Alumni Stories
Our master's graduates with focus in Human Resources, Strategy Work or Sustainability Management work in various fields and sectors. In the alumni stories below they describe their study experience and career.
Human Resource Management, Strategy Work and Sustainability Management are three out of four specialization areas in the Management and International Business Master's Program.
Insightful People Managers
At best it is possible to contribute to the business and at the same time to support the people and their interests.
Iina Näsman, HR Administrator, Skandinaviska Enskilba Banken
Iina Näsman, HR Administrator, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
I got interested in management studies already after the introductory course during the very first months of my bachelor studies. Therefore I studied management on the bachelor level, and was then eager to deepen my knowledge in my master’s studies. Especially the track Human Resources and Development Work fit my interests perfectly. I thought it was the best choice for me: firstly, it is about human behavior which I always found interesting; and secondly, because it is essential for business. I knew I wanted to work in HR after graduation, because I love how the field acknowledges both the business and the people working in it. At best it is possible to contribute to the business and at the same time to support the people and their interests.
My master’s studies helped to widen my perspective rather radically. What I liked the best was that the studies were about ‘growing to become a professional’: we were given both theoretical ideas to help us expand our thinking as well as more practical tools and frameworks to build our everyday work on. The strongest learning experience took undoubtedly place when I attended a course about gender, organizations and management. It was almost like I had put on new glasses: the course changed the way I view different management and organizational concepts and practices completely. The course has continued to affect my thoughts even after years have passed, and I hope I will always be able to put on those lenses I acquired during the course. I really enjoyed the different ways of studying at our school: some were more traditional and others more innovative. Also, it was inspiring to get to know different professors with their own styles and ideas.
During my studies I got my first HR job working for my current employer as an HR Assistant. I started as a summer temp and then continued working alongside my studies until my graduation. In Finland we at SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken) have a small HR team that covers all the employment life cycle matters from A to Z, therefore it has been a really good environment to get a general understanding of the field. I started with mainly helping my colleagues with different administrative tasks, but luckily I very soon got own projects and responsibilities, too. Nowadays I am responsible for several administrative processes, and acquiring competences in new specialization areas like Compensation and Benefits.
What I love the most in my work are the people, both in our HR team as well as other colleagues with whom we are constantly co-operating. I very much enjoy the international aspect in our multinational organization: every day I am interacting with colleagues in our headquarters in Sweden and/or in other locations. Furthermore, constant learning and developing my professional identity is very important for me. During my career my manager has been very supportive about this, which I highly appreciate.
In addition to the widening of my perspective the studies at Aalto provided me with many practical tools and frameworks. Both of these aspects have been very helpful in working life. It is interesting to see, how the theoretical knowledge of HR I gained during my studies is applicable in reality. Even though many courses don’t provide any specific practical tools, they have triggered thoughts and ideas that I now enjoy coming back to in real life situations (“ah THIS was what they must have meant back then”). On top of that I must mention the various group works, since social skills are crucial in my field, and language courses that have benefited me in working in an international company (English of course, but also Swedish). Furthermore, the student association activities I took part in were a major factor contributing to my present social skills and providing me with experience in project work and even leadership.
At the moment my future plans and dreams in working life include gaining more knowledge and experience in different HR matters and continuing to grow as a professional. Since I’ve only worked in the financial sector it might be interesting to see some other fields of business from the HR perspective, or maybe to try some other specialist position. Acquiring knowledge in fields outside traditional HR, like education, seems possible as well. I’m lucky since I feel that my education has given me skills that can be adapted in various positions even outside of my main field.
Aalto Business School experience for me: Developing wider perspectives and professionalism – through teamwork!
Linda Pokki, HR Manager, OP Financial Group
After the broad variety of studies during my bachelor’s degree I wanted to deepen my knowledge of organizations and their functions as well as of strategy and HR processes. I was intrigued by these matters already when getting ready for the entrance exams. Now after a few years I might even be able to explain what this interest was based on: When talking about management, organizations and HR, it is people that count. And I have noticed that I tend to make a lot of observations and really pay attention to how people interact. I find it extremely interesting and the observing comes naturally to me. Prior to my master’s studies I was looking forward to get explanations and find substance for these kinds of observations – and that’s exactly what I got!
