From San Sebastian to Stockholm

Carlota Aramburu Rodriguez moved to Stockholm from San Sebastian, Spain, to join KPMG within corporate audit. In this interview, which is the first of a three-part interview series about joining KPMG and moving to Sweden, she shares some of her experience.

Carlota started at KPMG in August 2021 and remembers her first day clearly.

“I was welcomed by one of the partners at my department and I soon realized how I could reach out to anyone if I had a question. People within the department, teams and other expats have been very considerate and offered me lots of help, so I felt very welcomed from the start”, says Carlota.

Moving to a new country involves a lot of practical and administrative tasks to deal with. Carlota appreciated all the support she received from her colleagues in the beginning – including help getting settled with housing, a bank account, Swedish ID and Swedish language classes.

Collaborating with colleagues and clients in English was never a problem though, and she felt that she could share her opinions, even when she was new at the firm.

“One of the reasons why I really like it here is that generally everyone is communicating with everyone, no matter their position . That makes a big difference in moving projects and assignments forward and contributes to the feeling of belonging. That is a part of the culture here I very much appreciate”, says Carlota.

Now, in February  2023, Carlota has lived in Sweden and worked at KPMG for 1,5 years.

“It has been really good, I have gotten to know more people and created a group of friends”, says Carlota. “Also, I am very happy that we are all back in the office now, it is really nice to see all my colleagues.”