Wellbeing and video games – meet Petri Hautamäki, the first Nitorean at Tampere office

Being an experienced developer, Petri has had the chance to do a variety of different projects and tasks. He likes to consider himself as a generalist, who, very much like a Band-Aid, helps where support is needed the most.

“I like to do all sorts of things on the technical side but also interact with the clients. As a jack of all trades, I don’t really prefer specific tasks. Instead, reaching the end-result is very important to me. When the goal aligns with my own values, I’m happy to do what needs to be done,” the full-stack expert says. 

The values and meaningfulness of his work are paramount to Petri, who wants to help people in their everyday problems above other things. Overall wellbeing and supporting his work community are also key factors, and that’s why the Kamu model of Nitor felt like something he wanted to be involved with.

“At Nitor, I’m able to work on meaningful projects but can also support my peers. I got interested from the minute I heard about the Kamu model, as I want to mentor and act as a Kamu to a fellow Nitorean,” Petri says. 

A gamer who seeks the Dashboard of Life and enjoys learning new things

Joining Nitor enables Petri to use his skills and learn a whole set of new ones. Being highly into continuous learning, he immediately got excited about Nitor Core. Petri had also hoped to work with cloud platforms to familiarize himself with new technologies, and that wish is turning into reality.

“I’ve never had the pleasure of working on an AWS project, for example, so I asked if it would be possible to take part in one at Nitor. Now it seems I can get my hands on cloud platforms in a new project, which is great because it allows me to learn new things daily. Instead of doing the same thing over and over again with familiar technologies, I'm always looking for a way to improve and go a bit deeper as long as it serves a higher purpose, not just technical gimmickry,” he summarises. 

One of the greatest perks of his new job is the opportunity to work from the Tampere office. Traveling regularly to Helsinki would mean long days that are not optimal for someone with small children. As a remote-friendly workplace, Nitor allows Petri to maintain a healthy work-life balance and plan his days to support everyday life with his kids – alongside his wellness ring and smartwatch.

“I may not be the most active workout person, but I do follow my own health and recovery quite closely as multiple factors affect the overall stress and capacity. I have been on the lookout for a so-called Dashboard of Life, a single platform where I could find all the data and correlations of my life. However, a suitable one hasn’t stepped forward, so I’ve been compiling my own from a set of apps and technologies. This helps me to figure out if working out today, for example, is beneficial according to my readiness level,” he explains.

To counteract the demanding work and data-oriented lifestyle, Petri likes to relax in front of the tv, either watching interesting shows or playing video games. He is particularly fond of story-driven titles but also recently surprised himself with a new genre. 

“The Last of Us 2 was one of the most impressive gaming experiences I've had so far. To my surprise, I’ve also liked Returnal, a Finnish game that’s quite challenging. I never thought I’d make it as far as I have. You need to play the same levels over and over again, and I didn’t think it’s something I have the patience for, but maybe my resilience has grown along with my hectic life and career,” Petri laughs.