In this career story, Iina shares her career path and what it’s like to work at Murata as an Industrial Engineer.

How did you end up working at Murata?

I had a relatively long career in a supervisory role at a Finnish company. My work had become quite routine, and I had been contemplating what changes and particularly what challenges I would like in my professional life. Murata came across my path on Facebook in 2018 when they were recruiting several production supervisors in Finland. The field seemed like an interesting change compared to my previous job description. It was perhaps partly coincidental that I saw that advertisement exactly when I was pondering my own future.

What is the best part of your job?

In my current role as an Industrial Engineer, the best part is being able to develop our production environment so that it better supports future strategic goals. Additionally, it’s great to be part of a team with diverse skills and people from different backgrounds. It is challenging but rewarding to design key aspects for production, such as future layout plans and changes in production areas. Collaboration with many different teams is central to my work, along with the opportunity to learn something new about our production every day.

What does a typical day look like for an Industrial Engineer?

In the mornings, I usually focus on layout design, various development tasks for the production environment, and doing gemba walks* in the production area. Afternoons are dedicated to development meetings and reviews with various stakeholders. Of course, there’s also time spent creating various presentation materials and memos as well as monthly calculations and reporting. Organizing multiple projects and development tasks requires juggling many balls in the air simultaneously.

What are the main reasons you’ve enjoyed working at Murata?

I have always appreciated Murata both for its values and its ways of working. I like our sense of community and how different teams often collaborate seamlessly toward common goals. There’s a great atmosphere of getting things done at Murata with fantastic people! Over the years, Murata has also strongly invested in training opportunities and supporting career advancement, which makes me feel we can genuinely progress toward interesting job roles for ourselves. I also appreciate our employee benefits – having an on-site gym is important for my well-being. Our leisure committee Tarmo does great work!

What did you want to be when you grew up?

As a child, I wanted to be a police officer. Then when starting my career, I wanted to become a supervisor. That’s exactly what happened; so that goal was achieved.

What has your career path been like?

At Murata, I’ve worked as a supervisor for five years. After five years, while continuing my job, I started studying business administration at a university of applied sciences because I wanted to try something else too. During summer 2024, I worked in the Finance department. Significant changes were made in our production during that summer; after summer ended, an opportunity arose for me to take on my current role as an Industrial Engineer.

What advice would you give to a student or job seeker considering Murata as an employer?

I would say that what we do here in Vantaa is quite unique. You get to see closely processes whose quality approaches perfection; performing them requires strong expertise from many different teams. The technology focus and continuous development ensure interesting tasks regardless of your role.

I believe there is an atmosphere of mutual respect at Murata along with a culture where individuals can thrive well. A career can be a significant source of joy and inspiration if one dares boldly embrace offered opportunities and try new things. For some people this might mean getting a new job; for others it could involve developing within the company itself.

I think it’s safe here at Murata to spread your wings! It’s worth bringing forth your interests boldly since it will surely open new doors on your career path!

*The Japanese term “gemba” literally means “the real place.” In practice, gemba refers to an approach where problems are examined where work actually takes place – typically in production settings.