Lari, Internship in Logistics

Could you tell us a little about your internship project at Vaisala?
 
I spent the summer charting the overall situation in Vaisala’s use of external logistics services and the costs that ensue. My work has furthered the development of Vaisala’s logistics functions and the application of suitable indicators in them. Even after my part of the Giant Leap program had finished, I continued at Vaisala alongside my studies, working on the development of logistics indicators, for example. My work was rather independent and creative. My supervisors and colleagues were very supportive.
 
What made you interested in the Giant Leap internship program?
 
 Vaisala as a company was virtually uncharted territory for me. Their ad about the program at my school’s recruitment service caught my eye, and I then logged on to the company web site to find out more. I became interested both in the company's line of business and the global approach of its operations. The company appeared to have versatile competences and a broad range of activities, ranging from individual measurement devices to weather radars and data services. The fact that Vaisala was very international was obviously attractive. The Giant Leap program appealed to me because it was challenging and provided me with a great opportunity to utilize my competences in logistics amidst real-life business challenges.
 
What is your educational background? Do you feel you could apply your skills and knowledge during your time at Vaisala?
 
 At the time I started with Vaisala I had just completed my fourth study year at the Helsinki School of Economics, majoring in logistics. During my internship I have had versatile opportunities to work with Vaisala's different divisions and find out how their operations differ from one another. I have really been able to put my theoretical knowledge of logistics into good use by drawing conclusions on the fundamentals and importance of the information collected. The analytical skills I have acquired by studying have proven important, and I have also been able to develop them further in my work tasks. The Giant Leap internship has been a wonderful learning opportunity for me, giving me an insider view on the logistics-related challenges a global company like Vaisala has to face.
 
What have you learned from the internship?
 
 During the summer, I learned a great deal about organizing logistics functions and obtained a good overall picture of what kind of logistics challenges the company faces and how to solve them. The Giant Leap internship has provided me with good tools for acquiring information and learning new things internally. What has motivated me in particular is my own responsibility of the project’s progress, not to forget my supervisor’s guidance and the support of my work community. Another great aspect was the opportunity to share information with other people who were selected to participate in Giant Leap but may have worked in entirely different kinds of projects in different parts of the company. Thanks to the diversity of the participants’ training backgrounds, I had the opportunity to hear about significant research and product development projects, for example.
 
How would you describe Vaisala as an employer to students who are seeking an internship?

Well, just log on to vaisala.com, unless you are already familiar with the company. If you find the company’s line of business interesting, I definitely recommend you apply for Giant Leap. The program has been designed to cater for both the interns' interests and Vaisala's actual business needs. Vaisala can offer very versatile and challenging work tasks, thanks to its corporate scale and the diversified and international nature of its operations. There are but few Finnish companies that are able to match this diversity of offering.