Borealis introduced working life to international students: 'We learned from them, too'

Aalto University has called Finnish employers to help connect every international student with Finnish working life. Since 2020, the Aalto International Talent group mentoring programme has been one of Aalto University’s ways to create links between Finnish working life and international students. 

Aalto University alum, Lead Engineer Esa Arola saw the call for the programme in Aalto’s newsletter and got his employer Borealis to take up the challenge.

‘It was easy to join the programme. It doesn’t demand too much from the company, but you can see that participation has an impact. We received a ready-made topic framework around which the mentoring meetings were easy to plan,’ Arola says.

From Borealis, also Team Leader, PO Catalyst Performance Kaisa Lamminpää, Senior Group Expert, Process Technology Vinit Makwana, Senior Engineer Saeed Mardani, and Senior Scientist Sina Valaei participated as mentors.

Companies mentor a small group of students and meet them five times during the Programme, which runs from November to February. The meetings are built around various themes related to working life and career. 

Encouraging atmosphere receives praise

What students value the most in the programme is the opportunity to network and discuss directly with company representatives. 

‘Through the programme, I got to talk with many experts in my field of study. We met people from different functions, from research and development to HR,’ says Anh Nguyen, a School of Chemical Engineering master's student who participated in Borealis’ mentoring group. 

Visits to companies are also considered important. The Borealis group got to see in Porvoo how the innovation process works in practice. The students saw how new innovations in the chemical industry are brought from the laboratory to the pilot plant and then to commercial production. 

‘We got an in-depth view of how the theoretical knowledge learned at university can be applied in the industry,’ Nguyen continues.

The students appreciate the warm and encouraging atmosphere of the mentoring sessions.

‘We felt welcome and all our questions were answered. We received valuable advice and lessons from Borealis’ mentors, such as personal feedback on our CVs.’

In collaboration with companies

Almost 900 master’s and doctoral students from Aalto University have already familiarised themselves with Finnish working life through the Aalto International Talent Program. Participating companies have found the programme rewarding and useful. 

‘Mentoring is a two-way street. We also learn from students which topics interest them and in which direction working life is developing. This helps a large company prepare for the needs of future professionals’, Esa Arola explains.

Many companies have participated in the programme for several years and recruit summer employees from the groups. Borealis also plans to continue in the programme.

‘For many companies, the Aalto International Talent Program is part of a broader and long-term collaboration with Aalto University. We cannot introduce students to working life alone; we need the help of our partners. We are very grateful for the collaboration,’ says Program Manager Kaisa Paasivirta from Aalto University’s Career Design Lab.

The mentor companies for 2025 were ABB, AlphaSense, Borealis, CGI Finland, F-Secure, Fiskars Group, Kemira, Konecranes, Metso, Murata, Okmetic, Outokumpu, SSH Communications Security, and Valmet.

Companies can sign up to the next round of Aalto International Talent Program until 30th September. Read more and join us!