When I started at my first summer workplace, my immediate supervisor gave me instructions about my tasks and someone showed me where the cafeteria was. Employees in the other departments didn’t know I existed, and neither did the company management,” says Jukka Ruusunen, Fingrid’s President and CEO, as he describes his first summer job, where the employer wasn’t able to maximise the value that summer employees brought to the organisation. Things are different today.
Fingrid, which is participating in the Responsible Summer Job campaign, brought its group of approximately 40 summer employees together at headquarters for an induction day at the beginning of the summer. Ruusunen opened the event by presenting the company review.
“Many of our summer employees come back and work here for a long time. My contact with summer employees doesn’t end with a single speech. I often sit down and have lunch with them during the summer. They tend to be a bit nervous of me at the start, but they get much more talkative as the summer progresses,” says Ruusunen.
Ruusunen remembers his first summer job well and how it reflected on his career.
“As a courier at Yleisradio, I delivered the mail and the daily news films. I was able to save my first summer pay. The biggest lesson I learned from my summer job is how important an employee’s immediate supervisor is in terms of work guidance, and I’ve tried to implement that in my career. I want to tell our summer employees that Fingrid is a great company and that they should make the most of the experience.”.
Putting school lessons into practice
Aapo Kivioja is a 15-year-old student who expects his compulsory two-week period of work experience to provide him with a general idea of what it’s like to be at a workplace.
“This is my very first job, so I really can’t say what I expect. But it’s great that I’ve been given the chance to do real work right away. I’ve mailed invitations and made an Excel table in the archives. It’s a nice change to do something other than English and math exercises,” says Aapo, who plays Finnish baseball in his free time.
Johannes Koski studies electrical engineering in Jyväskylä.
“I wanted a summer job at Fingrid because I’m studying power engineering, and this is a place where I can apply the theory I’ve learned at school and do assignments typical to the industry. I expect my summer job to provide suitably challenging assignments and I want to see as much as possible of the company’s operations.”
Silja Piironen is in her sixth year of law studies at the University of Helsinki.
“My summer job is in the legal department. I wanted to work at Fingrid because I’m interested in a career as a corporate lawyer and I’m writing my thesis on environmental law. The best part of my summer job is the fact that I’ve been given the opportunity to do real, challenging work with responsibility, such as checking contracts. The work guidance has also been outstanding.”
Eveliina Seppälä is a student at Tampere University of Technology whose summer job at Fingrid was so enjoyable and productive that she is going to complete her thesis at the company.
“I came here last May as a summer employee and when that finished I was offered a thesis position. I’m doing my master’s thesis in the field of electricity market research.”
Meaningful work in a good atmosphere
Tiina Miettinen is Fingrid’s Senior Vice President for personnel and communications.
“I remember my first summer job well – I was a guide at Forssa Church. I think I spent my first summer pay on clothes,” says Tiina with a laugh.
She wants to remind people why Fingrid is a good employer.
“We do really important work, which brings a lot of content to the work. On the other hand, although the work we do is important, we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we have a good team spirit.”
She has a clear message for new summer employees:
“Don’t be afraid of talking to people, this is something that I learned from my first summer job. Along with the work, remember to seek out other people, exchange experiences and also have some fun. Enjoy this time in your life!”
