Category Type: Careers

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.

Antti Lehtovirta initially joined VALOR as a trainee in the autumn of 2018. After his internship he focused on finishing his studies at Aalto University School of Business, but also continued working as a part-time consultant at VALOR. Hard work pays off and Antti will soon hold a master’s degree in Finance. In May 2020 Antti joined our team as a full-time consultant.

As Antti has been part of our line-up for a while now, he is already familiar with our company’s culture and what it’s like to grow with the company. Antti shared his thoughts on what it is like to work as a consultant at VALOR.

“Based on my own experience, VALOR offers a rather quick path for a young consultant to discuss important questions with the management of our clients. Meeting seasoned professionals from varying industries requires you to consume new things quickly, which I have found to be intriguing. Simultaneously, the more experienced colleagues and partners are supportive, covering your back when you are close to being out of your depth in e.g. way too technical telecommunication market issues.

The freedom to complete my final courses while still getting a lot of responsibility in projects was something that I found motivating when working as a part-time consultant. In my opinion, one of VALOR’s main strengths as an employer is the way people are trusted to take responsibility while still given freedom to work in their own way.”