Ina Laurila
•
9.9.2021 
A journey to the Esplanade
I started at Spring as an intern in the fall of 2019. At the time, I was still studying at LUT-University in Lappeenranta and writing my master’s thesis. I decided to continue working at Spring after my internship, even though my thesis was still in progress. I ended up working and studying simultaneously for almost a year and a half, and graduated eventually with a Master’s Degree in Finance in the end of 2020.
However, ending my studies there would have been too easy. While studying at the University, I became increasingly interested in the opportunities offered by technology. Studying data analytics provided me with concrete skills, which was a refreshing change for more theoretical finance studies. I learned for e.g., to code and process data more efficiently, which have been also proven to be useful skills in my daily work at Spring. Eventually, I became so interested in the subject that I decided to apply to study analytics in the Master’s Program in Industrial Engineering and Management. My admission into the Master’s Program means that my studies will continue alongside work for a while. My goal is to graduate as a double master before my 30th birthday. It’s about in one and a half years – wish me luck.
Just like in my studies, coincidence has played a big role in my career as well. That being said, I feel that a lot of the so-called coincidences is the result of doing things that are interesting and exciting, which then leads to the right path itself. One of these life events that I consider somewhat a coincidence is me ending up to work at Spring. I wasn’t actively looking for a job while I was in school, but an acquaintance of mine told me about an interesting start-up minded consulting company called Spring Advisor and suggested I’d take a closer look at this company. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity because I knew how fierce the competition for the best internships was.
At college, I talked to my friends about management consulting, and emphasized the importance of school success. A career in management consulting still felt like a distant dream, as I was studying far from the Esplanade’s consulting scene. I felt stressed that I did not have a Master’s Degree in Finance from Aalto University School of Business, as I had understood that large consulting companies choose their employees from the best performing university students in Helsinki. However, what distorts the statistics is that there simply aren’t that many applicants from the regions outside the capital.
Therefore, I would encourage all students, regardless of background, to apply for their dream job. At least for us at Spring, the attitude and interest towards learning are more important than the background. We are looking for people to join our team from various backgrounds – people that are fun to work with. A good example of this is our recruiting process, which involves almost half of the company’s employees so that as many people as possible get to know the candidate, and in return, this allows the candidate to meet their potential colleagues in advance.
Spring is my first job in the industry, but possibly also my last. In all my previous jobs, I’ve had the feeling that I want to advance in my career, but at Spring, I’ve found a peace of mind and I’m in no rush for anything. The whole company is evolving at such a pace that it is impossible for an individual to get bored. We have some interesting growth times ahead, and I definitely want to be involved in a story called Spring Advisor.
