Madeleine got a job as a public health strategist sraight after graduation

The position Madeleine applied for at Botkyrka Council was not actually in public health, it was a for a different role, as a quality strategist. But she was lucky. The day after the closing date for applications, the head of the unit at the council called her. She had noted that Madeleine had studied public health science and the municipality was about to advertise a vacancy for a public health strategist.

“So she simply asked me if I was interested in coming for an interview for that position instead. That's how I got this job," says Madeleine.

Teachers at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University had advised her and her fellow students to think more broadly when applying for jobs, and not just apply for positions specifically in public health. And that was something Madeleine took to heart.

“Education in Public Health Sciences gives you the skills to work with investigations. The education is so broad that you can also work with other types of investigation jobs, but which can also be related to public health. Even the Public Health Agency of Sweden is not only looking for pure public health scientists when they advertise positions, they are looking for investigators of various kinds. So it's important to step outside the box a little, be outgoing, seek contacts and network. It benefits you and opens doors and allows you to apply widely when looking for a job," she says.

 

Did an internship at the Public Health Agency of Sweden

And it was at the Public Health Agency of Sweden that Madeleine did her internship as part of the Master's programme in Public Health Sciences. She came into contact with the agency of Sweden through the non-profit organisation Suicide Zero, where she did her internship when she was on the Bachelor's programme.  It was thanks to her experience in suicide prevention work that she got the internship at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

Madeleine started studying relatively late, at the age of 28. Before that, she worked in the recruitment industry, but felt that she hadn't found the right fit and wanted to do something else.

She has always been interested in people's well-being and found the Bachelor's programme in Education and Public Health exciting. During her studies, however, she felt that it was Public Health Sciences that interested her most.

“Both subjects were interesting. But public health had that little bit extra, at least for me," says Madeleine.

 

Great benefits of her public health studies

She feels that her studies in public health have been very useful for her. During her internship at the Public Health Agency, she worked on a project on involuntary loneliness, commissioned by the Swedish government. She felt comfortable with the subject itself and how the agency works with research and literature reviews as well as mapping of different interventions.

When we spoke this summer, she had only been working for three weeks at Botkyrka Council, but she believes that the knowledge she gained during her public health studies will be of great value to her in her new job as a public health strategist.

"Above all, I will benefit from my education in Public Health Sciences when working on the Stockholm survey where I will be interpreting data, comparing and communicating the results," says Madeleine.

In the future, she would love to work where she did her internship, at the Public Health Agency´s unit working on mental health and suicide prevention. But for now, her focus is on settling into her new role as a public health strategist.

“Working at a council is a bit different from working in a government agency. The efforts you make can have a more direct effect," says Madeleine.

Håkan Soold