How to find a job with a satellite and more (startup) career advice
In this article, you will find five lessons that I have learned during 10+ years of my working life in Finland as a foreigner. My path included working at startups, as well as large corporations, and resulted in a successful career thus far.
I’m sure you’re eager to find out about the role satellite played in my career, so I’ll start with that. Besides, you will probably also learn some new things about horses, about how to really take an initiative in a startup job search and how to truly stand out in an interview.
Be sure to read the whole story, if you want to get the most out of this article.
Lesson 1: Show curiosity and go beyond your comfort zone
I found my first job in Finland using a satellite. Yes, that’s right — a satellite. I was using Google Earth and browsing Helsinki area. I noticed a strange-looking place that I couldn’t identify. For some reason I was drawn to it. Next day, being free, I took a bus and went to that place.
My curiosity increased as I approached the area. There was a big wall around it and a sandy track outside of the wall. What could it be? It all became clear once I passed through the gate.
It was a horse racing track. Or, to be more precise, a racing track for trotters. (These are horses that pull small carts behind them. The cart is called sulky.)
Incidentally, I had a long history of working with horses in Poland. Horse riding was my childhood hobby. So I was comfortable as I knew a lot about horses; though I didn’t know about trotters or driving the carts, but that couldn’t be more difficult than horseback riding.
As I walked into the horse stables — I checked with the staff, if they offered summer jobs, they guided me to their boss.
As all this happened spontaneously, I was a little uneasy as I faced a slim and energetic stable manager, who was at least double my age and was measuring me with his eyes.
He said that they were hiring trainees for the summer from a Finnish school that specialized in education in relation to horses — but they were open to hiring others as well. He asked about my experience and briefly observed my behavior with the horses there and agreed that I could work and that they would offer me the same salary as the other trainees, starting two weeks later. On the scheduled day, I went there with a tax card in my hand. After completing documentation, I was inducted by, ‘Welcome…and this is the normal routine that we follow…’
I worked there the whole summer. It was strenuous physical work, but worth it, to earn the first work experience (backed with money) in Finland.
Lesson 2: Network and do your job well
The second job was more professional and matching my education. My business school classmate referred me to her manager, who was looking for someone to join their market research team. (Elisa, a telecom operator in Finland.)
After the interview, I was told that, I was their perfect candidate and their search ended with me. Piece of cake, you say? Well… yes and no. Of course, I was recommended by a friend and they had to quickly hire someone. But, I had to earn my classmate’s respect (another foreigner like me) in the first place. She was working at Elisa on a fixed-term contract only and had to protect her credibility and reputation. So, networking helps, but you still need to do your job well.
I had wonderful time working there, and actually managed 2 consecutive back to back projects.
Lesson 3: Don’t burn the bridges and follow up
While working, I applied to “The Nokia” legendary mobile phone giant.
I went through series of interviews and was quite optimist about selection, I realized that I was second best candidate, meaning “NO”. I was disappointed. That’s not the end of my Nokia story. A year later, I was completing graduation and looking out for a full-time job. Again I checked, Nokia. Incidentally, they were rehiring for the same vacancy.
I called the manager, who had interviewed me previously. As I already had her phone number, so it was easy to connect. I reminded her about my previous interview and informed her that I wanted to reapply for the same job. I updated her, about the value additions I had done during past 1 year, including studying a subject relevant for the job.
Knowing what to expect, I positioned my application better. Remembering previous year’s experiences, I made notes, improvised and practiced for interview. Things went the way I had thought, phone interview followed by a face-to-face interview with the same person I had followed up with. This time I did get the job. Personally, I think that my follow-up helped me a lot.
I spent a few years with Nokia. It was a rewarding and developing experience and a major step in my career.
Some time later, I wanted a job shift; I decided to join a startup and that’s where the next lesson comes in.
Lesson 4: Do your homework extremely well and prepare a customized portfolio showcasing past work and skills
At this point in my career, sufficient experience made me confident to take fresh challenges and chart a future of my choice, with clear goals. However, there were no job advertisements of my dream job.
I proactively created that position myself: I scanned and profiled startups in Finland, the right fit for my skills. I called the CEO of my preferred company.
I said, ‘Hey, you are in industry XYZ. I have skills X, which I think are relevant, if you’re planning to grow and develop business. I’d be interested to contribute to your growth. Is there a reason for us to meet?’ And he said, ‘Yes, let’s meet.’
It took some time as he was typical very busy CEO, but we did meet eventually.
Before the meeting, I researched the company and the industry thoroughly and studied books and articles. I had a clear idea of the challenges the company might face (especially within my domain of expertise).
Furthermore, I selected a few hypothetical assignments and projects that I anticipated, I may do once selected. And then… I executed these assignments (with assumed figures).
We first reviewed my CV, we discussed about the company, and then I showed my portfolio: Excel models showcasing things that I could do for the company and demonstrating required capabilities.
After the interview, the CEO was impressed, but he wanted to check if I could support them with activities beyond Excel modeling. More specifically, he was looking for writing skills and gave me a written assignment. He was satisfied with the outcome, but due to constraints could offer only an independent consultant role. So I established my own business and started working with the company. After a year they offered me a full-time job and my career continued growing there. Eventually, I got to a director position and had been in charge of a small team myself.
While being in this more senior role, I had a chance to participating in the hiring process. That’s where the fifth lesson came from.
Lesson 5: Pay it forward and help others succeed
Even though I had previous experience from interviewing and recruiting people for junior and senior roles this time we needed to hire different candidates in various roles and levels in a short period of time.
After the hiring spree was over something about interview process struck me. I found that most of the candidates, even with impressive profiles, asked very few questions and sometimes poor questions to the interviewers. After that realization, I have researched the topic and found that there was a need for a more in-depth guide to asking questions in a job interview. I decided to write it myself. What started as an article ended as full guidebook — from the perspective of a job seeker.
If you are interested in preparing better questions for your next job interview, you should read my questions to ask the interviewer guide. It’s freely available and I’m hoping it will reach as many job applicants as possible.
As they say, teaching is the highest form of learning. By sharing my thoughts I gained much more than if I kept everything for myself. I am giving back to the community the best I can.
If you are in a similar position, with valuable experiences and insights that could benefit others, please share them. The Shortcut is an excellent platform for that. You can truly make this world a little better place.
Concluding thoughts
It’s been 10+ years of my professional life. I’m sure there are more lessons ahead of me. I have shared my experiences and lessons with you, feel free to utilize them for your job-search and career.
If you have any comments/feedback please post them in the comments section. I’ll definitely respond. Thank you and best of luck!
