Over 70 summer employees join Alma for the summer 

Dozens of new joiners are strengthening Alma Media’s news production this summer. For many of them, the summer work experience also opens the door to continuing at Alma. 

A total of 71 journalists, photographers, video journalists and layout editors will join Alma Media’s newsrooms this summer. Of these, 44 will be hired by Iltalehti and 27 by the Business Media newsrooms. 

Summer journalists are full members of the editorial team, getting to work on a wide range of journalism from short breaking news items to in-depth features. Their day-to-day tasks differ very little from the permanent journalists’. 

– In your first week, you might already be heading out on an assignment abroad or interviewing a minister at a press conference, says Tiia-Maria Taponen, Managing Editor of Iltalehti. 

At the business media outlets, one of the season’s defining features is the Q2 earnings season for listed companies, according to Riina Nevalainen, Editor-in-Chief of Kauppalehti. 

– Companies report their results in the middle of peak holiday season, so without our summer journalists, news output would be considerably thinner, she explains. 

Summer journalists bring a fresh kind of energy, new content ideas and everyday innovations to the newsrooms. Newcomers notice when an editorial process isn’t working as well as it could and can find ways to improve it. 

Many familiar faces return 

More than half of Alma’s summer journalists are returning after previous summers. 

– It warms my heart that familiar contributors want to come back. But it’s also great that we’re able to offer opportunities to talented new faces, says Taponen. 

At Business Media, summer journalists are joining all of the brands: Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Arvopaperi, Tivi, Uusi Suomi and Tekniikka&Talous. At Iltalehti, summer workers are being taken on across ten different departments, with the largest intake in the domestic news desk. 

Summer journalists are mostly university students under 30 with some prior experience in the field.  Although there are always individuals who stand out in the recruitment process above all through their personality, enthusiasm and ideas. 

Summer work as a pathway into the industry 

Working as a summer journalist is an excellent way to break into the field.  

The summer gives newcomers a chance to demonstrate their skills, and the strongest performers may be offered the chance to continue. At Iltalehti’s news desks, for instance, around two thirds of the summer intake are offered continued work in the autumn. 

– It’s very common for summer journalists to go on to work as fixed-term contributors and, in time, to secure a permanent position, Nevalainen adds. 

Nevalainen and Taponen also point out that even if a job in your own field doesn’t materialise straight away, all kinds of experience are valuable from the perspective of a future career in journalism. 

– I encourage young people to gain summer work experience as broadly as possible. I myself have worked summer jobs in a department store, a food factory, a café and a garden centre. Drive and initiative don’t go unnoticed, says Nevalainen. 

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