Meet Sara Surakka, Sales Engineer at Atlas Copco Power Technique Nordic
Sara Surakka, Sales Engineer at Atlas Copco Power Technique Nordic, shares the story about what drew her towards Atlas Copco, her current position and what she enjoys most about working here.
Family: Boyfriend, dog and two cats. One of the cats is called Morso and is the boss.
Motivation: To learn more. Sara is planning to earn her Master of Engineering degree while she works.
Role model: Sara’s grandmother, a woman with a big heart who does things her own way and with a quite modern mindset despite her age.
Something surprising: She worked as a bartender for 7 years and is still into mixology as a hobby. She also loves to go fishing!
Sara Surakka grew up in Riihimäki, a lovely, small town 60 km north of Helsinki. Her parents are both well educated and work within the technical sector, so for Sara it seemed perfectly natural to become a mechanical engineer.
The start of a technical career
Her technical interests started already in middle and high school. During her studies at university Sara worked at ABB, making quotes for spare parts, and at the end of her education she did her thesis for them.
At university Sara got deep knowledge about machines and discovered a fascination with robots. Her first full-time job was at Pilz, a German company specialized in automation technology for industry. This was a great place to learn about different kinds of robots and how they can help people on the production line.
After some years at Pilz, when a position as Sales Engineer at Atlas Copco came along, Sara saw an opening for further development.
An open and diverse atmosphere
In January 2020, Sara started her new job at Atlas Copco Power Technique. She describes how she immediately felt at home, due to the company culture which focuses on teamwork and encourages all kinds of ideas: “The best thing about the job is to meet all kinds of people and customers,” she comments.
“When you ask the customers to tell about their business, they are very excited to show you. There is great variety in this job,” Sara says and adds that: “When visiting a customer, you sometimes have to answer some extra questions to show you really have the required competence. After that ‘test’ you are more than welcome.”
Sara’s dream is to develop people and teams by being a motivating and supporting manager, to reach great results. What she values most about Atlas Copco are the good work environment and opportunities you get to challenge yourself, working with highly motivated colleagues across the world.
“It is more interesting to work with people with different opinions and backgrounds. Everyone has different experiences,” Sara says. “The open and diverse atmosphere at Atlas Copco Power Technique suits me perfectly,” she concludes.
