THS Career Stories: Steve Williams, IT Support Specialist
Hi Steve! Would you kindly introduce yourself and provide some information about your background?
Hello! I'm Steve and I'm the IT Support Specialist within TechOps. I'm from Edinburgh, Scotland and I've worked as a Networks and Information Security Engineer for the past 20 years. I've lived in Oulu for the past 14 years, for nearly all of that time I've worked remotely, supporting small to medium-sized enterprises and helping them grow in their business development ventures.
Could you please tell us shortly about your professional journey? How has your work evolved over the years?
For me personally, even though I've gained a lot of technical experience, gaining technical skills has been easy since it's the thing I've enjoyed the most. The most challenging and rewarding part of the journey has been the social aspect of team-building and helping my colleagues develop their skills and competencies. Having worked remotely for so long, I've managed to overcome many challenges faced by not being able to physically be somewhere to perform a task. This has resulted in my understanding how to compromise and build a team that works for one another in unity towards a shared goal.
I think my work has evolved from being purely technical in nature to my role being mostly social in nature.
Before entering the IT industry, I worked in customer service roles, which has meant that I've understood the need for a service-based attitude towards my work and ensuring that my team is constantly meeting the needs of end-users and customers.
What do you find most rewarding about being part of the THS team?
Definitely knowing that we're working towards something important to society. Even though it's still in the early stages of development, I think that we're working towards something that will make healthcare more accessible to everyone globally.
What currently excites you the most about your work, and which skills would you like to develop further?
No two days are the same sometimes, as different types of issues arise from various departments and customers. There's a multitude of areas in which I'd love to develop my skills in Information Security, but also in AI and embedded systems, which are also hobbies of mine, which I've been developing in the past.
The wide variety of things that I work on excites me the most.
Could you please share with us a nice memory from your time at THS?
I was still 2 weeks from my first day, but I was invited to the summer trip to Seinäjoki. I think it showed a great attitude towards inclusion and making people feel welcome. Even though I didn't know anybody, I had a great time and was able to feel comfortable for my first day at work. I also got to meet a lot of people that I'd be working with from all Europe, so I'd been able to build relationships relatively quickly.