The high level of education in Finland motivated Raja Marthala to pack his bags and move north from his home country of India. He had previously finished his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in India and applied to the University of Vaasa to pursue his master’s degree in telecommunications. Why does Raja have a passion for machine learning? How does he feel Fliq is helping him on the road to his career goals? What tips does he have for people looking for work in the programming field?
Raja was working on his master’s thesis on a machine learning approach to wifi based indoor positioning when he first heard about Fliq.
– A professor of mine recommended Fliq to me. I went to the company’s home page and was impressed by the level of projects and machine learning technology they use. Their values and goals were a perfect match to mine, so it was easy to make the decision to apply, Raja remembers.
Raja feels that Fliq has good and innovative ideas for real-time challenges companies face. Currently he is working with machine learning and UI development projects. His daily tasks are varied from data and image preparation for training and optimizing AI models, testing them out first in testing environment and finally deploying them into production. A large part of the job is also taking feedback from the end users and continuously improving both models and the user interface.
– Digitalizing traditional ways of working makes many processes easier, faster, and more efficient. Machine learning is intriguing as it’s very effective and reduces human error quickly. It’s rewarding to see machine learning solutions solve real-time challenges customer face in their everyday operations, Raja says.
According to Raja, teamwork is a word that describes the way of working at Fliq at its best. Sharing knowledge between different professionals helps everyone develop their skills. He also wants to give credit to the excellent leadership he’s experienced at Fliq.
– I would describe the leadership at Fliq as true leadership. It’s not about just handing out tasks, but also making team members feel comfortable and welcome. For example, our CTO always greets us and actively asks us how we’re doing. I feel like our leaders truly care about us and it’s refreshing how we can sometimes even discuss topics not related to work. This combined with the teamwork mentality at Fliq really makes working here relaxed, enjoyable, and positive, thanks Raja.
Raja also wants to emphasize the work-life balance that is very good at Fliq.
– We have flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home. Remote working was possible even before the global pandemic. Some workplaces require employees to stretch to unexpected extra hours all the time, but at Fliq we have a good balance and enough time to enjoy our free time. I’m a nature lover, so I head to the forest to pick berries or mushrooms to wind down from work. Another favorite of mine is ice swimming, which I try to have time for a few times a week, Raja tells.
Raja’s short term career goal is to develop his machine learning skills further. In the long run, he would like to pursue his doctorate degree in machine learning and artificial intelligence. He feels that Fliq is a strong support on his road to achieve these goals and wants to warmly welcome new teammates to the growing company.
– Fliq’s website has lots of information and I recommend following the company also on LinkedIn. This is an excellent company and workplace with many career opportunities. If you don’t find an open position to match what you’re looking for, I highly recommend sending an open application to see where it takes you, Raja recommends.
