Niko Kotiniemi is one of the supervisors in Sanoma Media Trainee program - The work is meaningful, collaborative and vibrant

10.12.2024

Sanoma Media Finland

Sanoma's first trainee program is coming to an end by the end of the year. 12 trainees have been working for Sanoma in different roles for 7 months now. Some of them will also continue working at Sanoma after the program.

Earlier this year we interviewed one mentor and three trainees about their experience in this program. It's time to give a voice to a trainee supervisor.

Niko Kotiniemi works as team leader for Data Platform -team and as supervisor for data engineering competence. Data Platform team is responsible for building and maintaining Sanoma Media Finland's advanced analytics and reporting platform, supporting teams and units across the organization.

We asked Niko 5 questions regarding working with a trainee and managing their work.

Why did you want a trainee specifically for your team?

We wanted data engineering trainees to assist with a major migration from one data warehouse to another, including tasks like integrations and data processing (orchestration, transformations, monitoring data quality, and handling errors). We hoped trainees would bring us new point of views and ideas.

From a supervisor’s perspective, what have been the biggest successes during this trainee program?

The trainees enabled us to scale our internal capacity to tackle a large migration project that wouldn’t have been feasible otherwise. Working closely in small groups towards specific migration milestones, they achieved rapid learning beyond their initial developer experience. Two trainees in Niko's team got a lot more experience and expertise as well as could enable the team to succeed.

What challenges have you faced, and what kind of support have you received to address them?

We encourage all developers, regardless of seniority, to spend some time attempting to solve a task on their own before seeking advice. Early on, we discussed this approach with each trainee and emphasized that they should feel free to consult senior colleagues when needed. Revisiting this message later helped reduce hesitation to reach out, even when senior developers were busy.

What skills or qualities do you consider most important for leading a trainee?

Trust and belief in assigning trainees real, meaningful production tasks, paired with sufficient support like mentoring and code reviews. With clear guidance and safe work environment in place, trainees can contribute effectively while learning safely.

What advice would you give to future supervisors and team leaders in the trainee program?

Plan in advance what kinds of tasks trainees can take on and ensure they have access to adequate support. Grouping several trainees together, both in seating arrangements and tasks, fosters a vibrant energy and strong collaborative learning environment.

The 2025 program's application period starts on 17th of December. New roles and more information about the program can be found from mediatrainee.fi.