“Knowledge opens doors, but you don’t have to be an expert in everything.”
Our summer reporter Melinda wrote a four-part article series about Welado employees in the summer of 2019. The third person she interviewed was Jari Sairanen.
A Peek Under a Welado Employee’s Hard Hat! #3
This time, we’re interviewing Jari Sairanen, Welado’s Regional Manager for Road and Street Construction Management in Southern Finland. Jari has also had a long career in the construction industry, but he has been with Welado for almost a year and a half. Jari was invited to join Welado, and he saw the opportunities offered by the company’s young age as a positive thing, particularly when it came to having a say in how things are done. The atmosphere at Welado has been pleasantly entertaining and encouraging. Cooperation with colleagues works well.
After comprehensive school, Jari attended upper secondary school and studied civil engineering at a technical institute. He qualified as a construction engineer. “I actually chose the construction industry because I’ve known since I was a child that I wanted to be involved in building things,” Jari explains. He grew up surrounded by construction, with his father serving as a role model at home.
Jari encourages young people today to gain as much varied experience as possible. If you want to work in construction, all kinds of knowledge are useful. Jari himself has experience in building construction, infrastructure and industrial construction management, as well as the construction of GSM networks. He points out that you don’t have to be the best in every area, but having a broad understanding is valuable. At the same time, the industry will always need specialists in their own fields. Young people should have an interest in and curiosity about technology and construction. Good basic health is also important in this industry.
In addition to his responsibilities as Regional Manager, Jari also carries out site supervision duties. At the moment, he is supervising two construction sites connected to the Jätkäsaari Sports Park in Helsinki. A typical working day consists of site inspections, construction site meetings and paperwork. Jari describes his work in three words: interesting, varied and challenging.
Working in the construction and infrastructure sectors is diverse thanks to the differences between construction sites and the interesting projects involved. Jari has been involved in many things and has also spent more than ten years working abroad during his career. He has helped build global mobile phone systems that we use in our everyday lives. His most enjoyable overseas assignment was under the sun in Las Palmas. One of his most interesting memories from his work at Welado was the arrival of an old-fashioned lattice-boom crane at the Jätkäsaari Sports Park construction site. What made the event interesting was that the machine, dating back to the 1950s, was still operational and was being used for deep compaction work on a football field.
Jari has had a long career that began in building construction. The most interesting individual project came early in his career, when, as a young engineer, he had the opportunity to help build “military villages” in Russia. The project began following the historic events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall and the return of Russian soldiers to their home country. Finnish construction companies built entire towns, complete with cinemas and apartment buildings, in the middle of Russian forests. Jari worked as a project engineer at the time, but his responsibilities also included scheduling. This couple of years spent working in the neighbouring country marked the beginning of his other international assignments.
The infrastructure sector currently employs many middle-aged men and women who have already had long careers and gained extensive experience, just like Jari. The industry wants – and needs – more young employees, because there is plenty of work available, and people are currently working as much as they can to keep up. Future generations will also need parks and roads, so it’s important that young people pursue education in the field!
Wishing everyone a great start to the summer and enjoyable moments reading our interviews with Welado employees!
Summer Reporter Melinda
Could you benefit from Jari’s road construction management expertise? Get in touch!