Øyvind Trønsdal (56) has carried out several assignments for InterimLeder AS and, following a long career in management, he has found his "dream existence" as an interim manager.
"My entire professional life has been in management," says Øyvind who has worked as a project manager, personnel manager, CAO and CEO.
Trønsdal considers himself to be a "restless soul" and appreciates the opportunities that spring from the interim manager's existence, as part of which he gets to meet a lot of new people and work on completely new challenges. At the same time, he is also aware that you need to be made for this kind of work:
"As an interim manager you are able to work when you want and take time off when you want, between assignments. But if you require a lot of security this is not the career for you. I am absolutely not saying that it is some kind of extreme sport within management but you need to be able, financially and psychologically, to not have any assignments for certain periods of time," Trønsdal says.
He has not focused on ensuring that his CV showcases five or ten-year long periods in various positions and believes that experience is what counts and what compels you to get stuck in and solve demanding challenges.
"In one task, the company faced a major restructuring and was moving from old technical platforms to new ones. The owners wanted to integrate the company with another, which resulted in the company being dissolved and relocated. This resulted in mass lay-offs and the intervention of the county administration ... basically "anyone and everyone" was involved," Trønsdal explains.
Trønsdal has also been involved in appointing interim managers for middle management positions, sales and marketing whilst hired as an interim manager in a senior management position and he feels that interim management should be a more normal part of working life than is the case today.
"It is an interesting market out there for those of us with the right skills and there are a great deal of opportunities to work on exciting assignments by becoming part of the InterimLeder AS network," Trønsdal concludes.