Milla Elo and Neea Nieminen strengthen the Member Services and Real Estate Team

Milla joined AYY from an IT company, where she worked as an administrative assistant and in reception services. “My old company moved, and once I had dealt with everything related to the move, I thought this might be a good time to change jobs,” explains Milla. She found AYY’s job advert by chance. “Friends of mine have studied in Otaniemi and I was familiar with AYY’s name, but the Student Union’s services and operations were new to me. I was tempted especially by the description of a relaxed work community.”

Milla started in her position in the beginning of December. “I am getting into the routine of things, yet there is something new ahead every day, which I enjoy. It is especially nice to help out the international students, with whom it is interesting to talk about their experiences of Finland, for example.”

After graduating from high school, Milla has studied nursing, but for now, her studies are on hold. Milla does not see herself returning to full-time studying, but blended learning that can be done alongside work might be a good option to gain education at a later stage. “The field of social and health work is close to my heart and still on my mind. Working with people and my hands is my thing. Working as a midwife or a paramedic, for example, might be interesting.”

Milla can be found at the customer service desk of Member Services during the Services Office’s opening hours. “Here’s hoping that in the future, the rentable facilities are accessible with a door code. This will make things easier for the users, as they will no longer have to pick up the keys at the office. You can still always come around to ask questions or phone us! That’s what we are here for!”

Structure into the Real Estate sector’s chaos

Real Estate Assistant Neea Nieminen arrived to strengthen AYY’s Real Estate Team in November 2018. Her position is new at AYY. On her desk, she has a wide spectrum of little jobs belonging to the Real Estate sector, the biggest of which include resident communications and answering emails, among others. In addition to her part-time job, Neea studies in Aalto’s School of Chemical Engineering, but from now on, she plans to direct her studies towards water and environmental technology. “Acting as a Castle Warden for a year and a half got me even more interested in living environments, which led to me applying for this position.”

AYY’s Real Estate Team is responsible for a wide spectrum of different things, which adds up to a rather chaotic whole. From the start, Neea has been involved with creating new operating models and making the Real Estate Team’s operating methods more effective. In practice, this means creating better templates for tables and documents, for example. “I hope this comes across to the customers as a feeling of things getting done quickly and the different matters being openly communicated to the residents.”

For many students, AYY’s apartments are the first home of their own. Especially for residents coming from abroad, living in Finland and the ways to live independently are foreign. Hence, one of Neea’s biggest projects is planning the improvement of resident guidelines. “There is a need for clear and thorough instructions on how to live in our apartments. Building-specific folders are probably a thing of the past, but electronic instructions or a booklet might work,” Neea thinks.

Neea hopes that different improvement ideas or ways to do things better are shared with her. “The other members of the team already have an established amount of duties in their hands, so they may not necessarily have time for new things, but I have plenty of time to grab hold of new ideas and start to execute them.”

Good atmosphere and nice work mates

As one, Milla and Neea exclaim that AYY has a pleasant and relaxed working environment. “The atmosphere is really good, the other staff members are helpful and everyone has welcomed us with open arms.” For Neea, the opportunity to work alongside studying is a big plus.

Finally, a glance in the crystal ball: what will you be when you grow up? “I could see myself in a managerial role in the field of social and health work,” says Milla. For her part, Neea wants to build a more sustainable society by applying her technological skills. Now there’s some excellent goals!