Moninainen Kainuu

From bioanalyst to “business lady” – Elina’s career story

I am Elina Kiviaho and I work as a project manager at Kajaani University of Applied Sciences in a project called Work and Family Kainuu. My task is to help employers in Kainuu to profile themselves as family-friendly employers, thereby increasing the attraction and retention power of both the company itself and the entire Kainuu region. I do not live in Kainuu myself, but I work for KAMK mainly remotely from Kuopio. However, this person from Savo has already lost part of her heart to Kainuu.

My career story can be described as diverse for good reason! I graduated as a bioanalyst in 2005. I still remember the thought that crossed my mind after graduating that I would never be able to do office work! I strongly believe that from that moment on, I have set out to build my career path to my liking, always striving to utilize my existing skills.
The birth of my first child in 2010 gave me a good opportunity to stop for a moment and think about what I really want to become when I grow up. I set out to find the answer by completing my specialization and YAMK studies in Savonia. During my studies, I felt that I was heading in the right direction with my career! After my studies, I was able to do an internship at Medikro, a health technology company in Kuopio, through the Wellness Expert training. I eventually worked at the company for several years as a product specialist and was responsible for, among other things, technical user support in the customer interface and end-user training. As a product specialist, I was able to utilize the lessons learned from my bioanalyst and Master of Science degrees in the healthcare field in a slightly different role than where I had previously worked.

However, my blood began to draw more and more to the field of education and through happy coincidences, I was soon tipped off about the vacancy for a substitute training planner for continuing education in the social, health and sports competence sector at KAMK, and I got the position after applying for it. So I jumped from my permanent job to a fixed-term position, one step closer to my dream – albeit a 2-hour drive from my home!

I was able to do my work as an educational planner flexibly and remotely, and for the first time I felt that I could do meaningful work that was my own. It has always been important to me that my personality can and should be reflected in the work I do. In my work as an educational planner, I benefited from my own solid experience as a major consumer of continuous learning and from understanding the workings of the healthcare field. At the same time as my new job, I also started studies in adult education at the Open University and after studying for a while, I applied and was accepted as a degree student at the University of Eastern Finland. I will soon graduate with a Bachelor of Education degree, from which I will continue on to Master’s studies and perhaps even a doctorate in the future.

After my position as a substitute education planner, I got a job at KAMK on a project in the business management field and was given the title of “business lady”. Once again, I had to internalize a new role and work identity. I already had experience with project work from my previous position, and the systematicity and accuracy associated with it are the same qualities that are also needed in the work of a bioanalyst. Meeting companies, on the other hand, has a lot in common with meeting people in healthcare – everyone should be met individually, cordially and with an open mind. My ability to meet different people and the “business sense” I developed as a product expert in the health technology sector, combined with the Kainuu cooperation network I built as an education planner, have produced significant results in this project as well. I find it important that I have been able to utilize my previous experience in my new work tasks along the way, so that not a single step in my career has been “wasted”.
This time, working at KAMK and in Kainuu has gone well. I get to work remotely according to my needs. I visit Kajaani a few times a month, as company meetings and various project presentations sometimes require me to be present on site. Working in Kainuu is also easy for someone from outside the region, as newcomers are advised and helped really well, both in my own work community and by its stakeholders! I have heard a lot about the community spirit in Kainuu, and I have now experienced it myself. Many people in the region struggle with the same problems and questions, which is why helping someone else is natural and beneficial for me. I think the best thing about Kainuu is how proud the people in the region are of their own roots and do everything they can to ensure that Kainuu maintains its vitality in the future. It is wonderful to be able to support this work myself through the Kainuu Work and Family project.
Photos and text: Elina Kiviaho
Self-portrait in “Family-friendly workplace” shirt: Teemu Sirviö, KAMK communications.