Expert System Test Engineer Mikko Paloheimo has served as a mentor at OP Financial Group's competence development centre for several years. As a mentor, he is responsible for the course modules of the Quality Assurance learning unit or tower, from planning to teaching and further development.  

We had the chance to speak with Mikko about the exciting things happening in his professional field and about what the competence development opportunities offered by OP Financial Group mean for him.  

Hi Mikko! How has the year 2023 been at the Software Academy so far? What have you had the chance to work on?  

Thanks for asking, it's been a great year at the Academy. I've had the chance to mentor two courses, in addition to which I attended and passed a course on test automation! The year has also included course completion parties and all kinds of retrospectives and development meetings. In spring 2023, I was appointed one of the owners of the QA tower and my responsibilities and work have naturally increased as a result. One of the biggest efforts by our tower has been the design and implementation of an entirely new course in security testing. The first trial run of the course is set to begin soon. 

What does competence development mean for you and how do OP and the Software Academy support you in this regard?  

Keeping up with advances in software development requires constantly maintaining my knowledge and skills, the Software Academy provides a great way to do this, alongside maintaining other skills. The Academy has a wide range of courses on offer, from modules that introduce students to an entirely new and exciting topic to courses that support existing competence and which can often be immediately useful in day to day work. Of course, it's enormously rewarding to learn new skills that you're able to apply directly in your own work.  

And what does being a mentor mean to you – what do you get out of it, and how do you see your role as a part of the larger whole?  

There are many elements involved in mentoring. The most important thing is of course that the content of the course matches students' expectations by offering useful information that supports them in their work. From the perspective of my own area of expertise, it's also crucial that I get the chance to explain to students why quality, quality assurance and testing are important for the services of the entire organisation. Hearing what insights course participants have to share and seeing first-hand how our teaching benefits them is very rewarding. The chance to meet new people and to discuss and share ideas with them in order to support their learning is one of the biggest reasons why I became a mentor.  

There's also another side to mentoring: training professionals into new mentors. In the QA tower, our aim is to give interested employees the opportunity to get involved as junior mentors, where they have the chance to practice public speaking, presentation and mentoring. Many are a little unsure of their abilities at first before then finding their feet and discovering the spark for mentoring. It's always a delight to see new people making the journey to becoming a mentor! I myself am a good example of this, I used to find public speaking unpleasant but have come to embrace and even enjoy it.  

What makes the Software Academy one-of-a-kind in your opinion? 

For one thing, the fact that employees are encouraged to use part of their working hours on developing and maintaining their personal competence is in itself unique. In addition, the Software Academy offers a concrete way to make this happen. The Academy's towers and the course content are developed by and for internal specialists which improves commitment and ties the studies to OP's internal practices and policies. Courses and course content are also constantly being evaluated and developed based on what the organisation considers to be critical and useful competence. 

In your opinion, what topics will be important in the future and how will they be visible at the Software Academy?   

In my own tower, an important new area of expertise is the security testing, mentioned previously, and the newly designed course on the topic. After passing the course, specialists can carry out testing in their own development teams which in turn improves efficiency and reduces dependence on other stakeholders within the Group, such as cyber security specialists.  

From the perspective of the Academy as a whole, I see artificial intelligence as a crucial new element that affects existing themes. Still, it's also good to keep in mind that not everything is about technology and that the human aspect plays an important role in different stages of the life cycle of application development.  

Bonus question: What would you like to say to employees who are interested in the Software Academy? 

I encourage all OP employees to attend the Software Academy's courses to broaden their competence and to learn new skills. The Software Academy also provides a great opportunity to meet and to get to know new coworkers and to gain fresh perspectives from across the entire organisation. The Academy is intended for everyone at OP so don't be afraid to get involved!