Category Type: Careers

Akseli joined VALOR in September 2021. Akseli has experience in supply chain management, and he previously worked as a supply chain analyst and a master’s thesis worker at RELEX Solutions. He is finalizing his studies in Industrial Engineering and Management at Aalto University. Outside the office, Akseli enjoys all kinds of sports and plays football in a lower division.

Why VALOR?

I became interested in the possibility of combining my interests in operational improvement and management consulting at VALOR. I also got a great impression of the company at a recruiting event. The people at the event had a similar background to mine, which increased my urge to apply for the internship. A small company with experienced people will provide an excellent environment for me to improve my professional skills and learn about management consulting. 

Expectations vs. reality?

Before the internship started, I had heard a lot about the company from friends who had worked at VALOR. So I was pretty sure of what to expect. However, I was worried about starting a new job now that working from home has become the new standard. Yet I was positively surprised to be able to work at the office and meet my colleagues in person now that the restrictions have loosened. And one-on-one meetings with everyone at the company made sure I got to know new people and meet those who don’t work at the office regularly.

I was already assigned to my first project during the first week and received great guidance from the team in getting started. I was also delighted that my personal interests in various projects were considered well, and I was happy with the project I was assigned to.

Do you have any advice for anyone interested in working at VALOR too?

Be brave and apply for the position. And if something concerns you about the company, don’t hesitate to send a message. I’m sure anyone at VALOR will be eager to answer the questions about the job. If you have further questions regarding my experiences with the internship, feel free to contact me via LinkedIn or other platforms.

Anna-Rosa joined VALOR in August 2021. Anna-Rosa’s main expertise lies in the healthcare and social care industry. She has worked in varied projects involving e.g. procurement, strategy, operational development, market analyses, benchmarking services, and cost and productivity analyses.

Her previous colleagues have described Anna-Rosa as a proactive team player who is particularly skilled in structuring complex problems, and facilitating client workshops and other collaboration.

Outside working hours, Anna-Rosa likes spending time outdoors, exploring nature with her dog or with friends and family.

What has been the most rewarding part of your new job so far?

I’m excited that I’ve been able to jump into interesting projects straightaway. I can already see the growth opportunities both the projects and the working environment at VALOR will bring, which I find rewarding. It’s also been great to meet all my talented new colleagues!

What does work-life balance mean to you?

Certain realities always apply in consulting, which to me means flexibility on both sides. When working with interesting cases and a great team, it’s motivating to challenge oneself, even though it sometimes means working longer hours. To balance it out, it’s of course important to have your own hobbies and routines, and to spend time with the team outside the office, for example.

About the internship

An internship at VALOR gives you an excellent opportunity to kick-start your future career through working on projects in:

• Strategy, growth, and business development
• Operational improvement and process design
• M&A and private equity

What we offer

• The opportunity to quickly build on your core consulting skills, from data analysis and synthesis to client counselling
• Full involvement in the entire life cycle of a project – with a dedicated role and active mentoring
• Day-to-day work in an informal, inclusive and fun environment

The internship is a full-time position lasting 3-4 months. However, the timing and duration of the internship is planned so that it fulfills both your interests and ours. An internship is an excellent steppingstone to a full-time position at VALOR.

How to apply

Send your application to Hanna Mäkinen, hanna.makinen@valor.fi by Sept 26th, 2021. Please include and combine the following documents into one PDF-formatted document:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae
• University grade transcript
• Upper secondary school matriculation certificate

An ideal candidate for an internship is a master’s level student with a strong academic background, good analytical and social skills, good knowledge of both Finnish and English, and most importantly, the motivation and drive for learning and professional development.

For more information about our firm, our people, and the internship contact Teemu Siren (+358 40 841 70 21) or other VALOR employees.

