PT in Kouvola, Finland

Hello there!

I’m a 1st year student at JAMK. When I started looking for my practical training company, I wanted to focus on the behind the scenes features of how companies operate. I felt that knowing what happens at the back helps when bringing yourself forth at any workplace. I settled on Lumena Oy in my hometown of Kouvola and I mainly focused on the duties of an accounting assistant while there.

My first week at Lumena Oy consisted largely of opening mail, filing documents and simple tasks that introduced me to the subject matter of the company I was working for. I was introduced to the work environment and as I grew more proficient with the equipment and environment I was given more responsibilities and projects to work on. I was mainly instructed by the company’s accountant, who happened to be there at the same time as I was. I got to follow her along and gain knowledge about accounting basics as well as creating spreadsheets that she could use in her work.

Half way through my practical training, three of our office employees had their summer vacations and I got to fill some of their workloads. At this point I was handling payments, informing other companies of balance due and overall making progress towards handling myself as a professional in an adult working environment.

The last few weeks were more or less the same, but as I grew more adept at using the program and working inside the office I felt kind of disappointed that I didn’t learn to do all parts of the work the other employees were doing at the office. I feel that in the future knowing accounting standards and laws surrounding employment would have been useful skills to learn there, but as my time at the office grew shorter, I knew I had received valuable experience and knowledge.

In the end, I still feel curious about the more public facing side of the company, as I was working more on the behind the scenes aspect.

‘’The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity’’ – Dorothy Parker