Career paths: Mika Virolainen - a career in aviation started with a summer job at airport ground handling services
Mika Virolainen, Head of Competence at Fintraffic’s Air Navigation Services, got a summer job in the aviation sector immediately after completing his matriculation examinations – and that's the road he's still on. Now the experienced air navigation professional trains air traffic controllers, develops competence management processes and raises awareness of the impact of human factors throughout air navigation. How did Mika move from airport ground handling services to air traffic controller and competence management expert?
Mika is responsible for competence processes at Fintraffic's Air Navigation Services and ensures that these support Air Navigation Services as well as possible. Effective and up-to-date processes are a key part of safe and smooth air traffic. In practice, the work includes integrating various laws, decrees and official regulations into practical processes in the management of competence at Air Navigation Services.
"The role of human factors is constantly growing in processes and regulations. This is why in my role as an HF coordinator, I actively highlight this perspective throughout air navigation services. I also act as a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) coordinator. I have many different roles, so the content of my working days also varies a great deal. Even so, feel comfortable, as I like what I do," Mika says.
Mika does not have a typical working day, as on one day he may be abroad training people or interviewing air traffic control training applicants, while the next he could be at the office in meetings or working on documents and training materials. In addition to training and coordination, Mika also continues to carry out operational work in air traffic control. He describes it as a particularly interesting job for those enthusiastic about aviation, which he wants to keep in his job description in the future.
A career in aviation began with a summer job in airport ground handling services
Mika has been interested in aviation since he was a child. After his matriculation examinations, he got a summer job at Finnair’s ground handling services and stayed on that path: after eight different positions, he wanted to move closer to operative air traffic operations, applied for an air traffic control course and graduated as an air traffic controller in 2006.
After, I graduated as an air traffic controller. I moved to Vaasa and started training other air traffic controllers as soon as possible. I felt that training was pleasant and something that came naturally to me, so after a few years I decided to apply for a position at Avia College as a full-time trainer. My areas of responsibility have changed quite a bit over the years, but I still like training and meeting new people,” Mika recalls.
Over the span of his career, Mika has provided a lot of training: basic, refresher and further training for both domestic and international air traffic controllers, trainers and inspectors. The work has also made it possible to influence training processes and decision-making.
Finding inspiration in encounters and conversations
One of the benefits of versatile work is that it allows you to meet a large variety of different people. Encounters and discussion are one of the things that inspire Mika in his working life.
"I try to involve people as much as possible, as I like exchanging ideas and that we can challenge one another each other in debates and thus learn from each other. I see this as a sign of trust in the person you are debating. This is why I think it is great that Fintraffic strives to see opportunities between different modes of transport in an open-minded manner. We have more in common than that which divides us, but these opportunities for synergy are only visible through active discussions," Mika says.