I’ve always been very entrepreneurial, even as a child we were testing all sorts of business ideas with my neighborhood children. The School of Business became a clear goal for me during high school. The versatility of the studies, the excellent reputation of the school as well as the broad career opportunities were essential for choosing the School of Business as the place to study.
Another thing in favor of the School of Business was my long-term hobby, synchronized skating, in which I was also competing. The peak years of my skating career were exactly at the same time with my studies. Our team trained in Helsinki, therefore receiving a study place at Aalto School of Business was not only very much appreciated but even a necessity in order for me to be able to continue with my skating career. It was possible to combine the studies with the demanding training which made it possible for me to fulfil more than one very important dream of mine.
I recall the period when I was writing my master’s thesis especially well. I wrote my thesis about the leadership work in banking organizations and spent a lot of time writing in the school library and in the faculty. The cooperation with my supervisor Janne Tienari was very fruitful and I was happy to receive quite individual supervising. My supervisor was actively following the development of the banking business and could thus both challenge and support me very well during the thesis process. We still meet occasionally in different events and it feels great to still have the connection with the school and with my supervisor.
During the whole of my studies I worked in a bank, during the summer fulltime and during semester part-time. My studies supported my work excellently and my work made the content of the studies more concrete and added to what I had learned in the university. I started as a summer temp and worked for several years in different kinds of customer service positions. Just before graduation I worked as a financial advisor negotiating mortgage and consumer credits for customers. While I was writing my thesis a position for a human resources consultant in charge of recruiting opened up. I applied for the job and was on top of my world when I got the position. For about two years I was in charge of the recruiting and educational cooperation of retail banking business in Helsinki capital region.
Since the beginning of 2012 I’ve been working in my current position as HR Manager. This position has provided me with the opportunity to work with a broad variety of tasks related to Human Resources, for example carrying out all the yearly HR processes in the organization I have the full responsibility of. Surely almost every single topic addressed during my studies has in some form come up in my current work as well.
The best thing about my work is definitely the business cooperation. I find my work to be important, very multifaceted and even inspirational. The work days are hectic, but also full of surprises. I’m eagerly contributing to making HR an important strategic partner for business in our bank.
The years working in customer service and selling taught me a lot and built a fantastic foundation for my career in HR. I feel that it has been very important to work in business and to study multidisciplinary before taking up a position in HR. In the future it will be even more important to have diverse skills and be able to adapt to changing situations.
I wish to be able to build up a many-sided career with challenging positions and with the possibility to develop myself further. I haven’t yet decided whether HR is the field where I would want to work further, but I want to be open for all kinds of opportunities; even managerial positions might be of interest to me some time in the future. Postgraduate studies are also something I’ve been thinking of. After gaining more experience I wish to be able to update my knowledge and I would really love for this to happen in Aalto!
Sini Marttila, Project Manager at Suomen Terveystalo Oy
I chose Helsinki School of Economics (now known as Aalto University School of Business) mainly because of its established reputation, international relations and its relatively practice-oriented, yet scientific studies. I was one of those rather undecided students who consider almost all major programs during their first year of bachelor level studies, but finally my interest in people and human resource management led me to the major program Organization & Management. It turned out to be the best fit for me and thus I continued my Master’s studies in the same major program.
During my studies I especially enjoyed the international atmosphere in the Business School as well as the international experiences I made during my exchange semester in HEC Montréal and during my Double Degree studies in University of Cologne. In addition, the various business projects that we carried out with companies bridged the gap between theoretical studies and practice and gave an idea of what to expect from work life in the future. Furthermore, studying at and graduating from the Business School creates a great sense of belonging and professional identity which I believe will last throughout the whole working life. In addition to the professional advantages, studying at the Business School offers almost limitless possibilities related to student union activities and hobbies, which I considered a real perk.
In the beginning of my HR and strategy focused studies I envisioned myself working in typical HR positions related to topics such as recruiting and talent management. However, already well before my MSc graduation I got excited about more specific and less well-known topic of work ability and occupational wellbeing. I started working with the topic in a small consultancy and became so passionate about it, that I ended up writing a thesis about occupational health services in Finland and the potential for performance-based pricing models, which was considered a rather unconventional topic for a Master’s thesis in the field of HR. After graduation I continued my career in the same field as a project manager. Nowadays I am responsible for client projects related to analyzing the costs of employee sickness absence, work disability pensions, occupational accidents as well as the investments in occupational health and wellbeing. In a consulting position I get to work with numerous private and public sector employers from very different kinds of industries, which truly keeps things interesting.
