Siili Oyj : From apprentice to RPA specialist

Jaana Matila started working in Siili as an apprentice in the Master & Apprentice (Mestari & Kisälli, M&K) training program in 2017. Nowadays she is a developer in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) projects and strengthening her RPA knowledge in the Intelligent Systems and Vehicles tribe in Oulu.

Robotics is not just coding

When Jaana first started, she was meant to be a full-stack developer apprentice but ended up working with Robotics by chance. She has always been interested in learning and trying new things, which made her curious about new technologies and Robotics as a term. 'I believe that in the future having RPA skills is going to be a huge asset in one's CV', Jaana says.

At the beginning, Jaana thought Robotics is mostly coding. 'However, the larger part of this work is creating a plan and figuring how to explain it as simply as possible to the robot - what it should do to ensure that aberrations won't occur', she explains.

Learning by doing - supported when trying

During the M&K trainee program, Jaana and other apprentices got a chance to look into a broad range of programming and Agile development methods. During the training period, the apprentices got to work on real projects for real customers. 'One of the best things about M&K was that as juniors we still got to be part of all the real stuff. And even though we were apprentices, we were considered to be full-blooded Siilis and an equal part of the Siili community.'

While learning and trying new things, support of colleagues is a valuable thing to have. Luckily there are always other apprentices who are starting their career in the same group. 'We were in a similar situation, so we were able to support one another and grow into Siilis together.'

Now, even after M&K program has finished, all apprentices are still keeping in touch, despite the fact that everyone has got into different projects and orientated themselves towards different work assignments. Luckily there are Siili clubs and lots of other activities where they can meet up with each other.

'Altogether I think that M&K is an excellent way to start learning and trying new things, enabling people to seek and find their own specialties and strengths', Jaana sums up.

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We are now looking for new apprentices for our next Master & Apprentice (Mestari & Kisälli) program. If you are interested in Back-end Development or Robotic Process Automation, and wish to learn more about these subjects from our masters APPLY NOW or 31.7.2017 at the latest!