Armenian ICT professional Artur Brutyan wanted to settle in Turku since he thinks that it is simply one of the best places to build and grow a family.
Why do you think that Turku is a perfect city for you?
Turku is a safe, human-size city. There are nature trails for hiking, running, and cycling nearby, and small ferries take you through the beautiful scenery of the Finnish archipelago. At the same time, you can have a metropolitan lifestyle with restaurants, cafes, bars, nightlife, and beautiful parks.
You are originally from Armenia. What brought you to Turku, Finland?
A hunger to learn new things and to build a better future for myself took me to an international path. I got an engineering degree in IT and communications from Tampere University of Technology in 2013. Then I worked in Helsinki area for three years and finally ended up in Turku.
You came to Turku alone and have managed to find a nice circle of friends. How did you do that?
Turku is a melting pot of various personalities, backgrounds, and nationalities. The city offers a lot of recreational activities, and I took all opportunities available to build my life here. I found a nice, like-minded bunch of people through a running club and eventually became friends with them.
You love the Finnish sauna culture and ice swimming. Have you also made friends in the sauna?
There is a saying that a Finn will never trust you fully if you haven’t been in a sauna with them.
Sauna is one of the social places in Finland, and I use it as a tool to build relationships.
You work as an Enterprise Network Architect at If Insurance. What do you do there?
At If there are more than 800 applications, over 8000 employees and 3,8 million customers. Me and my colleagues interconnect them all together.
How does your work show to If customers?
When our customer is in trouble, like in a car crash or having some health incident or lost item in travel, reaching If systems to open a claim or to ask for help should be the last thing they need to worry about. My job is to make sure that our applications, systems, and contact centres are always reachable.
Why do you like to work at If?
The work is challenging, and a lot of attention is put on employees’ well-being. Here I can be myself, I am trusted, and the boundaries of my work are wide. Making mistakes is seen as a part of the learning process, which creates an environment where different opinions can be expressed.
How do you find If as an ICT employer?
It is surprising that If is one of the biggest ICT employers in Turku. I am part of If Tech Community, which consists of about 1100 ICT professionals, of which 300 work in Turku. If also has its own trainee program called .Net, through which freshly graduated ICT professionals are hired and trained on the job.
You are also doing a Master’s Degree in Business Management in Turku University of Applied Sciences. Why did you choose to do that?
I would like to grow as a leader and become a better connector of people. Technical issues are actually the easiest to solve. Professionally it is important for me to also understand people. It is great that there is a tailor-made degree available that I can do while being a full-time employee and a father.
You have been to more than 50 countries for both business and leisure. Why do you want to settle in Turku with your family?
In Finland, opportunities are genuinely equal for everyone. In Turku, my child will have the same environment to build her life in, that I found myself in. I recommend my international peers to consider Turku as their next home, as it is simply one of the best places to build and grow a family.