Aalto Business School M&IB is full of possibilities, go and explore!
Strategy Wizards
One of the biggest assets of the program is the various course assignments and case studies done in cross-cultural teams
Jutta Hakkarainen, Business Development Specialist, Vaisala Oyj
Jutta Hakkarainen, Business Development Specialist, Vaisala Oyj
After the bachelor’s degree I was looking for a master’s program that would support me in becoming a professional in the strategy formulation and implementation while having also excellent skills in corporate finance and leadership. The courses taken during the Strategy program provided me with a solid basis to start the career in business development.
One of the biggest assets of the program is the various course assignments and case studies done in cross-cultural teams. In addition to the research based frameworks learned during the studies, the program provided also practical tools to develop oneself as a leader and as a team member.
I started my career in Vaisala Oyj as a Giant leap intern. I was working on a development project for customer experience improvement. I did my master’s thesis to Vaisala on a strategy management system which was exactly the topic I had been studying in the Strategy program: strategy formulation, implementation combined with corporate finance and leadership. Today, I work full time in the Business Development team for the corporate management system and for different global development projects on the corporate level.
In my current work I have applied various tools and methods learned during the studies in the Strategy program. My work as a Business Development Specialist is global in nature, crossing also different business units, functions and teams. The work requires excellent personal skills, communication, team work and visualization skills. I am very happy to work with the professionals in our various functions and teams.
Jukka Leppänen, Management consultant, Accenture Strategy
Back in high school I was struggling with the question of what to do when I grow up. As everything seemed to interest me, selecting a specific area to focus on in a world full of infinite possibilities was difficult. In the end, my rationale for pursuing a business degree was rather interesting: to me, money seemed to rule the world, and I figured that if I understood how money works, I’d eventually understand how the world works, too. Having made that decision, the rest was easy. If I were to pursue a degree in business, I should do so in the most prestigious business university in Finland. That university was Aalto University School of Business (known then as Helsinki School of Economics).
During the common courses at the start of my bachelor’s level studies it became evident that I was passionate about solving strategic problems in an international competitive environment. Realizing this, choosing Management and International Business as my study program was a given. But, I still had to figure out what other skills to include in my toolkit. I decided to go for Accounting, as it is one of the skills that every business graduate should know, and Economics, to help me understand how money works. In the end, I felt very satisfied with my choices, and seeing that the master’s level program in Management and International Business provided even more variety and freedom of choice than at the bachelor’s level, I decided to continue on the same path.
One of the key learnings I took with me from my studies was that in strategy and business, in contrast to many natural sciences, there is no ‘one right answer’. You are usually faced with an unstructured problem such as “What should we do?”, and the task is to find a structured way of solving it by evaluating your options. The challenge is that the solution changes depending on the information you have, the variables you use and the point of time when you do your analysis. Solving these unstructured problems is one of the things I love about my current work at Accenture and, coincidentally, one of the things that my studies have prepared me for.
Starting from the beginning of my studies, I always worked on the side. For the first couple of years, I did sales at Nordic bank. After that, as the CEO of aTalent Recruiting, I managed a growing recruitment company that some of you may be familiar with. From that position, while still finalizing my master’s degree, I shifted into management consulting at Accenture where I’ve happily been working ever since.
There are three key contributions that my studies have made to my career: 1) understanding of how businesses operate and what kind of career paths a business graduate might pursue, 2) basic skills and tools to succeed in my career, and 3) tolerance for uncertainty and unstructured problems.
My dream is to achieve great things by working together with dynamic people in an international environment. At the moment I am already living that dream, and my plan is to keep getting better at my craft on a daily basis. But, the beauty of life is that you never know where you might end up. If I had to picture what this dream might look like in practice some years from now, being responsible for the strategic direction of an international company could be one scenario.
Katri Nopanen, Sales Consultant, Meltwater Group
When I began my studies at the Aalto University, I worked as a cleaning lady during the weekends and holidays to finance my studies. After two years of studies I got a job as a part time sales trainee at Onninen and did that part-time for a year. I took a break from working to write my bachelor’s thesis for one semester and then found a position at IBM as a department assistant.
Later on I got offered a position as a sales management advisor, where I was responsible for sales forecasting, reporting and sales operations. Now I’m working at Meltwater Group, where I found a permanent post in the customer acquisition team.
