The old stagers at Frantic know how a casual day at the office looks like, but for a rookie it might be like a whole new world. In April we had a pair of helping hands when Isla, a code camp for girls alumni, came for a week-long visit due to her on-the-job learning program. How did she experience our life at the office?
Isla, 14:
For those who do not know TET (työelämään tutustuminen) is an on-the-job learning program for Finnish school kids. TET is kind of a way to scare teens and show them the harsh reality of going to work so that we would study harder. Well… That didn’t exactly happen when I started my first ever TET week at Frantic.
Most people try to get a TET job from a grocery shop or a cafe, but I get bored quite quickly if I do that sort of things, I’d much rather do something a bit more interesting. I had previously been on a “code camp for girls” day camp held by Frantic. I had loved the atmosphere in the office and thanks to the camp, coding became a hobby of mine – heck, it even affected what I chose for my optional subjects in school, so Frantic became a clear first option for a TET workplace. I knew that I’d be an errand boy, but I have to admit that I was honestly surprised when Aino gave me a laptop for the week and the fact that around half of the conversations are spoken in English hasn’t bothered me a bit, I actually quite like it.
I was pretty nervous on Monday as I walked through the front doors but seeing everyone laughing as they ate breakfast made me feel more relaxed. It’s a darn good way to get people to work on time on a Monday morning. When Stanley, one of the office dogs, came to work on Monday he was barking hello to everyone, he really is a big bubble of joy.
Tuesday I got to watch a coder (Mikaela, belonging to the Finnair team) in her natural habitat, it was quite interesting, to say the least. I never knew how multiple coders work on the same big project and how many files you need for it. In the afternoon I noticed that the big tv-screens around the office were displaying a slideshow and one of the slides was a welcome slide that welcomed new employees and seeing my own name on the slide made me feel like I was meant to be here, and you really can’t deny how important it’s to make those small gestures towards new employees, making them feel like a part of the company.
I also got a bag given out to new employees, it has a great quote printed on it “I’m awesome. But humble about it.” In the bag was some “belong to the group” type of Frantic themed merch, my two favorites were a notebook that had a pocket inside (quite useful) and a KeepCup in Frantic’s colors.
I’ve been told by my father to take a cool picture preferably with Stanley and some others and send it to my classmates and boast about how much fun I’ve had here since they have been complaining about their jobs.
On Thursday I spent my time with Sina. We prepared envelopes for the F-tour teams and she took a picture of me, in what I’d call the pillow room.
I started the Friday with Tiina, we filled the snack table and checked what needed to be ordered. We also prepared for the arrival of the Friday lunch: pizza! :D Stanley was super excited and begged everyone for pizza. I really really want to come back next time, when I have another TET week. A big thank you to everyone in the office for one of the greatest weeks of my life and I hope to see you soon!
