Talented people, Great culture - Senior Software Engineer Valohai Employee Review

As a foreigner in Finland, I can say that so far Valohai has been the best hiring and working experience for me for many reasons: - The company is open to international talent + many team members have worked and lived outside their home country. Working with people who understand the challenges of moving to another country and cultural accommodation is a drastically different experience in a positive sense. - I have received help and assistance in relocation. Although I have lived in Finland for some years, at the moment of applying I was outside Finland. Despite it, unlike many other companies I had interviews with, Valohai did not disappear from the radar as soon as the visa talk started to glimmer on the horizon. The company was fine with waiting for me and provided help with my visa application and sorting things out upon my arrival to Finland (e.g., renting an apartment, setting up a cellphone contract, etc.). - Fast, straightforward, and smooth hiring process with clear communication compared to the vast majority of places in Finland. It took a bit more than a month between the first contact with the hiring manager and the contract signing compared to other places, which kept me in numerous interviewing rounds for 3-6 months. As a person whose residence permit depends on a working contract, I cannot emphasize enough how much it means to one's life stability and predictability. So far, this is the best experience I have had job-hunting-wise in Finland. - Friendly team and a welcoming atmosphere. I enjoy the not-so-formal way of communication and the fact that we get to spend time together sometimes outside work, and it never feels forced. You can also always ask for help or guidance from anyone in the company, and be sure to get it. - A comprehensive onboarding. - Freedom to get rather crazy with your ideas creative ideas. coming from a background where there is less openness towards non-standard approaches, the initiative is potentially punishable and generally the hierarchy of things and social structures is way stricter, this is such a breather. A special award goes to "Cool things Friday" where we get to build things that are not included in your normal tasks but have to do with your work and you feel like doing them anyway. - Comfortable and home-like office in Turku in the city center, easy commute. As a person who prefers to stay at home and do remote work, I have spent 99.9% of my days in the office. - Transparency and flexibility. You get to choose how and where you work and will always be informed about all the things that are happening in the company. - Finnish language was not a requirement and was not used as a tool to filter out foreign candidates (subjective judgment, but once again, the vibe was completely different from other places I have applied). The main language of communication is English. - Medical insurance.

Not really cons, but they usually cause heated discussions among my friends. You will get the chance to learn and try to do things that are very far away from your main specialization. It was a lot of fun for me, as I was interested to learn, but it might not be as attractive if you would prefer to stick to the work description for your position. This might have resulted from a rather fuzzy and high-level description of work duties in the job posting. I see it as an opportunity to set your own goals and OKRs and voice your opinion on how processes should be built. But it is also true that the duration of the trial period this fuzziness has caused me some worries about my performance. Speaking of processes, they are not yet set. Thus, you can expect things to change every now and then. It might be stressful if you are looking for a well-defined playbook of rules. The trial period is 6 months, which is way too long in where I come from, but that's the law here, it can't be changed. It is just something that one needs to be aware of and ready for.

The people are some of the nicest and most talented that I've ever worked with. Great emphasis on the culture and building a team spirit. I love how I get to decide what is the most urgent thing for me to focus on, what generates the most value. I also enjoy the transparency at Valohai, which makes it feel even more that we're in this together.

Startup life can be hectic, but then again, every day feels fresh.