Originally I chose the management program for my master’s studies because I was interested in strategy and business development and the program seemed to be the best opportunity to study those topics further. Six years back when I began my studies, I could never have imagined I was interested in sales or IT, but now find myself working with both of those things, and really enjoying it. My studies have helped my career significantly by developing my business acumen and my ability to make sense of complex business models, regardless of the industry.
In my current position I enjoy the challenge of doing sales. Meeting and working with different kinds of people every day, you never know what might happen next. Sales is a work field, where hard work really pays off and you constantly learn new things. You can hit the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but it’s never boring.
What I would like to share with students interested in studying M&IB Master’s studies at Aalto is: Listen to your gut feeling when choosing a master’s program and study the topic that truly feels the most interesting to you. That way you’ll get the most out of your studies. Don’t stress so much about what you want to be when you grow up. Life is full of surprises!
Emma Böös, Research Associate, Stanton Chase International
My curiosity and interest in the ways organizations function led me to studying management. From quite early stage in my studies I became more and more interested in strategy, corporate responsibility and organizational development. I quickly realized that I wanted to work in the intersection of private and public sectors.
Throughout my studies I was active in our student organization, KY, defending and improving the benefits and rights of students. Halfway through my master’s studies I was given an opportunity to steer a young non-profit organization, KY Foundation, through its first years. As a Managing Director I had a unique opportunity to use the skills and knowledge gathered during my studies to lead the Foundation through a massive organizational and financial shake-up relating to the birth of Aalto University.
After my exciting 2.5-year term in the Foundation I decided it was time to finish my degree before seizing new interesting projects. Upon completing the last courses and writing my thesis on strategy consulting I took the next step in my career and joined an executive search company. Contributing to one of the most important strategic decisions there are - choosing the right people to lead companies and public organizations – has been extremely interesting and a great step on my career.
In the future I am planning to seek new and exciting challenges in the fields where strategy and organizational development meets corporate responsibility. I truly believe that companies can benefit from, not only struggle with, the changes in the society and policymaking, and I want to do my part in making those opportunities come true.
Creators of Better Futures
I decided it was important to find out where and how decisions regarding the state of the environment are made – be it in companies, by the government or in households. I wanted to know where and how I should try to make an influence.
Marika Määttä, Adviser, Communications, Finnish Energy Industries
Marika Määttä, Adviser, Communications, Finnish Energy Industries
I knew I wanted to work with environmental issues and sustainability since I was in high school. It was then that I decided it was important to find out where and how decisions regarding the state of the environment are made – be it in companies, by the government or in households. I wanted to know where and how I should try to make an influence.
I applied to Aalto knowing that it is the best business school in Finland regarding reputation and teaching, and has a possibility to specialize in sustainability. I chose management as my major already in the bachelor phase, because it had the most sustainability-related courses of all the majors. The courses provided me with valuable information on e.g. strategic management tools, HR practices as well as current environmental management trends.
In addition to the studies at Aalto, I decided to study environmental economics at the University of Helsinki in order to deepen my insights on how large environmental problems can be dealt with on a societal and economical level. With the help of my studies at Aalto and Uni Helsinki I gained a broad understanding of the sustainability field in Finland. With this knowledge, and by being active in the student organization “Aalto Sustainable Business Club”, I was able to acquire very interesting working experiences. In between my studies, I worked at a small environmental consultancy, a government institute, and a couple of large multinationals, dealing with very interesting environmental and social issues.
All the things I learned during my years of studying brought me to where I am now: I work with the communication of energy issues (which strongly link with most environmental issues), meet people who work directly with environmental decision making, and I also try to change things on a concrete level: I’m the WWF Green Office representative at our office. The Finnish Energy Industries has proven to be a great workplace for me; I find energy issues incredibly interesting, and having a multi-disciplinary background really helps in understanding the big systemic changes happening in the energy field right now.
Studying management at Aalto opened me doors that no other university in Finland could. Nevertheless, management as a major cannot offer you a straightforward route to a career in sustainability – you have to be ready to work hard for it. To work with sustainability you have to understand the world from many different viewpoints. So, if you choose the Management & International Business master’s degree at Aalto, be sure to take up on all the possibilities studying at Aalto can offer: participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities, go on exchange and especially make the most of the cross-disciplinary studying possibilities Aalto can offer!