Kia Dillström, Granlund

What have you studied and what influenced this choice back in the day?

I decided at a very young age that, when I grew up, I wanted to study environmental engineering at LUT University. However, upper secondary school was a difficult time for me, and neither advanced mathematics nor, especially, physics were among my strengths at the time. I dropped physics after a few courses, while I struggled through the compulsory advanced mathematics courses. When it came to the matriculation examination, I decided to take the shorter mathematics syllabus instead of the advanced one.

I gave up on my dream of studying engineering and applied through the joint application process to study social services and healthcare, as several of my friends and teachers suggested that it might be a good fit for me. I eventually ended up in Lappeenranta studying for a Bachelor of Social Services.

Soon after my first year, I realised that I was studying the wrong subject. I enjoyed student life and spending time with my fellow students, but the courses did not feel right for me, and I could not seem to find anywhere I wanted to do my second work placement. I discussed possible placements with one of my teachers, and when nothing seemed particularly interesting, my teacher brought up the upcoming joint application and encouraged me to consider whether I was really on the right path.

It was not long after that conversation that I dug out my old upper secondary school revision books for advanced mathematics and chemistry and started seriously preparing for the entrance exams.

Environmental engineering was my first choice because I had always been interested in the environment, protecting it, and finding solutions to environmental problems. You can learn about these issues and solutions through other engineering disciplines too, but I wanted my studies to focus specifically on the environment and climate, so the other options did not feel quite right for me.

LUT was my first choice because I had already experienced what I considered the best student life in the world in Lappeenranta, and I did not want to give that up! My friends, as well as my family and relatives in South Karelia, also influenced my decision to apply to study in Lappeenranta.

All the hard work and intensive preparation for the entrance exams paid off, and I started studying environmental engineering at LUT in autumn 2020.

How did you end up in your current position?

I did my Master’s thesis at Granlund in 2025. At the beginning of my thesis employment, we had already discussed the fact that my local office had identified a need for sustainability expertise and that there might be an opportunity for me to continue working there after graduation, provided that my thesis went well and the need for a sustainability specialist was still there.

I completed my thesis and the company was happy with the result. The need for a sustainability specialist was still there, so my employment continued. I graduated with a Master of Science (Technology) in November 2025 and started working as a Sustainability Specialist in December of the same year.

Before joining Granlund, I spent more than three years working alongside my studies at the university, first as a tutoring coordinator and later as a research assistant. Before that, I also worked alongside my studies and during the summers as a sales assistant and property maintenance worker. So Granlund is the second workplace in my career where I have worked in my own field.

What is the best thing about your job?

As I am still relatively early in my career, the best thing about my work is definitely learning new things and putting what I have learnt into practice. My expertise is developing at a rapid pace, and each new project tends to go a little more smoothly than the previous one.

There is still a huge amount to learn, and in specialist work, there is never really a point where there is nothing left to learn. My role is also not particularly restrictive: the tasks and projects I work on depend on the needs of our clients and employer. For now, it is great to get to see a bit of everything and explore what I enjoy most within this role.

What have been the highlights and key lessons of your career?

One of my biggest weaknesses in my career has been that I do not always believe in my own abilities and often question whether my skills are sufficient for different tasks. That is why one of the highlights of my career, as well as one of my most important lessons, has been the trust I have received from my managers, project managers and colleagues.

I have been given significant responsibility and the freedom to approach my work in the way I feel is best. I have also been encouraged to develop and implement changes when I have felt that a way of working was not good enough or could be improved. People have listened to me and trusted me even when I have disagreed with something or had good reasons for wanting to do things differently.

This has significantly increased my confidence because I have had the opportunity to demonstrate my skills in practice, try new things and know that I have the support of my colleagues behind me.

When it comes to lessons I have learnt, perhaps the most important one is that I carry all my previous experiences with me. When I changed fields, I used to regret not having studied something that would have been more directly useful in my new career. The truth, however, is that none of my previous studies or work experience has ever been a disadvantage or slowed me down. Quite the opposite.

Studying and working are never wasted experiences, as long as you learn to recognise what you have learnt, put it into words and make use of it.
 

What are your plans and goals in the future? 

I am fairly open-minded when it comes to my plans for the future. I enjoy the property and construction sector because there is such a wide range of work to be done around sustainability, and I hope to continue working with sustainability issues in the industry in the future.

For now, my goal is to continue developing my skills and growing as a specialist. At the moment, I enjoy putting my expertise into practice, particularly in construction projects, but in the future I would also like to be involved in different research and development projects – helping to create something new for the industry.