Marketing and communications provide a vantage point

“Videos and photography, page layouts and graphic design work, updating the website, and social media,” the marketing and communications trainee, Teemu, lists his tasks at work. He says that he has been able to learn new things and use his own strengths in his summer job in Oulun Energia’s marketing and communications team. Teemu, who is studying English but plans to switch to marketing, says that the work has met his expectations and strengthened the idea of switching fields as the right way forward.

Teemu's partner Roosa, recently graduated in marketing, has also enjoyed working at the company: “We have been warmly welcomed despite working mainly remotely. There has also been a feeling that we are trusted, but that we can always ask for help and advice if we need it.”

Both also feel that they have learned about the energy sector and are happy about how the summer job in marketing and communications has provided a kind of vantage point for everything that is done at Oulun Energia. As a result of the work, the marketing and communication trainees have been able to visit not only Oulun Energia's production facilities, but also festivals and peat bogs. “At first, I was surprised at everything Oulun Energia is doing and even what our team is working on,” Roosa says. “It helps to make this work diverse and interesting, that there are so many different things to talk about and learn new things from.”

The HR trainee is alway one step ahead

While Roosa, Teemu, and the other summer workers were just preparing for their start at Oulun Energia, Amanda, who is an HR trainee, was already fully engaged. Amanda is responsible for all matters related to the employment relationships of Oulun Energia's summer employees. This covers tasks ranging from the writing of employment contracts to the certificates of employment to be distributed at the end of summer work, and everything in between. In addition to Amanda, there are 30 summer workers this summer, so she hasn't had to rest on her laurels. Amanda has enjoyed the variety of her tasks: she feels that the HR department's routine work is also hampered by an appropriate number of different tasks, such as answering a wide range of staff questions, which often require interpretation of collective agreements and labour legislation. “This summer job has reinforced my feeling that I'm studying the right field,” Amanda says.

Amanda, who is studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Oulu University of Applied Sciences, is focusing her studies on human resources expertise and feels that she has gained a lot of concrete experience in her summer job at Oulun Energia, in addition to the theoretical knowledge learned at the school: “There is a lot of teaching in the school, for example, about payroll, but it is influenced by different collective agreements and local agreements, so I’ve learned a lot that cannot be taught at school.”

Caring summer employer

According to Amanda, the work in Oulun Energia's HR team has met her expectations, and she has also got into the team well. “Our team is tight, and it's very nice to work with them,” Amanda says. The feeling of trust has also helped Amanda get involved: “I have been given responsibility and trust that I can do the job”.

What does the future HR professional think of Oulun Energia as a summer employer? “In my opinion, Oulun Energia takes summer employees well into account. Orientation is taken care of and feedback is collected from summer employees on its progress. In addition, the managers of summer employees are experienced and competent,” Amanda says with a smile.