Alumni Ambassador Markus Helaniemi: It is important to read a lot and follow the news outside your own expertise area

How have the studies been useful for your career?

The studies have given me a strong basis to build on my expertise. Thanks to the business studies, I now understand the customers and corporate challenges better and I know how to be of better use to the customers.

The major studies in marketing have given me good perspective in creating value as the core function in the corporate world. It nowadays helps me develop the customers’ communication and marketing efforts. In addition, during studies I was able to widen my expertise to a more social direction due to the opportunity to study a minor in another university, which of course is beneficial in my current work.

Share something memorable from the time of your studies.

There are plenty of fun memories from the study times! One of the greatest is from the year 2015, when the School of Business Bachelor’s students moved to study on the Otaniemi campus. At KY, we wanted to do something symbolic, and decided to transport the first-year Bachelor students to Otaniemi by sea, land and air with a ferry, trucks and a helicopter. I was onboard the helicopter, transporting the younger students and that flight was unforgettable.

In what ways have the student activities been useful for your career?

Being active in student organization gave me experiences and new friends, but also increased my skill-set that would have been difficult to gain otherwise. Besides being active as a student, I worked in many different positions already during the studies. Without the experience, I would have had to start from a scratch when starting my career after graduation.

Thoughts on the current issues in the work life?

Continuous learning is almost a clichée, but it is very important in a constantly changing world that is becoming more and more competitive. Thus, learning and studying does not end when you graduate from the School of Business!

Besides having the business expertise, common knowledge and wide understanding on the world and societal aspects should be emphasized. It is important to read a lot and follow the news outside your own expertise area. You can think about the needed skills as a T model. On the horizontal axis, you have a wide common knowledge, and on the vertical axis, you have a strong skill-set in your own field. Luckily, studies at Aalto University support this kind of learning model very well.

You act as an Alumni Ambassador at the School of Business. What does being an alumnus mean to you?

Being an alumnus means being proud of my university and the education I have received. As an alumnus, I’m proud to tell others about Aalto and its accomplishments.

It means also that I’m interested in the School of Business and willing to help developing it. As an Alumni Ambassador, I want to participate in enhancing the relationship between the university, students and alumni.

Further information:

Currently, Helaniemi is working as a Communications Consultant at Vapa Media. (2020)

Get to know Markus Helaniemi’s career path more closely on LinkedIn!

Read more about the School of Business alumni cooperation and about the other Alumni Ambassadors who, like Markus, are involved in developing the School’s alumni activities.