“Large companies can offer you work and compensation, but there are very few places where you can also have a work-life balance, choose what you want to do and be respected for it,” says Aanchal Chopra on what she loves most about working at Tietoevry Create.
Aanchal is passionate about agile technologies and migrated from India to Finland a year ago with her infant son and husband, who is also an IT professional. At that time, she had a master’s degree in computer applications and was working as a senior application analyst remotely for a global company. She had worked with the company for seven years and a job change was not on the cards. But Aanchal was ready to explore her options.
“I was nervous. For five years, I had been working from home and had not stepped into an office because of Covid-19 and prior to that, my son was very young.”
Facilitating a multinational team globally
The interview at Tietoevry Create was the turning point, recalls Aanchal.
“Every time that I have been interviewed, the focus has been on my work experience and professional achievements. But Tietoevry also tried getting to know me as a person and see my potential. That was inspiring and motivating. It made me change my mind and I decided to explore more of what's outside my plate as a developer.”
Aanchal joined Tietoevry Create as a Scrum Master last year. She undertook the critical task of setting up a team from scratch and getting processes and scrum ceremonies in place. Her team works for Tietoevry’s customer in the telecom sector.
Equipped with in-house toolsets and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) certifications, Aanchal now manages a diverse team operating from multiple geographies.
“I got an opportunity to work in a client-facing role as a customer lead with invoicing and taking care of customer requirements. I could also introduce the team and clients to enhanced working methodologies. Not only that, I learned the SAFe framework from scratch and have implemented it for the team.”
Aanchal is now gearing up for a new challenge, to be a project manager in a multi-project team.
Finnish companies motivate foreigners to learn the language
One might wonder how Aanchal has been able to do her work as she does not know the Finnish language.
“When I joined Tietoevry Create and started working for its customers, I thought there would be a language barrier because I did not know Finnish. But luckily at Tietoevry, everybody speaks English, which is the corporate language. Also, my Finnish customer is very flexible and most people speak English, especially in meetings and at work.”
“But we must understand that sometimes people do tend to speak in their native language. They are not doing it deliberately,” she says and adds that somebody always translates what is said into English.
Aanchal is now learning Finnish.
“I am going to work here and live in Finland for a long time. I have got a good work-life balance and the education system is one of the best in the world. My son wants to learn Finnish and it only makes sense that I do too.”
During her free time, she loves to run and explore the scenic walkways of the seaside district Ruoholahti in Helsinki, as well as meditate in nature.
Lately, she dived deeper into Finnish culture when she bathed in snow dressed in a swimsuit. Finns like that and winter swimming in sea and lakes.
“I did not want to limit myself to my fears anymore. Last winter, I walked on frozen lakes, and now I was ready to expose myself to snow. What an uplifting experience it was!”
Ready to accelerate digital innovation? Check out our open positions at Tietoevry Create!
Get to know Aanchal
- Name: Aanchal Chopra
- Job Title: Customer Lead
- Loves at Tietoevry Create: Agile, SAFe, work culture
- Interests: Travelling, sketching, running
- Motto: One day at a time