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Taneli blogged about his experiences from working at Vaisala, the leading company for environmental and industrial measurements. Having educational backgrounds in Industrial Engineering at Aalto, Taneli first joined Vaisala in 2008 as a Summer Trainee in the production. Currently, Taneli works as a Product Manager for airport weather systems.
Starting career as a Summer Trainee in the production
My Vaisala path started in summer 2008 after my first study year, when I worked in manufacturing in industrial instruments assembly. After gaining some work experience at Vaisala, I applied for the Giant Leap internship program next year and was selected. In my project, I conducted a market study on how weather observation data can be used in applications for building automation. The internship definitely met my expectations, as my project was challenging, and I also learned a great deal about the project work generally in corporate environment. During that summer I also got to know interesting people with whom I still keep in contact with.
Growing into Product Manager responsibilities
After Giant Leap, I was hired for a project-based position in which I worked half on product list pricing and half on coordinating internal training for the weather sales personnel. Currently, I have been working for one year as a product manager of our airport weather system. This weather management system is based on complex technology, so I am fortunate to be able to learn something new every day. It is also very motivating to work with such an important issue as aviation safety. My tasks include, for example, sales support and future targets planning, and I am also responsible for the sales tools and the product support material.
Putting studies in Industrial Engineering into practice
I studied at Aalto University School of Science and hold a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, corporate strategy as my major and communications technology as my minor. In general, problem solving skills and the ability to search for information are the most valuable skills that I have learned. Working in a bigger company like Vaisala, you have to be innovative and interested in finding solutions to problems. Therefore, it is essential to be able to see and manage the bigger picture, however not forgetting to find out the details. An important learning experience has been the difference in how things are done in the business world compared to the academic one – you have to always take into account the existing resources, whether it’s money or time. That teaches you to have a healthy perspective in your work that everything shouldn’t and can’t be done perfectly.
Based on my own experience, taking new responsibilities and work assignments is well supported at Vaisala. For me going forward has also been a natural way to develop myself in my career. I have been happy with the amount of responsibility I have been given and the chance to utilize the knowledge I have learned. I enjoy my work, and not least because of my versatile job description: besides supporting the sales personnel with their inquiries, I work closely together with my team and other units across the company.
Vaisala employs over 1,500 professionals in 15 countries, and serves customers in more than 150 countries each year. Vaisala’s technologies provide information on weather and other environmental phenomena for meteorologists, road authorities, wind farms, and tightly controlled industrial environments, for example.
Application period for Vaisala’s summer jobs continues until March 31. If interested, get to know more about summer job opportunities here!