What does it feel like to work for Symbio?

We asked our Junior UI/UX Designer Valentin to tell more about his experiences about Symbio as a workplace. Read his thoughts about joining Symbio as a Junior Designer after graduating from university.

“Feels great! I really like the atmosphere here and the projects I’m working on are super up-to-date and interesting. Plus, I get to do what I love, which is combining technology, design and innovation in unexpected ways. I like to think I’m creating a future even my kids might use some day.”

Support, encourage, interact

“Life as a UI designer? Most of the time I work independently. But I can always turn to my team members for help and that all-important second opinion. We support each other, come up with new solutions together and interact through our work. Sharing the same office space with nice, friendly people also makes the grind part of any job more fun!”

“When it comes to my future, I meet with my managers regularly to discuss what I should be doing in terms of professional development and further learning. They know what they’re talking about because they’re right there, doing the same things I do.”

Changing an entire ecosystem

I’m currently working with a global automotive components manufacturer. They recently decided to create their own ecosystem for the car industry together with Symbio in an innovation lab. The cool part is that they entrusted us with everything – from system and software design to final testing.

If you are looking for launch your career with creative and innovative minds in a modern working environment, tick the Symbio box! You won’t regret it.

Want to know more about working in Symbio?

Get to know our company, culture and career opportunities at https://tick.symbio.com/

Symbio is a global innovation and R&D service partner with innovation centers in the United States, Finland and China. We help customers to develop high quality IoT solutions and digital services: solutions and services that have not been invented before. For more information about our references, take a look at our websites www.symbio.com/fi.

I remember that one May morning as it was only yesterday: I sat in a lobby of Tieto Keilalahti HQ and waited for my first day of summer internship to begin. I felt extremely enthousiastic as my five months wait was finally over: at last it was the time to change the scenery from uni’s library and lecture halls into bustling and inspiring office life (which in this case is better known as #tietolife).

But in order to speak honestly, this feeling of being over the moon enthousiastic included a tiny twist inside my own head. As quietly in my mind I was wondering how I will adapt into one of the biggest IT companies in the Europe with background of a pure business student without any earlier experience on basically anything IT-related. And in that sense, I felt bit like sailing away of my own safe harbour and leaving on adventure to see where the limits of my comfort zone truly are. You never know if you never try, right? Nevertheless, those silly thoughts of mine were soon totally washed away as I became more familiar with the opportunities for people with a business background inside the company. Even though Tieto might fundamentally be a house of Software and Tech, it most certainly doesn’t mean that each of the job there is only an IT job. It’s also a house of Business understanding.

I listed below three main cornerstones of my summer, which enabled me to adapt into the tech world:

1) My work and the co-workers

I was instantly taken as a part of team: Already on my first workday, I participated in the meetings like any other of my co-workers. And when the first workweek was over, I had, for example, already spent two whole days in Sales Hackathon in Stockholm and learned valuable information of the Tieto’s Financial Services business and the unit that I just had recently joined as a Junior Sales Trainee. Right starting from my first day, I was for sure engrossed into the world of Fintech with various inspiring insights from many professionals of the field and I was also given multiple interesting and variating work assignments right from the beginning. I was also beyond lucky to get to work with talented and experienced people who were willing to share their expertise with me, as well as support and help me when learning and working with tech related stuff wasn’t always a bed of roses.

2) Tieto’s engagement to their trainees

Right starting from my first interview round it was made clear to me that Tieto invests in its trainees and wants me to succeed and develop together with them. This was also concretely proved to me during my summer internship: besides being given interesting tasks and good amount of responsibility, I was trusted and priviledged to see, experience and learn Tieto’s Financial Digital Channels business from various angles in order to explore where I could feel most at ”home”. I was also given an opportunity to continue working part-time besides of my studies and I was told about the future opportunities regarding my master’s thesis and my possible future career at Tieto.

3) Networks – People people and once more people

One of the most memorable event of my summer internship was the traditional Tieto Take-Off day, which gathers together all the new employees from the Nordics into a two-day seminar filled with different activities and interesting presentations – not to forget the event program in the Helsinki city center! That was the occasion where I finally met my fellow summer trainees and other newcomers, who provided me with invaluable peer support during the summer and as well offered perspective and familiarized me with the other units and businesses inside of Tieto. Or let alone all those afternoon coffee breaks spent with them on the sunny 8th floor rooftop terrace when the whole office was pretty much quiet during the busiest holiday season! One other very important perk of my Tietolife was also the network of Tieto Young Professionals that organizes a wide variety of different activities such as afterworks.

