“I have recognized the spirit of doing things in Kainuu.” Marika Paananen, Ceriffi Oy

My name is Marika Paananen and I work at Ceriffi Oy in responsibility and sustainability reporting, helping companies with various tasks related to responsibility programs and reporting. My duties also include various sales and marketing tasks.

I met Ceriffi CEO Samuli Muhonen in the fall of 2018, while working in Kajaani with a hybrid model, at the then Lieke Suunnittelu Oy (now Granlund). I first started at Ceriffi as a part-time project worker in 2021 and in the fall of 2023 I moved to full-time.

I started my career over 30 years ago, next to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, at the transport company Polar Express, working as a computer recorder for German imports. Back then, my professional title was also known as a coder, quite different from today, as were the tools with which the work was done. In addition to my own terminals, matters were of course handled using a landline, telefax and telex.

Since those years, my career has included several different industries, tasks and studies in many locations. I have bravely gone with my work to the north or south, east or west, when asked. Most of my employment relationships and projects in which I have been involved have arisen from a phone call from my employer.

My career path has therefore progressed with new opportunities and tasks, first covering administrative and office tasks, such as invoicing, payroll and customer service, followed by various tasks in the restaurant industry, event production, program services and tourism from the service sector. The last decade also includes project work in the construction industry, right up to everyday life on a construction site, and the tasks of the secretary general of a top sports competition.

A common thread in terms of the different positions can be considered that most of my employment relationships have been in SMEs or organizations. In practice, this has meant that my tasks have not been very limited, but have invariably included sales, marketing, service or product development, managing partnerships and administrative tasks in business operations. I feel grateful and consider it a great wealth that I have been given numerous different opportunities and have been able to do such a wide range of different tasks. In Kainuu, I have been employed by Ceriff, Lieke Suunnittelu, Kainuu Rastiviikki and the World Orienteering Championships in 2013.

Highlights and challenges

The highlights of my career have been those situations where I have been able to develop my own business operations and produce financial results with my own contribution. I also like challenges and problem-solving, i.e. development tasks, whether they are creating a new operating model, process or service or product. “Problems” are the initiators of development work.

One of the highlights of my career is certainly the development and management tasks of the Nordic Ski World Cup. In that project, an operating model was produced for the first time, combining national guidelines with the International Ski Federation’s corona regulations, and different bubbles were built to organize a safe competition, and this was successful. For the first time, the work team and stakeholders closely included various professionals from healthcare and border management, which was a new experience for me.

What has been a great richness on the one hand, has certainly also been a challenge. Starting work in new industries and numerous project work always requires a lot of new learning and investment. Sometimes it is so interesting and downright absorbing, that separating leisure and work has been challenging.

Positive experiences

In smaller companies, employees’ needs and wishes can often be known better and can be met even on a short schedule. Concrete examples include a year-round rental apartment arranged during northern working hours, so that working from Central Finland was possible as a hybrid model.

In general, the overlaps in project work from different employers have always received strong understanding, flexibility and support without exception. I also remember the exceptionally positive attitude of one of my superiors towards projects from another employer. He felt that my annual project in Kainuu takes me away from my main job in a suitable way and when I return, I see things more from an outsider and with fresh eyes. I have been working either remotely or with a hybrid model since 2018 and I really like it. I see the time savings in daily commuting as big things, so that the time required for work can be allocated directly to work tasks. I also consider multi-location, i.e. working for several employers at the same time, to be a wealth. It allows you to constantly learn many different things and practices from different work communities.

“In Kainuu I have recognized the spirit of doing things and, appropriately, local pride.”

Over the past decade, I have worked in Kainuu in event production in Kajaani, Sotkamo, Kuhmo, Puolanka and Suomussalmi. And in all of these places, I have received a positive reception and encountered a sincere desire to help during my stay in the place. I have not felt like a stranger, but rather have been invited to move to the place permanently. With my own story, I want to encourage you to boldly take on different challenges, even if they are a little more foreign, and to see the work tasks of SMEs in particular as diverse, which increase your own professional skills. In Kajaani and Kainuu, people know and understand each other better than in my hometown. When you know and understand each other, whether from work or leisure, many things start or are organized without any complications. I consider this a strength and creates deep trust between different actors, which is cherished. Kajaani is a particularly beautiful summer town, with the waterway offering a beautiful, peaceful landscape and a number of recreational opportunities. Living in the center of Kajaani, you can easily get around on foot or by bike, things are close by. I think there are enough services and offerings, and there are also nice places to have lunch and brick-and-mortar stores. A woman with a brimmed hat next to suitcases.

Text and photo: Marika Paananen

First photo: Photographer Niina Vehmaa