Who are you? What did you study at the School of Business and when did you graduate?
I am Sari Ovaska. I studied at the Helsinki School of Economics from 2004 to 2009. My major was Accounting, and my minor was Business Law.
How has your career path been like?
My career path to becoming an HR Business Partner has not been the most traditional one. I started my career as a newly graduated auditor at a large consulting firm. Around the age of thirty, my life changed significantly: I got married and my husband and I had two children.
As an auditor, I had the opportunity to see a wide variety of organizations, and during my parental leave, I finally had the time to reflect on what I truly wanted to do in the future. The biggest drivers for me were two questions: what kind of working life do I want for myself, and do I want to have an impact on the working lives of others? It became clear to me that I wanted to help create better workplaces for others. I realized that working solely with numbers would not allow me to fulfill these meaningful goals.
During my study leave, I decided to broaden my expertise by studying human resource management and organizational psychology. After completing additional studies, I transitioned to a new career in HR. I have been very happy with my bold career move: the experience I gained working with different organizations as a consultant, combined with my strong background in numbers, supports my current role perfectly.
I encourage you to bravely search for a career path that truly fits you and not to be afraid of taking a new direction if your heart tells you to!
How did you end up in your current position?
Before my current role, I had the opportunity to work in the retail sector within an international organization, handling various HR tasks at the headquarters. I actually applied to ABB twice over a couple of years, and on the second attempt, I was selected (the first time, I was the runner-up). I always mention this to our hiring managers to emphasize how important the recruitment process is in shaping the employer brand; even if a person is not selected right now, they can still have a very positive impression of the recruitment process and ABB as a company, which means they are likely to apply again when another interesting position opens up.
This is especially important to remember now, as ABB is hiring around 800 interns for summer jobs in Finland – this year, there were over 7000 applicants, so thousands are left out annually, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't apply for summer jobs again. I'm sure they will, as long as we succeed in convincing them during the recruitment process!
What advice would you give to yourself if you were to study now?
I encourage you to study broadly, following your own interests, and to make the most of the excellent opportunities offered by Aalto University. I also recommend choosing a minor subject from a field that may not be directly related to your major – if it sparks your interest.
Personally, I expanded my studies later during my career, after gaining some work experience. However, if you discover a new area of interest, for example through a summer job, I encourage you to take advantage of your study years and dive boldly into this new direction by including it in your studies.
What does your current role include?
I work as a local HR Business Partner in the Drives business in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, and in addition to that, I am a dedicated HR Business Partner in the management team of one of our Drives divisions. Here in Pitäjänmäki, we have our own Drives factory where we manufacture world-class drives, and we also have many people working in expert roles. For example, product development is strongly based here in Helsinki, Finland.
Our Drives Business HR team consists of six HR professionals, and we have the opportunity to broadly plan business-supporting measures and develop local operations. I am very development-oriented, and what excites me the most in this current role is that together with the business management, we can plan and develop our common workplace in Drives.
Through a few twists and turns, I have come to work for a company whose values I share and whose business is meaningful – we are genuinely building a greener future for all of us. It is also important to me that I can be proud of what the company I represent does on a larger scale.
