Joonas Mikkonen first came to Stora Enso's Oulu paper mill in 2011 through a normal summer job search. There was a bit of luck involved – the first summer job came as a cancellation. Later, Mikkonen did not stay on cancellations anymore, the young man showed that he was a good employee and willing to constantly develop himself.
– For the first four summers, I was a process manager. In 2015, I was already a shift supervisor, and in early 2017, I was made permanent, says Joonas Mikkonen.
– In 2012, I started university studies, which I completed alongside my work.
Joonas Mikkonen, who has made long-term and determined progress in his career, now 35, says that the paper industry has been a pleasant place to work for him. Although he has always had an interest in technology, he was still unsure of his exact direction in elementary school. Mikkonen admits that his career path has not been easy; his current job has required a lot of work and perseverance.
– Traditionally, high school would probably have provided a stronger foundation for university studies, but life was so turbulent even during my comprehensive school days that I chose vocational school and a carpentry program. It was the right choice for me at that point. Vocational school was followed by a year in the army, then, inspired by my friends, I went to study mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences. And when I had gained momentum in my studies, I thought I would also go to university. The schedule stretched a little longer than planned, but in 2019 I graduated with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
During the early stages of his university studies, Mikkonen worked on a paper machine in the summers and in the winters in a small machine shop, first as a design engineer and later as a production manager. So there would have been plenty of work for the talented young man. However, Joonas Mikkonen was interested in the massive machines and equipment of the paper industry, a permanent job and new challenges, so he wanted to seize the opportunity when the position of shift supervisor was offered. And, according to his own words, he has not regretted it.
Since 2020, Mikkonen has worked as a production engineer on the board machine line.
– There is a lot of variation in daily work. Of course, there are regular meetings every day, such as the meetings that start and end the day, but there is also a lot of time in the field, solving problems together with maintenance and operators. A large part of the work consists of planning outages and implementing them so that they are carried out safely.
As his initial enthusiasm for large machines faded into a daily feeling of well-being, Joonas Mikkonen discovered that he primarily enjoyed working with people in his job. He describes himself as a kind of link between the process and maintenance.
– I like to figure things out and solve problems. Although automation largely takes care of things in processes and is helpful, people are always needed here. Of course, in a large company, it is also nice that there are career opportunities in-house. You don't have to change companies if you want to do something else from time to time, says the man from Oulu, who is originally from Kempele.
Text by Tuija Holttinen
Photo by Stora Enso
