Taneli’s career story 

Internal transfer to media technology 

Taneli started studying electrical engineering at Centria University of Applied Sciences in Ylivieska in 2009. Information technology attracted the young electronics technician. After starting his studies, Taneli became interested in a degree in media technology engineering, which he got to study through an internal transfer at Centria, with a focus on information network studies. Taneli was also an exchange student at Shanghai University in China. There, he studied Chinese language and culture as well as information networks. 

During the first summer of his studies, he was employed as an assembly employee in manufacturing. During the following summers during his studies, he worked at Centria in various trainee positions in preparation for employment in the industry. Early on in his studies, he joined organizational activities and became a student activist. He also established his own business name in IT maintenance. 

Summer job led to a long career 

Taneli graduated in December 2013, after which he joined a manufacturing company as an IT project micro support employee. The job was supposed to be a summer job, but it continued until the end of the year. At the end of his fixed-term employment, he was unemployed for a short time and looked for a job. “There was not much training available in the region, and I would have needed to move further away to find work, which I was not prepared to do,” says Taneli. 

In the spring, Taneli received a call from the same manufacturing company where he had previously worked and was once again offered a summer job. He went there to do helpdesk support tasks related to IT as a lower-level clerical employee, and this time his summer job eventually turned into a full-time job. After a few years, he joined the company as a system specialist. However, Taneli wanted new challenges, and the cybersecurity industry seemed interesting. In 2020, he started studying for a master’s degree in cybersecurity at Xamk in Kotka. 

“My intuition and timing for my studies were spot on because the COVID-19 pandemic hit right after I started my studies. The global situation changed in a short period of time, and there was a need for cybersecurity expertise at work. One year after starting my studies, I became an information security expert at the company and then a senior salaried employee as an information security coordinator in tasks that corresponded to my education,” says Taneli. 

Own activity pays off 

Moving to a new position was in a way challenging for Taneli. However, he wanted to show his skills to the employer and gradually took on new tasks. Moving into more challenging expert positions increased the pressure. At the same time, there was more responsibility and chances to influence things, and he could see his own handprint in the work, which made the work more meaningful. 

“Of course, my career development affected my salary. However, in the private sector, it is a matter of negotiation, which meant that salary discussions needed to be had,” says Taneli. 

Union as support at different stages of the career 

During his job search, Taneli participated in the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland’s courses related to writing a CV and job searching. When preparing for salary discussions, Taneli made extensive use of the Union’s Salary counter and, when his employment contract was updated, he always had the Union’s experts review the contract. 

“I’ve also actively networked at the Union’s events, where I have been able to discuss issues related to technology and its development with people from the industry,” says Taneli. 

Next, Taneli aims to complete his UAS master’s degree by the end of next year. He also hopes that his career development will continue upwards and that his tasks will continue to be meaningful also in the future!