Samu Kinnunen and Joonas both took part in the Pinja DW Academy that started in early 2022. Both had first heard about Pinja at the University of Jyväskylä. Samu noticed the announcement in an email, and Joonas heard Pinja being talked about in a very positive way at the school.
“I got a message from the university’s email list that Pinja was looking for new members for their team, and I went to Pinja’s website to find out more. That’s how I found out about the academy. I became interested in the company and decided to apply” says Samu.
The academy was exactly what I had imagined – a powerful package that provides the kind of skills that Pinja needs.
Joonas ended up exploring Pinja’s website and an ad for DW Academy after a LinkedIn post, and found the academy interesting, just like Samu did. After studying the advert carefully, Joonas also decided to apply for the training. Joonas was impressed by the application process:
“The application process was nice. I liked the fact that it wasn’t as corporate-like as many other companies. You could answer the questions freely and openly, and in this way, you could bring out things from yourself very well”.
The fact that it was possible to combine his university studies with the academy also confirmed Joonas’ idea that the Pinja DW Academy training would be a great thing. This is also something Joonas was telling his friends about.
Neither person had any particular initial expectations of the academy, and they started with an open mind. However, both seemed to have one idea or wish. Samu trusted Pinja to provide good training and Joonas hoped that things would be explained as accurately and understandably as possible. They both had their wishes fulfilled.
“The only expectation I had was that Pinja would certainly organize a good academy. And yes, the academy was exactly what I had imagined – a powerful package that provides the kind of skills that Pinja needs” Samu says.
They both deemed DW Academy a good and comfortable place from the get-go and the two-month study period was sufficient to complete the training assignment. Support was provided by course mates and mentors when needed, and in addition to this, weekly Check Up meetings were held to catch up. The design of the course content was functional.
“Another good thing about the academy in general is that you can take your time to focus on the content and the whole concept. After just over a month of studying, I felt like I was really starting to understand things. It was nice to be able to do my work during the studies and if I felt stuck, I knew that I could always ask for help. At no point did I ever feel that I was alone with a problem, but there was always someone who could help” Joonas says.
Samu liked the practical and effective way of learning, which uses, for example, a system related to a real client case, which we blogged about in Pinja can employ you as a data warehousing specialist through training – Pinja DW Academy launched in 2020
Samu and Joonas currently work on the Business Intelligence side of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) project. Samu is part of the TaSo team creating various strategic and operational metrics for the client. Joonas’ Hoiti team manages the flow and processing of data from the data warehouse to the database, and reports relevant information to the client according to their needs and wishes.
The work has been interesting and it is clear that both benefited greatly from the DW Academy training. Naturally, after the academy, you are not immediately ready for bigger projects, nor is it a requirement, but you can take your time at the beginning to put what you have learned into practice and train with smaller tasks.
As Samu says, things have been a bit lighter and easier in the beginning, which allows you to learn things at your own pace for the bigger projects to come. Joonas agrees that the academy has given him the necessary know-how, and prepared him well for his current job.
Both have meaningful work on the project at the moment, and the team listens to requests and tries to divide future projects accordingly.
Blog: Pinja can employ you as a data warehousing specialist through training
Open positions
Blog: Data analyst, BI expert, data warehouse expert – new welfare counties offer meaningful work for many data processing professionals
Blog: Learning analytics opens up new perspectives for educational institutions