Anttoni's story: A good direction for a career by actively searching

I remember the discussion I had with my student counsellor during the last year at upper secondary school. We talked how I had no idea where I wanted to study and what kind of work I’d like to do in the future. After a few interviews, my student counsellor recommended technical fields, so I decided to apply to study at Aalto University and Tampere University of Technology (a huge thanks to Counsellor Olli, if you read this).

I've never had a dream job. I only got interested in studying in the last year of upper secondary school. You could see this in my grades. I understood that now’s the time to make a strong move so that I can have any chance of entering the university. After a year of work, I eventually got my matriculation examination certificate scored to an average of Magna cum laude instead of barely passing. Based on the total points of the certificate and entrance examinations, I got in to study automation technology from the last reserve place at Tampere University of Technology.

It gets better when you shift things around

When I started my studies in Tampere, it became clear very quickly that automation technology isn't for me. Coding, which I didn't used to like, started to feel very nice, so I ended up switching to information technology. However, after graduating with a bachelor's degree, I felt that some less technical field might feel better for me. At the beginning of the master’s phase, I changed my field once more, to information management.

Even though I changed my field twice during my studies, I don't feel that anything was wasted in my studies, quite the contrary. I think it’s better to try something and realise “this is not my thing” than to skip something completely because of expectations. It’s very easy to switch between technical fields; the basic studies are very similar for everyone. If you’re interested in technology, but the right direction of study is lost, like for me, I encourage you to just try something and change it if the choice wasn't the right one. Switching is relatively easy, and, at the same time, you learn what you don't want to be doing.

Consultant work at Solita

If I went back in time ten years and told my 15-year-old self that you’ll become an information management consultant, the younger me would probably faint or cry. And I wouldn't blame him for that: that's not exactly in the category of "children's dream professions".

I would probably not have understood when I was younger that I could enjoy this job, too. Earlier, I’ve worked as a construction worker, professional driver, coder, entrepreneur and salesperson, for example. Of all my tasks, work as a consultant and Solita as an employer have felt the best. I’ve had the opportunity to influence the content of my work and to take as much responsibility as I’ve wanted. This has been well aligned with my ambitious nature.

About well-being

The ambition for a career and studies that emerged in the last year of upper secondary school has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that I get a lot of things done and a curse in that I don't always know how to stop soon enough. In the last five years, I‘ve already almost burned out twice, and I don’t recommend that to anyone. So that you won't make the same mistakes as me, I'll give you a few tips to keep you feeling good.

1. Take care of the basics: sleep enough, exercise and eat healthy. The mind feels good when the body feels good.
2. If you're an ordinary mortal like me, you can only focus on one thing at a time. There’s also a limited amount of time in a day you can do actual concentrated work. So, avoid multitasking and working days that are too long.

Anttoni Tukia