming international career which 29 year old Dennis Jørgensen has just started with EM Designs Ltd in Horsens.

“I’ve always been destined to work internationally” says Dennis Jørgensen emphatically.  He spent half of his time when studying to be a ‘Constructing Architect’  - Bachelor of Architectural Technology and Construction Management - in the international classes at VIA University College in Horsens. There he acted as a ‘teaching assistant’ helping students with their projects and to get to know Horsens a little better. Now Dennis Jørgensen is on his way to Shanghai where both a job as international project manager for EM Store Design Ltd and his girlfriend await him.

Extended practical placement in Scotland

Dennis’s  practical placement was spent with a contracting company  - E Phil and Son Ltd - in Aberdeen in Scotland,  working as a contract manager and partly responsible for the building of a 18,600 m2 High School.  The compulsory practical placement was planned to last 3 months, but Dennis extended it for a further  6 months because , as he explains  “of the job situation in Denmark at the time and my wish to have a longer practical placement meant staying in Scotland” . As well as a tip from his personal network Dennis is convinced that the practical placement and the hours spent studying in International classes helped him to get the job with EM Store Designs Ltd where he has been working since the 13th April.  “Half of my education and exams were done in English so I had really learned a lot about the language and the technical terms involved”, stresses Dennis . He is really happy to have done his profession degree education at VIA University College with its many international partners and a very wide network of practical placement places over a large part of the world.

Knowing someone is a big advantage

Kenya, Morocco, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Romania, India; China, Russia, Poland, Tanzania, Ghana, Australia – the list of countries where Dennis Jørgensen has colleagues from his student days is a long one. “I have built up a global network very early in my career. “Just knowing someone in India, for example,  will be a big advantage if EM Store designs wants to start up in that country” explains Dennis.  Before the Summer ends he will have travelled go Shanghai to take up the job of international project manager with EM Store designs who design and develop shop-fitting themes in Horsens and with their suppliers in China. Dennis will be managing the company’s Asian and Australian markets. 

Girlfriend awaits

Dennis did not just get an education at VIA University College. While there he met his Chinese girlfriend - Chenchen Guo - who also graduated as a Constructing Architect in the Summer of 2009.  She returned to Shanghai - her home town - at the start of the year. After Dennis had finished his final examinations he went to Shanghai for four weeks to visit her and to try to find work. He had an appointment with a company and contacted more while there, but it was his own network that put him in touch with EM Store Design Ltd.  Now he is just really looking forward to working in Shanghai and setting up home together with Chenchen Guo.