And if things like these won’t make you feel like at home at your new job, I most certainly don’t know what does! And when it comes to my initial setting as a bare-foot business student in the IT-company, I learned the most important thing: By stepping out of your assumed comfort zone might make you see that it’s even larger than you thought. And that’s also the best way to discover and acquire new perspectives and ways of thinking – and as a bonus: learning a lot about yourself is guaranteed!

Niina Hokkanen

M.Sc Economics Student

Tervehdys, nimeni on Eero Suhonen ja opiskelen nyt toista vuotta Aalto-yliopistossa kone- ja rakennustekniikkaa. Kerron teille tässä lyhyehkössä, mutta ytimekkäässä blogi-kirjoituksessani, millaista työtä on tarjolla Avain Yhtiöillä ja miten hyvin siellä viihdyin.

Avain Yhtiöt -konsernin muodostaa kuusi yhtiötä, joiden yhteinen tehtävä on rakentaa toimivaa ja turvallista asumista. Itse työskentelin Avain Rakennuttaja Oy:ssä, jossa minun roolini oli työmaavalvojan apulainen. Saavuin ensimmäisenä työpäivänä ajoissa paikalle (kuten myös muinakin päivinä) ja odottelin työmaavalvojaa, jonka alaisuudessa tulisin työskentelemään koko kesän. Pian hän saapuikin konttorille vahvan kädenpuristuksen kera, hörppäsi kahvimukin tyhjäksi ja huikkasi: ”Nyt lähdetään!”

Työpäivä työmaavalvojan apulaisena ei ollut koskaan täysin samanlainen. Meillä oli valvottavana kolme eri rakenteilla olevaa uudiskohdetta, yksi Vantaan Martinlaaksossa, toinen Keimolassa ja kolmas Tampereen Vuoreksessa. Päivät saattoivat koostua kohteissa pidettävistä työmaakokouksista, joissa toimin pöytäkirjanpitäjänä, tai urakoitsijapalavereista, joissa olimme vain lähinnä paikan päällä kuuntelemassa, jotta olisimme ajan tasalla työmaan tapahtumista ja aikataulusta. Kävimme myös katselmoimassa malliasennuksia, jotka sitten hyväksytimme mahdollisesti tarvittavien korjausvaatimusten kera esim. vesikatoilla tai asuntojen kalusteasennuksissa. Lisäksi pidimme myös takuuvaiheissa olevissa kohteissa esim. takuutarkastuksia ja kasvuunlähtökatselmuksia. Työhön siis kuului paljon matkustelua kohteesta toiseen, joten äidin autosta oli hyötyä?. Jos työmailla oli hiljaisempaa, olin konttorilla tekemässä paperihommia, kuten pöytäkirjojen laatimista ja niiden jakamista kaikille kokouksissa läsnäolijoille. Kokosin myös katselmuksissa ottamani kuvat raporteiksi ja lisäksi yritin järjestää Vantaan kaupungin kanssa palaveria, joka käsitteli Martinlaakson muuttavien asukkaiden väliaikaista parkkipaikkaa, jossa lopulta onnistuinkin.

Työskentely Avain Rakennuttajalla oli hauskaa ja erittäin antoisaa. Meillä synkkasi valvojani kanssa hyvin yhteen ja meitä kutsuttiinkin toimistolla ”isäksi” ja ”pojaksi”. Hänestä taisikin tulla minun rakennusalan esikuvani, sillä hän osasi tehdä työnsä oikein ja vastuuntuntoisesti, mutta samalla hän osasi ottaa asiat rennosti. En nähnyt hänen kertaakaan huutavan kenellekään, edes työmaakokouksissa, vaan hän hoiti kaikki erimielisyydet asiallisesti. Voisin kuvailla häntä yhdellä sanalla; päällikkö.

Konttorille oli aina miellyttävä saapua, kun ilmapiiri oli energinen ja vastaanottava. Meille viidelle ”kesähessulle” oli tehty yhdestä kokoustilasta oma työskentelytila, jossa oli viihtyisää ja hyvä työskennellä. Vietimme kesällä paljon aikaa yhdessä ja meistä tuli hyvät kaverukset.

Tämä työ tarjosi minulle paljon hyvää kokemusta rakennusalalta. Sain hyvän käsityksen, miten asiat toimivat työmailla, ja kuinka paljon eroavaisuuksia eri työmaiden välillä oli. Opin erilaisia rakennustekniikoita, sekä näin eri rakennusvaiheessa olevia rakennuksia. Lisäksi opin paljon kasvavan yrityksen toiminnasta ja sitä kohtaavista haasteista. Avain Rakennuttajalla sain siis erittäin hyvän kokonaiskuvan alaltani ja suosittelen muitakin hakemaan tänne, vaikka olisit täysin kokematon, kuten minä olin.

