A majority of students of JAMK (Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences) and the University of Jyväskylä who have carried out their training periods at Pinja have remained in the house with a permanent job.
One of Pinja’s offices is located beside the Lutakko campus, which strengthened Roni’s decision to apply for a traineeship.
Almost each of us has carried out a traineeship at some point of our lives, for example, as a student or later in life as a new entrant into the working life. Traineeship is a safe way to put things learnt into practical use, as well as a good opportunity to get to know working life and accumulate valuable experience. From the employer’s point of view, traineeship offers a good platform for identifying potential employees and, when related to training programmes, reinforcing cooperation with educational institutes.
During its history, Pinja has offered a traineeship for a great number of experts in various fields. In Jyväskylä, Pinja attracts particularly students of JAMK (Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences) and the University of Jyväskylä. Thanks to a thorough recruitment process, a majority of employees who originally started at Pinja as trainees are still in the house. One of them is Roni Palva-aho, a third year student of media technology from JAMK, who carried out his traineeship during the summer and autumn of 2016.
”I applied for a traineeship at Pinja based on a positive image”
According to Roni, the best thing at Pinja is a good atmosphere, suitably challenging tasks and that help is always available.”I am Roni, a 24 years old student. I spend my free time with music and various projects related to playing, producing or programming. I enjoy learning new things, which in fact is one of the best elements of studying and work.
Since my main subject was software technology, it was only natural for me to apply for a traineeship at Pinja’s software production and ICT services office, located in Lutakko. My decision was influenced by the positive image I had of Pinja, yet I also have to admit that the convenient location in the neighbourhood of the Lutakko campus of JAMK may have affected my decision. I learnt the basics of software technology already during my earlier media assistant studies noticing that challenges in the software sector interested me and then decided to select it as my main branch. I also have earlier interest in the subject matter.
As this was my first experience in an IT company, I didn’t have very strong expectations. Instead, I decided to keep an open mind and see what would lie ahead. During the first weeks, there was a lot of new, but soon things fell into place. People also seemed very nice.”
Experience accumulated with different projects
”During the training period, I could use my skills in a versatile manner in different projects. Independent projects in the beginning of the training period gave a positive challenge, but there was nothing to worry about, because help was always close at hand. At a later stage, I became a member of a team for the development of Pinja’s maintenance cloud service, KuPi, in which I work still today.
The project that I perhaps like the most among those carried out during the traineeship is related to a mobile software application, since it was based on a completely new technology (C#, Xamarin), and I find mobile application development very interesting. Unfortunately, the project only lasted a few weeks. Another nice project was KuPi – a pilot application utilising new technologies. I could challenge myself, I learnt a lot and had the possibility to explore things.
My studies still continue, but I have been able to successfully combine school and work thanks to the flexibility of all parties. I still have my thesis ahead and I am hoping to complete it for Pinja.”
Good feelings from the traineeship
”The training period was very positive and met all my expectations. The best of all were the good atmosphere and challenging projects. It was demanding to do a lot of independent work – on the other hand, I learnt a lot and help was available whenever necessary; however, I had the possibility to learn practical project work at a relatively late stage.
Overall, Pinja was a perfect selection for the traineeship. I felt an equal member of the working community, I had a chance to work with expert colleagues and I learnt a great amount of new things. There was enough work to do, it was relevant and forced me to stick my neck out.
The best of all is that – as a proof of an excellent traineeship – I now have a job.
The cooperation between the traineeship provider and the educational institute was also as smooth as one could hope. The best of all is that – as a proof of an excellent traineeship – I now have a job. Based on my experience, I would recommend Pinja as a traineeship provider even for my best friend.”
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