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As a project manager for a team in Poland, Iida Ritamäki learnt that distance is not an obstacle for humane connection. Her people skills and international competence enabled her to make a huge career step.

Some years ago, Iida Ritamäki was standing at the airport. She had recently started her job in Knowit (Cybercom back then) as a project manager, but just when she was supposed to begin her training period, she got sick. And now Iida was about to fly out to Poland to meet Knowit’s mobile development team without any experience in that field of technology.

“I didn’t have time to be nervous, but my boss confessed later that he was a bit worried about how I would handle it”, Iida says now and laughs. 

It didn’t take long before Iida became a valuable member of the Polish team. She was the link between Finnish customers and Polish developers, travelling back and forth and hosting meetings online and in both countries. 

“It was important for me to have a humane connection: even though we have 1000 kilometres between us, we know more about each other than just the name.”

Working with an international team had been Iida’s dream. After she graduated with a diploma in logistics and knowledge management, she packed her bags and moved to California for six months. She found herself in Silicon Valley, networking and sitting in various IT meetups.

Back in Finland, she got her first consulting job. Iida had many friends who worked in Cybercom, so when she heard about an interesting position, she didn’t hesitate to send an application – emphasizing that working globally was important to her.

One year later, in 2018, she got a phone call: Knowit had a perfect job for her.

Iida worked as the project manager for 1,5 years. She was really impressed how independent and creative her team was. That’s something she wishes us Finns could learn.

“I could bring a customer to a meeting and the team had a huge amount of good ideas how to further develop the solutions they’ve created. They were always one step ahead.”

Now her focus is expanding from mobile development to the global elevator and escalator industry. Iida is now working as Key Account Manager for one of the most important clients of Knowit.

“I was dreaming of this position, but I didn’t know it could happen this quick. I’m very grateful to my closest boss at Knowit for always finding the perfect career path for me.”

She speaks highly about her other co-workers, too. 

“To me, it’s important how the culture is at work. I rarely work at home because I like to be surrounded by others. At Knowit I can always ask for help and the company boosts employees to better performance.”