Mim­mit koodaa led to a path to Islet

Tech­nol­o­gy is for every­one. It is used by a wide range of peo­ple, which is why it is very impor­tant that tech­nol­o­gy is devel­oped by a range of dif­fer­ent peo­ple. Islet has been work­ing deter­mined­ly for diver­si­ty for years, and one of our main goals is to increase the num­ber of women in the tech industry.

One of Fin­land’s most sig­nif­i­cant actors in encour­ag­ing women to enter the tech­nol­o­gy indus­try, as well as Islet’s long-term part­ner, is the Mim­mit koodaa pro­gram. This pro­gram has helped many women find their way into the tech indus­try and devel­op their skills. One of the inspir­ing sto­ries is from #Islet­ter Päivi Laa­so­nen, who dis­cov­ered Islet through the Mim­mit koodaa vir­tu­al event. In this blog post, Päivi shares her jour­ney and experiences.

At cross­roads in work­ing life

Päivi Laa­so­nen had always been inter­est­ed in tech­nol­o­gy and was able to utilise it in her work as a logis­tics pro­fes­sion­al. How­ev­er, she had been think­ing for a long time about how to find new chal­lenges and oppor­tu­ni­ties to make more use of her inter­est in tech­nolo­gies in par­tic­u­lar. Päivi decid­ed to take a day off and par­tic­i­pate in the Mim­mit koodaa vir­tu­al event, hop­ing to find inspi­ra­tion and a new direction.

Vir­tu­al event that changed direction

In the spring of 2021, Päivi par­tic­i­pat­ed in the Mim­mit koodaa vir­tu­al event, where Islet was one of the part­ners. The event had sev­er­al inter­est­ing speech­es and work­shops, but espe­cial­ly the pre­sen­ta­tion by Islet’s CEO, Jan­i­na Luo­to, caught Päivi’s atten­tion. Jan­i­na talked about the com­pa­ny’s val­ues, cul­ture and the oppor­tu­ni­ties they offer to their employees.

“Jan­i­na’s speech was my first con­tact with Islet, as I had not heard of the com­pa­ny before. So many things fell into place at that moment. I quick­ly searched Islet for more infor­ma­tion and felt that this must be the right place for me. Before the event, I already knew that I want­ed to work as an SAP con­sul­tant — or I thought I knew, I had­n’t done this job before. When look­ing for the right direc­tion, I had already pre­vi­ous­ly tak­en advan­tage of oth­er events, webi­na­rs, cours­es and blogs in the Mim­mit koodaa com­mu­ni­ty. On the oth­er hand, I was drawn to SAP because of my long expe­ri­ence as user”, Päivi tells us.

Path to Islet

Päivi was impressed by Islet’s com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­i­ty, employ­ee well-being and con­tin­u­ous learn­ing, so she applied for a job at Islet after the event.

Päivi’s appli­ca­tion led to sev­er­al dis­cus­sions and inter­views with Islet. They were impressed by her pos­i­tive atti­tude, will­ing­ness to learn and moti­va­tion towards new tech­nolo­gies, and she was offered an oppor­tu­ni­ty to join Islet with­out any pre­vi­ous con­sult­ing expe­ri­ence. Päivi start­ed work­ing in Islet’s ERP expert team just a few weeks after the vir­tu­al event.

“Islet did not yet have an office in Oulu at the time, so it was excit­ing to start work­ing in a new field and com­plete­ly remote­ly”, Päivi tells us. “The excite­ment fac­tor was also increased by the fact that the sum­mer hol­i­days were just about to begin. How­ev­er, the excite­ment turned out to be unnec­es­sary, as it was clear to me what was expect­ed of me and what I was going to do next, even though most of the new col­leagues were on vaca­tion. In the begin­ning, I also received a lot of sup­port in iden­ti­fy­ing my own skills and strengths. Even though I was a career chang­er, I did­n’t start from scratch. I was received real­ly well on Islet, every­one was absolute­ly amaz­ing. Today, there are so many more of us, and yet the same team spir­it and atmos­phere have remained. Even though I still work remote­ly most of the time, I nev­er feel alone. We keep in close con­tact with col­leagues, e.g. through Teams, and this cul­ture of work­ing togeth­er is very impor­tant to me.”

New career at Islet

Päivi has now been at Islet for sev­er­al years and her jour­ney has been a won­der­ful growth sto­ry from a logis­tics pro­fes­sion­al to a sys­tem spe­cial­ist. Päivi is respect­ed by her col­leagues and has even received the #Team­Builder title at Islet’s annu­al award gala.

“Islet offers an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn and move towards the very things that inter­est me. Of course, learn­ing new things always requires a lot of effort from your­self, but the work­load is lighter when the things you are work­ing on are your own inter­ests. To suc­ceed in this field, con­tin­u­ous learn­ing must not dis­cour­age but rather inspire you. The work of a con­sul­tant is very ver­sa­tile, and you get to devel­op your­self every day. There is a good ratio of cus­tomer encoun­ters and more inde­pen­dent tech­ni­cal work. Suc­ceed­ing in both is the goal”, Päivi says.

Do what you want

When Päivi was about to leave her pre­vi­ous job and head to Islet, a for­mer col­league hand­ed her a pack­age of tea that read: “Do what you want”. Fol­low­ing this mot­to, she has moved for­ward, every day.

Päivi feels that she is exact­ly where she should be now, and that she can do exact­ly the things she wants to do. She hopes that also be reflects in her work. Päivi is espe­cial­ly grate­ful that she decid­ed to par­tic­i­pate in the Mim­mit koodaa vir­tu­al event, which led her path to Islet.

Päivi Laa­so­nen’s sto­ry is an inspir­ing exam­ple of how the Mim­mit koodaa pro­gramme can open new doors and oppor­tu­ni­ties for women in the tech­nol­o­gy sec­tor. Islet is proud to be a part of this com­mu­ni­ty and to pro­vide a plat­form where women can grow and thrive. We hope that Päivi’s sto­ry will encour­age also oth­er women to seize oppor­tu­ni­ties and fol­low their dreams in the tech industry!

Check out open posi­tions at Islet here. 

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