The Faces of Mavericks: Vesa-Matti Salo
For Software Development Consultant Vesa-Matti, computer games have played a big role in his life: They led to an interest in technology and where he is today. He has worked in several product companies, but at some point felt like consulting was more his thing. The path eventually took Vesa-Matti to Mavericks, where he was fascinated by the salary, minimal bureaucracy, interesting projects and the opportunity to make a difference.
What is your professional background like?
I’m originally from Ulvila but moved to Pori when I was 15 years old. From an early age, computer games have played a big role in my life, and it also led to an interest in technology. For this reason, it seemed like a natural path to study the field. So you could say software development has been my dream profession through my childhood experiences. After high school and military service, I studied and got myself an IT bachelor’s degree. During and after school, from 2012 onwards I worked in several product companies until I came to the conclusion that consulting is more my thing. In 2016 I moved to Helsinki and have worked as a software consultant ever since.
What are your best skills and abilities? Soft and tech.
My most important soft skill is my social character, which is why I get along very well with everyone. Being social also helps a lot in my work. For example, being able to point out issues at a very low threshold has been seen as very important.
In technical skills, I don’t want to pigeonhole myself into back end or front end, for example, but I have more of a Full Stack profile and I like to do a bit of everything. AWS, Typescript, Node.js, Java and React.js have been my favorite technologies. I used to be in finance and I got to do a lot of nice things there, but the current project at Mavericks (international media house) is the most interesting one I’ve been able to be involved in so far.
What do you like to do outside work?
My character is happy, social and I get on well with people. Humour is also a big part of me and I do like a bit of smack talk. At the same time, however, I also feel that I’m very calm.
All these years in my spare time, I’ve loved going to the gym where you can clear your mind of all the work-related things. I also like to play tennis occasionally and all racquet games are my thing really. When I was younger I played a lot of computer games and I still do it, but sometimes there are longer breaks. I’ve been playing guitar for about 15 years, but there have also been hiatuses in playing. Nothing very complicated, just basic chords and basic songs.
What got you interested in Mavericks?
The last company I worked for started to feel big enough that I wanted to switch to a smaller one. With Mavericks I was fascinated by many things, including salary, minimal bureaucracy, interesting projects and the opportunity to make a difference. In addition to the above, Mavericks has nice co-workers and I get to focus directly on customer work. I’d say this has been the best job of my life so far!
Mavericks is the go-to software consultancy for the top of their field software professionals who want to get the best of two worlds: The salary level and freedom of a freelancer and the safety net and sales machinery of a consultancy. We are constantly looking for new team members – are you the next Maverick?