How to get a job at YIT?
YIT Corporation News 14 January 2021 at 09:00 a.m.
Physical construction is at the core of the construction industry, but many other special skills are needed for a successful outcome. YIT offers diverse career paths that bring those who are interested inside the fences of the construction site and from the scaffolding to specialist and managerial positions.
In the construction industry, career development is often thought to follow a typical path: from industry-related studies to internships to the right jobs and then further to managerial positions at different levels. It is a traditional and well-established method for developing skills that lead to more demanding responsibilities.
Today, however, there are also more diverse career paths to choose from, and various possibilities and directions within production work alone.
“At YIT, a residential construction professional can develop their expertise further by, for example, occasionally working in another YIT segment, working on business premises or infrastructure construction. There are several large projects underway in all our segments that offer a wide range of development opportunities,” says Timo Piili, Head of Group Recruiting & Resourcing at YIT.
The growing importance of multisectoral expertise
You can also develop your career path from production tasks to specialist positions, such as tasks in procurement functions, accounting, project support, occupational safety and project development. However, the path can also lead you within the fences of the construction site. According to Piili, YIT has acquired experts for project and production work in the construction industry also outside engineering.
“The majority of our new recruitments are for site staff and project support, which is why we hire a lot of people who already have education and experience in construction. However, there are more and more opportunities for experts from other fields. The importance of digital and technology skills is growing, as is logistics and commercial know-how. We also want to be even stronger in providing services,” says Piili.
One of those who switched to the construction industry is Maija Kaipiainen. She originally studied as a Bachelor of Business Administration, but she is currently working as a site engineer in YIT's Keilaniemi project. What made her change fields?
“Before joining YIT, I worked for 10 years as a salesperson and department manager in hardware stores. YIT used to be one of my customers. In the final stages of my studies, there was an opportunity to try something different through an internship. During the Project Assistant internship at YIT, I hoped for more challenging tasks and my supervisor offered me the role of site engineer,” Kaipiainen says.
She says she received excellent support from her colleagues and co-workers to internalise everything the job involves. Learning how things are done and how to use systems has taken time and required training, but previous studies in the commercial field have also been an asset as much of the job of a site engineer is related to costs.
“This job has given me a clear picture of what happens on a construction site. It is much more than actual construction. I feel that the construction industry is really my thing as there are so many different jobs in the sector. This autumn, I started studying civil engineering at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences alongside work.”
Work experience, study credits and permanent jobs available
The typical route to working at YIT is still through studies and internships in the construction industry. During 2020, YIT employed more than 650 trainees and summer employees in Finland, despite the exceptional situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost half of the total of about 850 trainees in the previous year also found a job for the following summer, part-time jobs during the semester or were hired on a permanent basis immediately after graduation.
“You could say YIT acts like a school for postgraduate study for tasks in the field, taking trainees and making them professionals and educating professionals in increasingly demanding tasks and management. On the staff side, we have set a goal that about one third of recruitments will include trainees with positions made permanent. That’s a significant share and requires a lot of effort. For example, all supervisors supervising trainees need to be trained for this task. However, a big investment also leads to big results,” says Timo Piili.
Construction industry students can follow many paths into YIT's service. One example is the YIT Path training programme for university students in the field, which provides practical work experience to support studies and, at the same time, the first steps into YIT’s service. This year, approximately 650 trainees have walked the YIT Path.
In addition to summer internships and working alongside studies, students are also offered YIT Studies, five credits that form part of a degree in construction. Approximately 30 second-year and third-year students are selected each year. YIT will offer a job to a student who has passed the studies properly after graduation. Through YIT Studies launched in 2011, almost 200 experts have already graduated directly to YIT for permanent work.
“For those in the early stages of their careers who graduate after their studies and an internship with us, all the elements for a very long and varied employment relationship are in place,” confirms Piili.
No wonder YIT was chosen as the ideal employer in the construction industry in the field of technology in both the Student Survey and the Professional Survey conducted by Universum, the global employer branding leader.
Read more:
Careers at YIT
Career stories
For further information, please contact:
Timo Piili, Head of Group Recruiting & Resourcing, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 (0)40 573 3254, timo.piili@yit.fi
Johanna Savolainen, Communications Manager, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 (0)44 305 4594, johanna.savolainen@yit.fi
YIT is the largest Finnish and a significant North European construction company and urban developer. We develop and build apartments and living services, business premises and entire areas. We are also specialised in demanding infrastructure construction. Together with our customers, our nearly 8,000 professionals are creating more functional, attractive and sustainable cities and living environments. We operate in 10 countries: Finland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic countries, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. In 2019, our revenue amounted to approximately EUR 3.4 billion. YIT Corporation's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. www.yitgroup.com
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