In the spring, the lobby services at ICT-City received a breath of fresh air from the restaurant world when Elina Heinonen began working at Teknologiakiinteistöt. – I had been working in the hotel and restaurant industry for a long time and wanted…
– I had been working in the hotel and restaurant industry for a long time and wanted to start doing something new and different, as well as get a regular rhythm in my life. Through my previous jobs, I knew a few people at Teknologiakiinteistöt and had heard a lot of good things about the company from them, Elina Heinonen says.
Heinonen first applied for a job at Teknologiakiinteistöt in the spring of 2022 when an employee was being sought for the lobby services at InfraCity, but she was not selected for the position at that time. This spring, she was contacted by Teknologiakiinteistöt and asked if she would still be interested in working in the lobby – and she was.
Turku Science Park has been familiar to Heinonen for years, as she studied to become a chef at DataCity at the Turku Vocational Institute in the early 2000s. She ended up in the restaurant industry after high school, still a bit unsure about what she wanted from the future.
– I had originally wanted to study arts and crafts, but I wondered if I was artistic enough. So, I ended up studying the restaurant industry, and its good atmosphere and relaxed vibe carried me along.
Heinonen worked for a long time at Hotel Marina Palace, where, in addition to her duties as a chef, she sometimes worked in the dining room, with meetings, at breakfast, and at evening events. After Marina, she moved on to work as a chef at a small restaurant called Metsätähti in her hometown of Naantali.
“I wanted to start doing something new and different.”
– At Marina, I was used to the hustle and bustle and big events. After moving to a smaller place, I noticed I missed the bigger picture, recounts Heinonen.
During the pandemic, many people left the restaurant industry, and Heinonen also worked in retail for a while. When she noticed she could handle it there, it encouraged her to seek new career paths. Heinonen feels that her current job is appropriately varied and social, and there haven't been any boring moments.
– Many different things are asked at the lobby services, and I meet plenty of people from various industries every day. I also answer questions in the chat on the Teknologiakiinteistöt website, for which I have had to find out everything related to Teknologiakiinteistöt.
The new job has brought a long-awaited regularity to Heinonen's life, and she feels she has permanently changed industries. Contrary to what Heinonen suspected, working in the lobby has not meant being on duty in a suit jacket, but rather a relaxed vibe and sweatshirts. Sometimes unexpected situations arise at work where great emotions are encountered and a source of comfort is needed.
– In the spring, there were two girls in the ICT-City lobby who had arrived too late for their entrance exams. They were, of course, terribly upset, and I tried to comfort them by saying that perhaps this could still lead to something good, because you never know what life has in store for you, says Heinonen, who is a mother of two herself.