Adult shipping trainee Sussi: “It’s never too late to follow your dreams”

With her story, Sussi hopes to inspire both the shipping industry and potential trainees with experience from other sectors.

When a company takes on an adult trainee, they gain an employee who has already tried out other industries and therefore brings valuable experience.

This can create a positive dynamic in the workplace when both adult trainees and younger trainees are employed.

Sussi Dec Jensen is a good example of this. After more than 20 years—first as an accounting trainee and later as a finance assistant and controller—she decided to change direction.

Since 2006, Sussi has worked within shipping and had repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to gain a foothold in the operational side of the industry. So in 2022, she set her sights firmly on becoming a shipping trainee; this time, the dream had to come true.

“I decided that my next job had to be a great job, and that I wouldn’t compromise on that, even if it meant being unemployed. After nearly two years without a job, I finally succeeded in becoming a shipping trainee at Leth Danish Straits. Even though I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get a trainee position in shipping, I never imagined it would be that difficult. Leth Danish Straits was the only place that invited me to an interview for a trainee position. I’m so happy to be here; that they saw me and what I could contribute,” Sussi explains.

The Office Administration Programme with a specialisation in Shipping, and a diploma programme in collaboration with the Business Academy SouthWest
Rybners Business College in Esbjerg offers the Office Administration Programme with a specialisation in Shipping, and they also collaborate with the Business Academy SouthWest, which offers shipping trainees a Diploma in International Transport and Logistics during their school periods. The main course teaching is spread over 7 weeks, taking place Monday to Friday from 8:00–14:00, and the diploma teaching is held Monday to Thursday from 14:45–17:45. In addition, the diploma programme includes some online evening classes from home to avoid teaching on the Sunday before the school period starts.

Sussi is working towards the Diploma in International Transport and Logistics, as she wants to complement her trainee training further. On 8th September, she sat the exam for the first module, Sales and Sales Psychology, where she achieved the top grade of 12.

Room for diversity
A bubbling energy radiates from Sussi—even through a Teams connection from Copenhagen. With that drive, it’s easy to understand how she succeeded in her ambition to be hired as a shipping trainee.

According to Charlotte Bjerre Lauridsen, coordinator of the shipping programme at Rybners Business College, Sussi’s story is an example to follow—both for future adult trainees and for the shipping industry in general.

“I believe that as an industry, we need to be better at attracting trainees who are at different stages of their careers. Receiving input from people with different backgrounds and levels of experience can only benefit us all,” she says.

Sussi hopes employers will be open to hiring others like her. But above all, she hopes her story can inspire others.

“It’s never too late to follow your dreams. If you have the courage and desire to change direction, then go for it. It’s worth everything when you succeed,” she says.

An eye-opener
At Sussi’s employer, Leth Danish Straits, Managing Director Jacob Guldager has no doubt that hiring her as a shipping trainee has been a success.

In addition to traditionally hiring younger trainees, it is also the first time the company has chosen to send a trainee to Rybners to complete the shipping programme.

“Sussi has opened our eyes to a different type of trainee. It’s obvious she brings a different level of experience compared to our other trainees. From day one, she has been a valued employee, so I can only encourage others in the industry to keep an open mind towards adult trainees,” he says.

Sussi will complete her training in February 2026, and it will be exciting to see where she finds her dream job within the operational side of the shipping industry—whether as a shipping agent, operator, or similar.

Source: Rybners