Finnish is not a requirement at Alma – managers and colleagues offer support

– I didn’t plan to join this team, but it was my destiny, laughs Ha Quang, also known as Helen, who works as a Frontend Developer on the OviPro real estate software.

Alma Media employs a dozen international professionals in Finland. Helen is one of them. Working at Alma can also be done in English, and knowing Finnish is not a requirement for all positions.

– I’ve lived in Finland for eight years. I did my bachelor’s in energy and environmental technology at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. I finished my studies during the pandemic, which made finding a job difficult. That’s when I became interested in the IT field and decided to study coding on my own, Helen explains.

Helen applied for a job at Alma a couple of years ago. She wasn’t selected at that time, but after a while, she was contacted.

– I was offered a suitable position at OviPro. I went for an interview and got the job. Now, I’m also doing my master’s degree in software development alongside my work, Helen says.

Alma’s developers impact millions of users

Alma Media employs hundreds of software developers in various teams and services. The work of a software developer isn’t invisible and quiet. On the contrary, their impact reaches millions of users. 

Without developers, there wouldn’t be news on Iltalehti, homes listed on EtuOvi, or jobs on Jobly.

As a frontend developer, Helen directly influences how a service looks and how it's used.

– I program using ReactJS. I can immediately see the results of my work. I want to continue developing in frontend and learn more about backend and cloud services.

Helen works partly remote and comes to the office 2–3 days a week. A typical workday starts with a team meeting and after that she gets on with the tasks of the day. The day is punctuated by coffee breaks with colleagues and, of course, lunch.

– We share a lot with our colleagues and often go for lunch together.

Colleagues and managers support international talents in their daily tasks

In the last two years, Alma Media has made changes to the work environment to recruit international professionals for positions that don’t require Finnish language skills. 

The work is still in process, but colleagues and managers support team members in their daily tasks. Alma Career, a division specializing in job search services, operates in over 10 different European countries, which has also accelerated internationalization in Finland.

Helen was the first non-Finnish-speaking employee at the Tampere office. According to her, there was no language barrier. The transition to English as the working language happened smoothly, and the reception was warm.

– When I started, all the meetings and presentations switched to English. My colleagues are friendly, supportive and helpful. They are the best part of my job, she says.