Receiving the award at the employment network’s spring meeting were Programme Director Teemu Rinne and Liaison Manager Heidi Lindholm of the business collaboration team.
In the rationale provided for the award, the network was commended particularly for promoting collaboration among the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and administrative sectors, demonstrating innovation and enhancing education with a focus on professional relevance.
“It’s wonderful to get this kind of recognition for our team. I’ve noticed over the years that what we’re doing is seen as quite new and distinctive in many contexts. It’s great that the award will help spread the word about our work,” says Rinne.
Designing a new programme framework inspired collaboration
The employment network began to take shape during the early design stage of the above degree programmes in 2023. It was co-developed with Community Relations staff at University Services, alongside representatives of the business collaboration and alumni teams.
“The key was to take career development and business collaboration into account right from the curriculum design stage. We aimed to generate diverse career models, traineeship opportunities, case materials and other resources to support student employment,” said Lindholm at the spring meeting.
The work drew on insights gathered through surveys of the University’s partner and alumni networks. Persons with a background in psychology were identified as a key target group among alumni and business partners. Collaboratively selected individuals were contacted, resulting in a network that held a culminating workshop in March 2025.
“The workshop had about 30 participants, ranging from alumni and other employment representatives to University students and staff. Attendees included HR directors at OP Financial Group and Barona. The chance to help shape a new educational framework inspired people so much that we ended up with more participants than we had anticipated,” says Rinne. Lindholm agrees.
Network sparked concrete employer collaboration
Support from the University and faculty leadership as well as the marketing team was essential in building the network. Vice-Dean Anu-Katriina Pesonen of the Faculty of Medicine played a key role during the initial design phase.
“Building the network took some time, but listening to employer representatives made it all worthwhile. It’s evident that our programmes are valued,” notes Rinne.
The network workshop sparked many practical ideas. Many employer contacts, including Kone’s representative, will participate in teaching by sharing their own career paths, while students will address real-world professional challenges in their courses. Network members too will have the chance to become familiar with the teaching via lectures.
“A particular highlight of the network activities was when Barona hand-picked two summer employees from among our bachelor’s students in applied psychology who had just completed their second year,” says Rinne with satisfaction.
The Bachelor’s Programme in Applied Psychology launched in autumn 2024, with the Master’s Programme in Organisational Psychology set to follow in autumn 2026. Looking ahead, the goal is to deepen collaboration further and establish long-term, meaningful partnerships at an organisational level. Research collaboration will feature prominently in the partnerships.
- The University of Helsinki’s Career Forum is a network open to all staff, aimed at sharing information and best practices on employment matters and career skills relevant to students with degree programme representatives and other staff.
- Coordinated by Career Services, the Career Forum activities already involve over 150 University community members. Further information is available by email: careerservices@helsinki.fi.
- In its meeting each spring, the employment network bestows the annual employment award on an individual, team or group who has actively fostered employer collaboration and student career skills over the previous academic year. This is the third year the award has been presented.
- This year’s award went to the core team behind the employment network: Programme Director Teemu Rinne, University Lecturer of Social Psychology Jaana-Piia Mäkiniemi, Liaison Manager Heidi Lindholm of the business collaboration team, and Liaison Manager Tiina Naskali of alumni and stakeholder relations.