A broad global network of great colleagues, being on the edge with new technology development, and the continuous willingness to seek better solutions for customers, society, and people are important parts of Katja’s ABB story. During her career, she has had an opportunity to grow from a trainee to a professional with a wide set of skills.
Katja’s curiosity has taken her forward through different roles, and with support from great supervisors and teams around, she has had an opportunity to develop herself through various roles. “I knew that ABB was a big, global company, and I had heard from fellow students that ABB is a good employer. After these years, I still think the same,” Katja shares her thoughts back when she was still a student and working as a process developer intern at ABB.
Katja holds Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from VAMK University of Applied Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Management and Engineering from Novia. Soon after her graduation, she got offered from ABB a full-time position as a project manager related to product development and R&D. Looking back then, she wouldn’t have guessed how well-rounded experience she could gain in the company. “I have taken on new roles and new assignments when something interesting has crossed my path and had various responsibilities during my career. It has been such a joy to develop myself in the roles of process developer, project manager and program manager, as well be involved in different kind of development and improvement activities”, Katja says.
Along with technical skills, Katja has had an opportunity to develop her soft skills as well. “When leading technology development program and agile program, I had an opportunity to develop my facilitator skills, as well get to know the role of change agent.” In her product development role she had a chance to get familiarized with product classification which has helped a lot with her current role. As a country trade compliance officer she has the responsibility of customs compliance in Finland.
Katja wants to continue her path of continuous learning, “I want to learn new things, look for alternatives, and find more sustainable ways of conducting our operations, to which also ABB strongly encourages.”