I’m Joel Ollikainen, and I work as a procurement consultant at SC Software, working remotely from Lahti. By education, I’m a Bachelor of Business Administration from LAB University of Applied Sciences. I’ve worked in the IT industry throughout my entire professional career.
My first IT job was at a company smaller than SC, where I got the opportunity to try almost all roles in the field. As a jack of all trades, I got to work in sales, training, customer support, testing, and software design and localization. This gave me quite a comprehensive picture of the opportunities available in the IT industry. It was great to try my wings in different roles and find my own strengths, which I still get to work with today working as a consultant.
Business acquisition opened the door to SC Software
I ended up at SC Software through a rather unusual route. The business I was working with before had caught SC’s interest, and I was “sold” to SC in August 2022 as part of a business acquisition. Of course, I was asked already in early summer during the initial stages of the business negotiations if I would be interested in moving to SC with the acquisition. I thought that yes, I would be interested – I had already familiarized myself with SC while doing competitor analysis for procurement software, and the company seemed interesting. During the process, I also got to know my future colleagues in meetings and SC Software’s procurement solutions. Based on these, SC seemed like an excellent career step. When I returned from summer vacation, I got a call from my then-supervisor about the completion of the business acquisition, so I gathered my virtual belongings and jumped on board with SC!
Although the IT industry was familiar to me, the practices in a larger company were more structured than in my previous workplace. However, I quickly learned the company’s ways while working. At SC, I continued working with a familiar system, got involved in designing a tendering system, and worked in support services – so I was again a bit of a jack of all trades, but my goal was always clear: I wanted to do more consulting work. I brought up my wish to do more consulting work in development discussions with my supervisor, and finally in summer ’24, a suitable opportunity arose to move to the consulting team.
Versatility as a strength – from “jack of all trades” to dream job as a consultant
Now I could say that I’ve found the framework for my job role and I’m where I want to be. I still work with the familiar procurement system, but consulting tasks are now my “main job.” What’s particularly exciting about consulting work is the diversity of tasks. I especially enjoy being able to use my creativity and come up with new solutions to problems – that gives me daily small joys and feelings of success. As cliché as it might sound, no two days are alike, and variety is refreshing, which suits someone with such an active spirit!
One of the best aspects of working at SC has been the opportunity to take on diverse responsibilities – from modernizing our service desk to integrating the acquired product line into SC’s support infrastructure and systems. It’s been rewarding to see my own professional growth and ability to transition smoothly between these different roles.
Open and welcoming work community
I like working in a company where I know everyone – SC is just the perfect size for me. What makes us special is our flat organizational structure and open culture. It speaks volumes that you can have casual conversations with our CEO as easily as with your closest colleague. I think we have a great work community here and I’m surrounded by fantastic colleagues.
All in all, I’m satisfied with my career path at SC. I’m looking forward to what the future brings – while looking forward to the Christmas party!
Joel Ollikainen
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