We are pleased to introduce our newest team member, Sirpa Ojala. Sirpa has about 30 years’ extensive experience in executive management positions, mainly as a CEO and board member. For most of her career, she has worked with Private Equity shareholders, but she also has more than 20 years’ experience of successful public-private partnerships. Sirpa has led strategic transformation, restructuring and operational efficiency programs, and M&A processes. Her mission is to create new business thinking, and to lead the top management teams and Board of Directors to great performance improvements to boost shareholder value.

Sirpa loves spending time with her family, both in the city or in their countryside home, which was built in 1898 and is located close to Mustio Manor by Lake Lohja. She enjoys renovating and gardening with her husband, as well as golf, interior design, and travel.

What was your first impression of VALOR?

I already knew a couple of the VALOR team members, and when I was working on a common project, I learned to appreciate their professional approach. The first impression was a friendly and open communication culture, with a lean organization. The cooperation between VALOR colleagues is respectful and relaxed. I’ve felt warmly welcomed to the team.

What do you hope to gain from your new position?

I hope to be able to provide my expertise to the advantage of the customers. I’m a team player and love working with customers. I also hope to build new relationships to learn more myself.

Mika joined VALOR in August 2021 after a seven-year tenure as the CEO of security and IT company Viria Group. He has more than 30 years’ experience in international managerial positions in medical technology, the printing and packaging industry, IT services, consultancy, and security technology. Mika lives and breathes strategy, from vision and business models to implementation. Mika enjoys spending time with his family and doing outdoor sports like mtb enduro, kayaking, skiing, or fixing his old house in Espoo.

We asked Mika about his expectations for the upcoming fall and his thoughts about small firm advantages.

You’ve worked for quite large companies like Viria and Tieto. What do you think are the biggest advantages of working for a small firm like VALOR?

The answer is simple: less bureaucracy and control. You don’t need many rules or instructions when everybody knows everybody, and things are based mainly on trust.

What are your expectations for the fall of 2021? Is there something you’re especially waiting for?

Starting in a new role in a small expert organization is a very exciting and refreshing thing as a whole, but I do greatly look forward to working with customers too.

We are pleased to announce that Klaus Klemetti, Antti Lehtovirta and Tuomas Suomi have been promoted to Senior Associates. Klaus, Antti and Tuomas all bring an incredible wealth of experience and knowledge to our team.

Congratulations for the promotions!

We are happy to introduce our motivated and diligent young trainees, Okko and Antti.

Okko is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Finance at the University of Turku. He has experience of asset and company valuations, and his special areas of interest include financial modeling and M&A. In his free time, Okko enjoys training in the gym and alpine skiing. He also has a team sport background in football.

Antti is a fifth-year student at Aalto University School of Science, majoring in Industrial Engineering and Management. He has experience of digitalization projects from multiple companies within the forest industry. Antti’s expertise focuses on analytical problem solving in the industrial setting, ranging from pricing to energy. In his free time, Antti plays football and also enjoys other outdoor sports.

We asked Okko and Antti about the company culture and analysts’ top skills.

How would you describe the company culture at VALOR?

O: I would say the culture at VALOR could be defined as low-hierarchy and solution-oriented. I like the fact that it is made very easy to ask for assistance from anyone, and people are truly eager to get to know you from day one.

A: Since my first day at VALOR, I’ve felt that the company is ambitious to go forward in both customer projects and internally. I truly enjoy VALOR’s low-hierarchical and entrepreneurial drive.

What do you think are the top skills an analyst needs?

O: I think the most essential skills for an analyst are the desire to learn new things, combined with great analytical skills. You face a lot of new and challenging problems in different industries, so you need to be proactive in consulting your more senior colleagues.

A: There are three skills I find most important. First, a growth-mindset and a passion to learn new things are important skills as an analyst. Second, one needs to have a great variety of problem-solving skills to be able to conduct a comprehensive analysis. And finally, communication and other soft skills are always important in any role.

We are excited to introduce our talented young trainees, Noora and Eero.

Noora joined VALOR in February 2021. She previously worked as a research intern with CERN open data at the Helsinki Institute of Physics, and as an information governance intern at Baker McKenzie in Toronto. Noora holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Networks from Aalto University School of Science. Outside the office, Noora likes to travel and spend time with her friends. She also enjoys occasional floorball and yoga. 

