Panta Rhei – The only constant in life is change.
International experience:
China, Beijing 2012-2015
China, Shenzhen 2015-2016
Taiwan, Taipei 2016-2018
UK, Southampton 2018-2021
Sweden, Västerås 2021-
Languages:
Finnish: mother tongue
English: excellent skills
Mandarin: conversational oral
Swedish: good skills
Spanish: good skills
French: good skills
Estonian: basics
German: beginner
Russian: beginner
Technical skills:
Strong Social Media knowledge.
Several online learning and team management platforms (Zoom, Slack, Teams, Google for Education, Strategyzer, Miro etc.).
Presentation tools (Prezi, Slidebean, video editing etc.).
Never afraid to try new tools that bring added value to work.
Invincible learner
I believe in continuous learning and micro skills. Looking at my career, theory has followed the practice. I have two master’s degrees: in theatre and drama and Finnish language. Last five years I have concentrated in management and business. August 2021 I started my journey as a doctoral researcher in Oulu Business School. Keywords for my doctoral research are management, cross-sectoral innovation, innovation value-capture and interorganizational learning.
Education
Doctoral Degree programme in Economics and Business Administration 2021 – Oulu Business School, major management
Master of Arts, University of Jyväskylä 2017
Major: Finnish language focusing on Finnish as a second and foreign language
Master of Arts, University of Tampere 2005
Major: Theatre and drama, minor Finnish language and pedagogical studies
Further Vocational Qualification in Entrepreneurship 2016
Specialist in Competence Based Learning 2009
Evaluator and Interviewer of National Certificate of Language Proficiency 2010
Other courses:
Building Invincible Companies – Nordic Business Forum Masterclass 2020
Introduction to Management, Open University of Helsinki University
Basics of acting 1999-2000, Tampere Comedy Theatre
Vocational teacher and immigrant student 5 ECTS, Jyväskylä Polytechnic
Good practices in teaching and guiding immigrants 5 ECTS, Jyväskylä Polytechnic
Functional grammar in Finnish as a second language teaching, 6 ECTS, Opeko
Speech and text in Finnish as a second language teaching, Opeko
Suggestopedia in foreign language teaching, Suggestopedia org.
Work Experience
Founder and Director at Haikala Solutions Oü
(February 2022 – ongoing)
I founded my third company in Estonia February 2022. Through my own company I sell consulting, research and other services related to immigration, integration, inclusion and management. I facilitate workshops and perform as a key note speaker.
Head of Teacher Training at Gimara Oy
(June 2021 – ongoing)
I am working intensively together with Gimara Team with several different projects and products. Read more about our collaboration here: https://www.gimaraworld.com/
Service Director at Arffman Finland Oy
(April 2015 – May 2021)
I managed and led remotely a team of 15-25 integration and employment training specialists. I was in charge of service implementation from the public procurement until the last feedback. My work included customer satisfaction, development of new business ideas and stakeholder communication (public sector, investors and board of directors). I was responsible of 1,5M€ yearly turnover.
Biggest accomplishments in this role:
Starting, developing and growing online integration training for immigrants. Product is well-established and recognized by OECD and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
Starting and developing Suomi-hubi, creating a new business model to strengthen the company portfolio.
Co-founder and CEO in Gimara Oy
(December 2015 – December 2019)
I worked part-time to start an own online business that created an online learning model that was sold to Arffman in spring 2021 and continues now under a name Suomi-hubi. Gimara still has a 16,5K community of Finnish language learners.
RDI-Specialist at Lahti University of Applied Sciences
(August 2019 – December 2019)
I worked in KOKOMA-project for 5 months. KOKOMA improved highly educated immigrants’ entrepreneurial skills online. My role was to connect the already existing network in Finland, benchmark other countries and to organize a half-day seminar with international speakers. I worked remotely from the UK even for the seminar and arrived couple of days before the actual event to meet face to face with a team that ran the practicalities of the seminar.
UK Sales and Marketing at Utelias Technologies (Elias Robot)
(Sep 2019 – May 2020)
I worked part-time to promote Elias robot to local schools in the UK and to find VC investors in the country.
Evaluator and Interviewer of National Certificate of Language Proficiency
(June 2010 – June 2017)
I participated actively in evaluating intermediate level tests of National Certificate of Language Proficiency in Finnish language. I also interviewed in the tests both basic and advanced levels.
Teacher of Integration training at Salo Regional Education Federation of Municipalities
(January 2005 – December 2016)
I started as a teacher of integration training half a year before my graduation. I completed my master’s thesis and pedagogical studies along with full time work. During my years in Salo, I participated also for many projects and developed new products such as KYKY which was a course aimed from intermediate to the advanced level of language. During my years in Beijing, I still substituted during the summer.
Substitute teacher at Western Academy of Beijing
(November 2014 – May 2015)
While living in Beijing I signed up as a substitute teacher in WAB. Work was around 70-80% of full-time and I had both longer periods and also many ad hoc -morning calls to substitute. I mainly substituted home room teachers in elementary school, kindergarten and early years, specialist teachers and drama teachers in middle and high school. My time in WAB taught me the importance of community, teachers’ collaboration and well-ahead planning and engaging the students to ensure the learning.
Teacher and Content creator at Valmennustiimi Eximia
(May 2003 – May 2007)
I planned and conducted several courses for A-level exams and applying to Universities of Applied Sciences and universities. I always got excellent feedback for my teaching.
Teacher at Finnish School of Beijing
(Sep 2012 – May 2016)
Finnish School of Beijing is a part time school (approximately every second Saturday 3-4 hours) that aims to keep up Finnish language among the Finnish speaking families abroad. As a fully qualified Finnish as a mother tongue and literature teacher I was always teaching the oldest age groups. The last two years I started and taught Self Taught Finnish for IB students in several international schools in China, Vietnam and USA.
Own Business name Sanahai
(2011 -)
I started my own business name so I could serve my private customers in their aims to learn Finnish language.
Other work experience
(1991 – 2005)
I had my first summer job as an 11-year-old picking up strawberries. I worked every summer ever since, usually for gardening or baby sitting for my brothers’ kids. During the winter I earned some pocket money by writing poems to the local newspaper. When I turned 18, I worked several summers in a kitchen of a summer camp. During my years in the university I worked as a cleaner, telemarketer and food worker in a slaughterhouse. Last years of my studies I worked as a substitute teacher for Tampere City and saw several schools and age groups. Coming from a working-class family, I have never underestimated any job and each task has taught me valuable skills and more importantly the appreciation towards all kinds of jobs. The value of a person can never be measured through the title of his work.
Raisa Haikala 