Business career From 1996 to 1997 Kaljulaid was a sales manager in state-owned telecom Eesti Telefon and from 1997 to 1998 a project manager in
Hoiupanga Investeeringute AS. From 1998 to 1999 she was employed in
Hansabank's investment banking division
Hansabank Markets. From 1999 to 2002, Kaljulaid worked as the economic advisor of Estonian Prime Minister
Mart Laar. She was the first woman to lead a power plant in Estonia.
Political career , and his wife
Ieva Ilves at Kaljulaid's inauguration,
Kadriorg Palace,
Tallinn, 10 October 2016 Kaljulaid has defined herself as a
liberal conservative. She has spoken in support of strong civil society with less state interference, whilst placing high importance on helping those in need. She holds liberal views on social issues such as LGBT rights and immigration. From 2001 to 2004, Kaljulaid was a member of the political party
Pro Patria Union, a predecessor of the current
Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, yet did not run in the elections. On 19 September 2016, the freshly founded Development Monitoring Advisory Board at the chancellery of Estonian Parliament voted Kaljulaid to be its chair. in July 2017 in Tallinn, 28 September 2017 in Moscow, 18 April 2019 in Warsaw, 5 May 2021
President of Estonia After several failed attempts to elect a new president in
August and September 2016, a so-called "council of elders" of the
Riigikogu, comprising the speaker, vice-speakers, and leaders of most parliamentary parties, asked Kaljulaid if she would be willing to stand for president. With her consent, the "council of elders" proposed her as the only potential presidential candidate to be put before the members of the Riigikogu on 3 October 2016. Her candidacy was officially registered on 30 September. Riigikogu Speaker
Eiki Nestor said that Kaljulaid undoubtedly had the required 68 votes from the 101-member Riigikogu, but the exact number remained to be seen. Ultimately her candidacy was supported by 90 Riigikogu MPs. She won the elections by 81 votes with 17 abstainers and no votes against her; Under the
Constitution, the president is a ceremonial figure without even nominal executive power; the Constitution explicitly vests executive power in the
Government. Nonetheless, Kaljulaid's election was seen as historic, as she was the first female head of state in the country's history. The main objection raised repeatedly during her candidacy by media as well as politicians and street polls was her being relatively unknown, compared to the candidates that had participated in the campaign. She confronted the objection in her public letter and during several interviews by promising to become visible across the country, visiting different areas and talking to the people directly. In mid-October 2016, the first conducted survey showed Kaljulaid's approval rating at 73%. In 2020, the Estonian government nominated Kaljulaid as its candidate to succeed
Angel Gurría in the position of Secretary-General of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for a five-year term. In January 2021, Kaljulaid announced that she had withdrawn her candidacy, citing consultations that led her to believe that accepting the position at the end of her first term as president amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia would "not be the best solution." She had just advanced to the second round of the interview process. On 21 January 2021, the opposition
Social Democratic Party announced that they would support Kaljulaid should she run for a second term in the
2021 Estonian presidential election. Had she been nominated by the
government of Prime Minister
Kaja Kallas as its presidential candidate in the election, this would have given her enough votes to be elected by the
Riigikogu. By June 2021, it was stated that the government had "cooled" on the prospective of Kaljulaid serving a second term as president, finding her too polarizing. Nevertheless, Kaljulaid later confirmed that she would stand as a candidate for a second term in the election. However, she did not receive enough endorsements from MPs to be eligible; the Constitution requires presidential candidates to be nominated by at least 21 MPs in order to stand. ==Life after politics==