Eero joined VALOR in March 2021. He previously worked as Production Planner at Vaisala and as Head of Operations at Junction. Eero is also pursuing a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and Management at Aalto University School of Science. In his free time, Eero enjoys jogging and exploring nature – either on foot or skies.

We asked Noora and Eero about what they have discovered about consulting and the new skills they have learned during the internship.

Why consulting?

N: For me, consulting provides a better chance to have a real impact on the world around me than most junior positions in other companies. I like to have responsibility and interesting challenges from early on, as that makes the work more motivating and lets me learn something new every day.

E: Consulting provides a great opportunity to learn from different industries and types of challenges that organizations face and I find interesting, which helps in focusing the rest of my studies and the direction of my early career. Besides, I believe that I can improve my analytical problem solving skills significantly through consulting at VALOR.

Name one essential thing you have learned during your first weeks at VALOR?

N: That there are so many things you can do with excel! More seriously speaking, personally I have learned how much I enjoy working with great people. My latest job projects before VALOR have been quite independent, so I have really enjoyed the sense of community at VALOR even during remote times with bi-weekly Kahoots bringing everyone together and personal 1-on-1 meetings with all employees during orientation.

E: The importance of iterative approach to teamwork – have checkups with fellow project team members frequently enough to ensure progress to the right direction and to define potential bottlenecks. This has been highlighted by more experienced colleagues in the 1-on-1 meetings and demonstrated in the onboarding exercise as well as in the project work.

Tuomas joined VALOR in October 2020. He has been working in management consulting since 2018. Tuomas is interested in growth, strategy, and operational improvement. As a counterbalance to work, Tuomas can be found mountain biking, playing squash, or simply relaxing with friends and family.

Samuli joined VALOR in January 2021. Samuli’s core competence lies in health and social care industry consulting.  Outside working hours, Samuli enjoys the beautiful nature around Helsinki and various music projects.

We interviewed Tuomas and Samuli and asked about their first days at VALOR and their expectations for 2021

How was your first day at VALOR?

T: My first day at VALOR started with the weekly team meeting, so I was able to catch up on what is going on quite smoothly. I then had some on-boarding and a longer meeting with my mentor at which we began to discuss my interests and which projects I would start working on.

It was great to see that everyone was actively engaged in conversations with me. I was a little anxious about starting during Covid-19 and the recommendation to work remotely, but I was impressed by the effort to ensure that I could get up to speed from day one. And having 1-on-1 video meetings with the other team members during the first week was a great way to meet everyone.

S: My first day started with an orientation meeting that included a delicious breakfast and a lot of new information about the firm. I was able to catch up with my new colleagues over lunch, where I received a warm welcome. We had an interesting discussion about our backgrounds and the current situation. In the afternoon, I had an online meeting with our Managing Director, Henrikki, who welcomed me to the firm, and a planning session with our social and healthcare industry team.

Regardless of the COVID-19 situation, it was great to see how well the whole on-boarding process has been organized by utilizing remote 1-on-1 meetings.

What are your expectations for 2021?

T: Professionally speaking, I expect 2021 to continue where 2020 left off, bringing exciting and challenging new projects – with some fun along the way.

S: I hope that the global pandemic will abate soon, and professionally, I’m looking forward to interesting projects with my new colleagues.

Tuomas joined VALOR in fall 2020. Prior to joining VALOR, he worked as a manager at Nordic Healthcare Group. Tuomas has 5 years’ experience in health and social care industry consulting. He has worked with both public and private sector clients. His expertise ranges from market analysis, private sector strategy and commercial due diligence to public sector operational and service structure development. Tuomas holds a Master of Science degree from Aalto University School of Business with major in Information and Service Management.

Outside office hours, Tuomas enjoys sports in many forms. In addition to going to the gym and running, he likes to spend his free time on the greens during summer and on the ice during winter.