Arja Sarpola has worked in numerous companies, as a researcher, and as a supervisor, but as a VET teacher, she can fully utilise her potential.
Arja Sarpola is now in her second academic year working as a VET (vocational education and training) teacher in laboratory techology. Previously, she has held various positions, including as a post-doctoral university researcher, a laboratory technician at the Finnish Forest Research Institute, in roles of R&D manager and laboratory director in several companies in the corporate world. In her role as a VET teacher, she can fully utilise all her skills.
“In this job, I can make use of my entire career history. For instance, in research work, I could only use a portion of it. That’s why I specifically want to work as a VET teacher in laboratory techology,” Sarpola explains.
“Through my long career, I’ve built an incredibly extensive network. When it comes to students, I try to find the most suitable job for each of them. At school, the basics are learned, and in the workplace, they delve deeper. Career planning for people is fascinating.”
Sarpola finds the laboratory field intriguing because it offers an excellent career path for different types of people. Those who are somewhat introverted and want to do their work to perfection can thrive in this field. There are also career paths for those who enjoy developing new things and have a more inventive, creative approach.
“I’ve always enjoyed being able to increase people’s understanding about things with motto: ´Ignorance is not a sin, accepting it is’. I also like storytelling. In my work, I share a lot of tales from my journey. Interaction with people is interesting. When I can get a quiet person to laugh at the moment I expect them to, it feels like a victory.”
A Messenger of Professional Pride for VET students
Arja Sarpola also wants to instil a sense of professional pride in her students. One of her previous jobs was at Tamro, a company that supplies equipment to laboratories. During her time at Tamro, she visited numerous laboratories and became familiar with educational institutions in the laboratory field, as they were customers. When visiting schools back then, Sarpola wanted to boost the professional pride of laboratory technicians.
“I said, ‘You are not ‘just’ laboratory technicians; you are The Laboratory Technicians.'”
Sarpola herself studied to become a laboratory technician in the early 1980s in Raahe, at the same institution where she now teaches. She worked in laboratory field for a long time, with jobs across Finland, from Helsinki to Sodankylä in Lapland. She graduated with a master’s degree at the age of 40 after working extensively as a laboratory technician.
In addition to her teaching job, Sarpola still works as an elder adviser at a company in her field and holds a position of Adjunct Professor in Faculty of Technology in Oulu University in the field of aquatic metal chemistry but still identifies herself as “literate laboratory technician.” She plans to continue her work as a VET teacher until retirement.
“I’ve defined my retirement age as follows: When I tell the same joke for the third time during the same coffee break and it no longer gets a laugh, I’ll be gently guided to the nearest rocking chair.”
