Internship is a good path to employment also for foreign students

‘Hiring an intern is a great way for the company and the employee to get to know each other. For start-ups in particular, employing an intern is an excellent way of finding new talents for the team. As is the case whenever hiring a new employee, the company must always provide the intern with good induction,’ explains Senior Manager Tanja Makkonen from Career Services at Aalto University School of Business.

School of Business Career Services supports internships for foreign degree students at micro or small enterprises employing less than 50 persons and non-profit organizations in Finland. Top Data Science Oy is one of the companies that has hired through the Internship Support Programme. CEO Timo Heikkinen employed Quan Nguyen Minh from Vietnam, first as an intern and later on a permanent basis.

Heikkinen says that the internship and all practical matters went very well with School of Business Career Services. All of the documents and instructions related to the recruiting process were clear. The best part was finding a motivated intern, who was eager to learn analytics and develop together with the team. It was easy to make the recruiting decision to hire the intern as a permanent employee when the internship ended.

‘I found an internship through my networks.’

Quan Nguyen Minh found an internship through his networks.
’One day a friend asked me to have lunch and gave me a tip about Top Data Science, which was looking for an intern. I contacted the company, was invited to an interview where I also did a coding task, and was chosen for the position of analyst. This was fortunate, because the internship exceeded all my expectations. I’m really interested in algorithms and coding, which were the focus of my job. I also liked the fact that the company had no hierarchy and I received a lot of help and support in my work from my supervisor and co-workers,’ explains Minh.

‘The Top Data Science team has been very multicultural right from the start – our three founders were a Finn, a Vietnamese and a Turk. Multiculturalism brings something extra to the work environment and corporate culture, and it’s an essential part of our company’s story that sets us apart from many other companies. Outstanding competence, the desire to learn new things and the right attitude are decisive factors regardless of nationality. We are open and we want to welcome more nationalities to our team,’ says Timo Heikkinen.

More information:
Ms. Tanja Makkonen
Senior Manager, Career Services, Aalto University School of Business
tanja.makkonen@aalto.fi
The Internship Programme