Summer employee stories 2023

See what our summer employees in 2023 have to say

Krista Suoraniemi, food services, Iso-Bertta

Krista Suoraniemi, 27, was working at the Iso-Bertta central kitchen for the second time. This year, she was not supposed to work in the summer due her studies, but she was able to agree on a shorter work assignment with Production Manager Sami Konttinen and decided to work for a period of one and a half months.

Krista is studying nutrition science and will start her Master’s degree studies in autumn.

– “During our studies, we were introduced to Iso-Bertta’s operations, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were not able to visit the site physically. It has been useful to get to see what is happening here and how things work. Especially if you want to work in the hospital sector in the future, this will give you a good idea of the hospital’s food operations,” Krista says.

Krista has mainly worked in the cold kitchen preparing lunches, dinners and salads for transport.

– “The work in the cold kitchen is mostly about packing different foods to be sent to different locations. It’s nice to have a certain routine at work, but there’s also variation. Sometimes, I’ve also worked on the production line preparing meals for KYS. I’ve done quite a lot of different things,” says Krista.

Krista had her last working day last week, and her plans for the rest of the summer include finishing her Bachelor’s thesis. According to Krista, her managers and colleagues trusted in her and had she was able to work relatively independently.

– “I enjoyed the work, and the people were lovely,” she concludes.

Jasmin Laitinen, facility cleaning, KYS

Jasmin Laitinen, 19, works as a facility cleaner at the cardiology ward of KYS. She started her summer job at the beginning of June after graduating from high school and will continue to work until the end of January next year.

– “I’m interested in medicine, so I was really excited when I heard that I was going to work at the cardiology ward of KYS. You also get to see the medical side of the ward and learn a lot about how things work in the hospital and what the practices are,” says Jasmin.

Jasmin’s tasks include cleaning patient rooms and other areas, preparing and assisting with food distribution and cleaning patient rooms after the patients leave the hospital. The morning shift worker cleans the ward domestic rooms, toilets and patient rooms, while the evening shift worker cleans the lobby, nurses’ office, medicine storage and other premises. Every shift involves being involved in food distribution. The working days are very varied.

– “Although we do basically the same things every day, the job is really varied. This is a world of its own. The ward has different patients every day. All patients have generally been really nice,” says Jasmin.

The work is shift work, but Jasmin says that the managers have been flexible with regard to their shift wishes and that she has been able to get some weekends off, for example, to visit summer festivals.

– “The best thing is that you get to learn new things every day and every day is different,” Jasmin concludes.

Janna Lybeck, sterile processing department, KYS

Janna Lybeck, 21, has worked as an instrument technician in the sterile processing department of KYS during the summer. She started work at the end of May and will continue until the end of August. Janna is studying to become an oral hygienist and has worked with dental instruments during the summer.

– “I have performed different tasks related to dental instruments. On the washing side, the dental instruments are placed in the washing machine and on the hall side, the instruments are packed. The instruments are placed in different trays, such as surgical instruments and root care instruments are placed in separate trays. We have studied how to maintain instruments at school; however, in this work, I’ve been able to see how the instruments are handled in practice. The instruments have mainly been familiar to me, but most of the work itself has been new,” says Janna.

Janna thinks that the best part of the summer job has been challenging herself and doing routine tasks.

– “I like to be able to challenge myself at work. I also like the fact that as I only work with the dental side, there’s a certain routine in my work. The team has also been really nice,” comments Janna.

Veeti Laitinen, building technology

Veeti Laitinen, 20, works on the construction site of Pitkälahti School during the summer. He started working at the beginning of June and will work at Servica throughout the summer.

Veeti is studying construction engineering and completed his first traineeship at Servica during his summer job. In the autumn, he will start his second year of studies.

– “We’ve learned a lot of practical things here – things you can’t learn by reading books. I went on to study construction engineering after secondary school, which means that I have no previous construction background, so this first traineeship and summer job have been really helpful. We’ve been able to learn and do many things,” says Veeti.

Veet’s work includes all construction tasks, such as replacing floors and roofs, painting walls and levelling floors. The work starts at 7 a.m. every working day. Initially, it had been agreed that the work would last until the end of July, but Veeti will continue to work until mid-August.

– “It’s been nice to work and I don’t mind going to work in the morning. We have a really good working atmosphere and a great team. It’s a nice job indoors and it’s not that heavy,” says Veeti.

Tomi Väisänen, customer service

Tomi Väisänen, 21, has worked in customer service as a customer service coordinator for the summer. He feels that the work experience has been useful for his studies. Tomi is studying computer science at the University of Eastern Finland and will start his second year of studies this month.

– “In this work, I’ve been able to see what kinds of systems are in use in the service company and how customer feedback and work requests are documented. In addition, I’ve been able to learn some things about warehouse management and e-commerce as well,” says Tomi.

In his work, Tomi handles contact requests with the central warehouse and other matters. Contact requests are made by phone, e-mail and via the feedback template on the website. Tomi works on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

– “I really like working here. It’s been nice to get to know Servica and all its services. Working in customer service, I’ve been able to get a good overview of everything that is included in the services. I’ve also been very well received by the team. The induction was good, and there is always help available when needed,” Tomi explains.

Meri Laitinen, food services, Iso-Bertta

Meri Laitinen, 15, worked for two weeks in the dish-washing department of Iso-Bertta’s central kitchen in June.

– I worked in all stages of dish-washing, except for the last one. Dish-washing has a total of six work stages, and one person at a time works at each point. You change point three times a day, so the work didn’t get dull. In the morning, I was working at one point, after lunch I switched to another one, and after the coffee break to a different one,” Meri explains.

Dishwashing includes, for example, unloading food trolleys, removing leftover food from plates, placing dishes in the dishwasher and emptying the dishwasher. She worked in the same shift every day and the weekends were free.

Meri says that the best thing about summer work was the relaxed and good atmosphere.

– “There was a really good atmosphere at work, and right from the start I was told that it was okay if I didn’t know something and that I could always ask questions. I didn’t feel any pressure, and everyone was really understanding,” says Meri.

Meri recently signed a zero-hour agreement with Iso-Bertta for the rest of the year. In the autumn, Meri will start high school and plans to work shifts alongside her studies.