I have always been attracted by the success stories about self-made men: sportsmen, leaders, thinkers, entrepreneurs… you name it. An interesting observation from those stories is that even though they all have different starting points and a route, they appear to end successfully. After reading dozens of different stories I have understood at least one very simple rule: there isn’t a golden route to success. You should focus on things that you really love and desire, and trust it will lead to happiness.

Besides people, I find the same success factors meaningful for the companies. It maybe sounds naïve, but I think the reason for Accenture’s success, the company I am working for, is different kinds of passionate people with various backgrounds, worldviews, and skillsets. As a combination of skills, the company itself is greater than the sum of its parts.

My passion towards success stories stems from the time when I was a small city boy, who had major dreams but minor circles. Reading interesting stories gave me on the same time desire and perspective to carry on with a can-do attitude. I realized I would be the sum of my decisions and write my own story.

After graduation, I was sure I would head to business school, but otherwise, it was all blur. Studying went well, but I was more interested in overall learning than university grades. The practical business fascinated me more than theory and therefore I decided to start my own businesses. I left Vaasa after three years of studying and ever since, besides my master’s thesis, I have focused on practise; first in banking and currently in consulting. In a way, I perceive my current position as a result of different choices I have made earlier – “connecting the dots” as Steve Jobs has said.

From my point of view, I want to encourage everyone to try different fields in university and listen to internal passion instead of making things that external factors wish you to perform.

Have an efficient and passionate winter!

Juuso Pelkonen

Management Consulting Analyst, Financial Services

M.Sc. (Industrial Management), University of Vaasa

It’s a new day at the office. The morning starts with reading all the emails that have accumulated since we left work yesterday. There’s a lot of projects going on, in which our roles are more or less important, and the steady stream of emails is a daily reminder of that. All our colleagues throw a casual greeting as they arrive. Many people have their workstations on our floor, people from different departments and backgrounds, with skills from apprentice to master. We are a pair of trainees currently studying structural engineering at Aalto University. One of us is already in the master’s program, and the other is completing her bachelor studies.

A project needs team players

During the summer, we were involved in many projects, for example, designing the façade of Redi, the hybrid shopping center rising in Kalasatama. Although most of our time was spent on managing a project of our own. Our team consisted of two summer trainees and one recent graduate. On our daily agenda was 3D building information modelling with Tekla Structures, making assembly drawings of element structures, and some small design tasks. This project truly was a test of our groupwork skills, as we had to stay on track about who was doing what at that exact moment. This was to ensure that everyone had their own area to work, while also making sure that work is efficient and, for example, two people are not doing overlapping tasks in the 3D model.

Sweco offers guidance, supervision and an abundance of opportunities for trainees

Some might wonder, why were trainees put in charge of a project. Do we not value our projects and simply gather as many commissions as possible to maximize profits? This of course is not the case. The idea behind this is to let handling responsibilities right from the get-go make us more prepared as designers. This enables our superiors and more experienced designers to take a more guiding role. Guidance and supervision ensure the quality and safety of our plans and designs. Completing our very own project has indeed taken a lot of learning, but all in all it has been a valuable and cool experience for us trainees. Feeling secure and supported in the work environment is very important.

During the summer, we were able to form a clearer picture of the structural planning process as a whole. This was of course through working on our own project. We also had the opportunity to attend interesting courses. For example, we learned about implementing the Last Planner® method in the planning process. The point of Last Planner® is to understand and manage the effect of small delays on the schedule as a whole.  In this aspect, designing and engineering are in a crucial role, as it is quite impossible to start construction without the plans.

Advantages of a big company – experts from all areas of construction

Now, as we are working in a big company we have the advantage of resources. Sweco has the capability to manage the most challenging of projects, for example, Tripla in Pasila, Redi in Kalasatama etc. There are experts from all areas of construction sitting in the building, so a solution for any kind of problem can indeed be found. At Sweco, everyone is given a position where they are able to use their skills and capabilities to the best of their abilities. As a demonstration, we have been involved in brainstorming ideas for the Sweco space, which is to be situated on our campus in Otaniemi.

The end of the year is nigh and the hunt for next year’s summer trainees is beginning. Last year Sweco offered a trainee position for over a hundred students! We remind you to act fast though, as we have heard that positions are filled as suitable candidates are found.

Happy holidays from Ville Airisniemi (5^th year student)

and

Happy exam week from Camilla Leiman (3^rd year student)