Mikko Koiranen, Aada Sainio and Arsi Poikela had summer jobs at Kojamo this year. Koiranen and Sainio worked as sales representatives and Poikela as a property manager. Sainio and Poikela worked at Kojamo for the first time, while for Koiranen, this was the second summer in the company. What did they think of their summer in Tampere’s Lumo Home Centre?
Tampere’s Lumo Home Centre is Kojamo’s second largest in terms of number of employees and it is located in the Tammela area in an old shoe factory. This year, there have been six summer workers at the Tampere office — four in sales and two in building management. In total, Kojamo recruits approximately 50 summer workers each year.
Meaningful tasks
Mikko Koiranen worked at Kojamo as a Lumo sales representative and will complete his Bachelor of Business Administration studies, specialising in supervisory work, by Christmas. As a sales representative, his tasks included organising public and private viewings and retrieving keys. Koiranen says that his work was independent teamwork and he spent most of his working time in the field.
Aada Sainio is studying business sciences for the third year at Tampere University. She, too, worked as a sales representative at Kojamo but her tasks differed from those of Koiranen. She mainly worked at the office maintaining the webstore, editing photographs, contacting customers and agreeing with new customers on apartment satisfaction guarantee visits. Sometimes, Sainio also assisted her colleagues with apartment viewings.
“We divided tasks among sales representatives: I worked with the webstore, one summer worker handled bids and a couple of others focused solely on viewings,” Sainio clarifies.
Sainio hoped she would get a chance to edit photographs during the summer and, to her delight, her wishes were taken into account during the recruitment phase.
Arsi Poikela is in the third year of his Bachelor of Business Administration studies, specialising in HR and supervisory work. As a Lumo property manager, his mornings were spent handling notifications made by residents and, in the afternoon, he visited the properties.
“I liked the variety in my work and the fact that I could be in the field, too. It was nice to be on the move and do a little bit of everything. There was a really good balance in this role,” Poikela says, visibly delighted.
Thanks for a smooth recruitment process, comprehensive orientation and flexible work arrangements
The recruitment process is praised by all three. They describe it as clear and fast compared to many other summer job application processes. They also praise the orientation, which allowed them to quickly learn their work tasks.
“One thing at a time, which was nice,” Poikela says.
According to Koiranen and Sainio, working hours were flexible and reasonable, and Sainio also mentions the possibility of remote work as a definitely positive thing. Wednesdays and Thursdays are Kojamo’s official office days, but otherwise you can also work from home.
“I have worked in the restaurant business before and I am used to being busy running around, working overtime and standing a lot in my job, so this flexible office work from 8 to 4 was a nice change of pace,” Sainio says.
Highlights: experiences of succeeding, customer stories and fun moments
When asked about the best summer job memories, Poikela mentions the experiences of succeeding: when the work began to run smoothly and one knew how to handle tasks independently. Sainio mentions the stories that the residents shared with her, and Koiranen says that surprisingly many things happened in the viewings that made for delightful memories.
“When working in the field, you experienced and saw everything, the range was huge. Whether it was something odd in the apartment or tragicomical situations that you found yourself in: when you were in an old, small elevator, standing very close to the customer, and your belt decided to break at that particular moment or when you found something in the apartment that did not belong there,” Koiranen describes.
Small, warm and close-knit work community
During the interview, Poikela, Koiranen and Sainio repeatedly praise the warm and close-knit work community in Tampere, consisting of 21 Kojamo employees at the time of the interview.
“The best thing about the Tampere office was the people, there’s no doubt about it,” says Koiranen.
“The people were really nice and talkative, everyone got along well and pulled together. The atmosphere was open: you never felt that you are asking stupid questions,” Poikela goes on to say.
“The work community was absolutely important and I also made close friends. The team spirit was really good and the atmosphere was relaxed,” Sainio says, agreeing with the previous comments, and adds:
“When you think of sales work, you usually think of competition, but that was not the case here. We helped each other, did things together and communicated about how things were going.”
A well-liked summer job
To future summer job seekers, Sainio, Koiranen and Poikela would like to say the following:
“You should definitely apply for a job here! I was able to work with a wide range of different tasks, the orientation was excellent and Tampere’s Lumo Home Centre had a helpful and relaxed atmosphere. My first summer at Kojamo was really fun and educational. As an employer, Kojamo was fair and encouraging and trusted in its employees,” Sainio points out.
“Working at Kojamo was a rewarding experience and I learned a lot about the housing business, people, cultures and how rental housing work, from the grassroots level to the top. I can highly recommend it as a place to work,” says Koiranen.
“At work, you got freedom and responsibility in just the right proportion. There were a wide variety of experiences and interesting situations and no two days were exactly alike: there were always twists and turns that kept the work interesting. In particular, the diversity of the duties of a property manager surprised me positively,” Poikela points out.
