It’s not at all true that IT people are just “guys in front of computers” – as many people like to understand it. But it is pretty true that in this field, many of us feel a certain insecurity when starting our careers – in that sense, finding a supportive first job is crucial. For me, especially important career step was starting as a systems specialist trainee in a tech company, where I was encouraged and trusted.
I have been working at Gofore for one year – I work as a Technical Project Manager and recently I have also started as a People Lead, and so far I have been really happy in both roles. When it comes to project management and people leading, there’s many paths that lead to these positions: I myself have a long history, actually, 20+ years, in the field of information technology.
Johanna Nousiainen, Technical Project Manager & People Lead, Gofore
A role model close at home
I studied Information Technology at the Lappeenranta University of Technology. I also studied Adult Pedagogics – this came from not being really sure, at the beginning, whether Information Technology was for me, so I wanted to also explore other paths: I was a Teaching Assistant at the university, and already then I knew that I loved working with people. I thought that maybe I would explore teaching but I also wanted to see other roles. I also have studies of Economics in my background – and actually a few years ago I deepened my psychology studies as well.
To be honest, venturing into exploring different career options came from seeing my own mom! She actually has changed her career: she studied Chemistry and then she changed to Information Technology and has worked in that field ever since. I would hear from her that “IT opens you so many doors, so you always have open possibilities to see where you’re headed” and now years later I can admit that she was right – It was really cool for me to witness how she jumped into something completely new; she was definitely my first role model!
A fulfilling career from the get-go
I started as a Research Assistant – I was researching for ex. Neural Networks back then, 20 years ago, and it is so amazing to see how nowadays that is precisely the basis of AI, when I was working with that already at the end of the 90s!
After moving to Helsinki I felt like I had to find something else than the public sector, again: try something new without a clear idea of what direction to take, but open to all possibilities – I got a position at Comptel as a part of the tools team, and from then I started. I was quite lucky to have a great team, people who always pushed me to try new things and noticed my strengths. I loved writing training materials and instructions for using the software developers & tools. We were supporting and administering the tools and I did also some programming and software development where I used the same tools. I got new roles and learned a lot. Comptel was an amazing place for me to learn on ICT and software development processes, e.g. continuous integration and agile development. It felt surprising to me to be able to do all that, yet once again, I had people who supported me and believed in my abilities.
A new adventure at Gofore
After working for nine years at Comptel, and another nine years at a software product house, Visma Solutions, my adventure in Gofore started a year ago, as a Technical Project Manager. Lately I also started in a People Lead’s role. I feel that I’m now in a good place. Gofore’s culture felt good already before day one: people are friendly and skilled professionals. In addition to that Gofore has a cozy office and a good community in my hometown Lappeenranta. As a Technical Project Manager I can work on different kinds of projects. There are many of the same elements as in People Leads role. As a People Lead my main task is to make sure that people are supported and listened to. I also support them in how they can develop their career path: this is what I like the most, the “helping” aspect.
When I came into Gofore I was coming fresh from the realization that I wanted to try to be a People Lead at some point, because I am truly so much invested in it; seeing people’s strengths, empowering them. I was also really into the Technical Project Manager’s role, as it is all about helping people to succeed together in meaningful projects. Yet it has to be said aloud: it’s not so easy to figure out what you want to do at a job – and I believe that sometimes imagination is also limited if we don’t have many examples around us. I do also believe that sooner or later we find our path – expecting it to happen the sooner the better would be too high of an expectation, right?
Encouraging more women into tech
Even I, who has a mother in the field, didn’t have a clear understanding of what career path one could have in this field, so you can imagine what a task we have ahead for bringing more women into the field. And yet – at least I have found it easy to dream big and to have role models in other aspects of my life – I have tried to pay attention to other nice stories out there, since even if they don’t come from the field of tech, they inspire us nevertheless to keep dreaming.
To those who are already in the field, I always say: ask for feedback, because life isn’t just a “building up your career” race, but learning and experiencing on the way. And also very important: Don’t compare yourself to others – each is in their own season.
