Finders Seekers

A CV tells you what someone achieved somewhere else, with other people, at another time. "You assume from their CV that they'll succeed here because they've succeeded somewhere else. You need to take the time to look at who fits this team, this company and its current situation." That's Antti Kleemola, most recently Finnair's Chief Digital Officer and Executive Board member, with transformations at VR, Outokumpu and Posti behind him. He spoke on 29 September at "Smart organisations: humans, technology and business"- event by by ICT Leaders Finland ILF, TIVIA ry and Hallituspartnerit – Board Professionals Helsinki, which we sponsored and where our CEO Anni Helinen talked about tech leadership hiring. We also sat down with Antti for a longer conversation about how he builds tech leadership teams. He described weighing two candidates for a role at Finnair. One brought deep expertise and would challenge established practice. The other knew how to navigate a corporate environment. He chose the challenger — after working out whether Finnair was ready for that change. On the partner helping him hire: "I want someone who has the courage to challenge what kind of person we actually need." Something to take into your next search: Define the change behind the job title, then ask whether the person you hire will have the authority and support to deliver it. The full interview covers what he wants to see from a candidate in the age of AI, and his formula for building a winning tech team: https://lnkd.in/dVHHga6Q #TechLeadership #LeadershipHiring #TalentAcquisition

Sometimes you choose your positioning. Sometimes your positioning has already chosen you. 😅 When I came back from parental leave early this year I took on leading our brand and marketing, in addition to leading our employer branding business. First up was an audit of our ICPs and value proposition. We've been working on the next chapter of Finders Seekers and asking ourselves and our clients a pretty fundamental question: Where are we at our best? Turns out, the numbers had a fairly clear answer. In 2022, Deep Tech companies represented 28% of our revenue and 14% of our clients. In 2026? 70% of our revenue. ~45% of our clients. We didn't decide to become a deep tech talent partner and then go looking for deep tech clients. The work came first. Over the years, we've found ourselves working with companies building some pretty incredible things. Quantum computers. Satellites. Weather and environmental measurement technology. Space infrastructure. Wearables and health technology. Biotech and medtech. Icebreakers. Different technologies. Different industries. Different stages of growth. But they have something important in common: The technology is hard. And the talent required to build it is rare. When you're developing technology at the edge of what's possible, hiring isn't simply about filling vacancies. You might need a specialist who barely exists on the market. You might be competing globally for the same tiny talent pool. You might need to explain technology few people understand, and turn that into a reason someone wants to join you. And as you scale, you need the recruitment capability and employer brand to scale with you. That's where we've increasingly found our sweet spot. So we're not really pivoting Finders Seekers into deep tech. We're putting a name to where our business has already taken us. Finders Seekers is the talent partner for scaling deep tech. From finding the rare individuals you need today, to building the recruitment capability and employer brand you'll need tomorrow. Curious: What’s the rarest talent your company is looking for right now? #deeptech #talentattraction #findersseekers

It hasn’t quite hit us. Lettin’ it all sink in. 🥹 Last night we won three awards at the #EBMAwards in London for our work together. Finders Seekers x IQM Quantum Computers 🏆 GOLD Best Communication of the Employer Brand to the External Audience Best Employer Brand by Sector - Engineering & Manufacturing 🥈 SILVER Best Alignment of the Employer Value Proposition with Corporate Brand Values It was already a win to make it to the awards, but this was more than we anticipated. So proud of this team and the years of intentional work to reach this point. So grateful for the trust, shared ambition and collaboration with IQM. A wonderful evening to celebrated together! 🤩❤️ Karelle Bélanger , Petra Erkkilä , Galina L. , Peter Franco , Emilia Stuart , Selma Kiuru , Anna Salmi #awardwinning #deeptech #talentattraction #findersseekers #iqm

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