11 Guests

WIMMA Lab has had a lot of visitors from different companies. They get an excellent opportunity to get to know the students better and to market their own company.

It is advisable to go through the basics of receiving a guest with everyone before guests visit. It is a good idea to agree on a common code of conduct in advance, for example, that no mobile phones are used in the presence of the visitor. a badly behaving person can leave a negative impression on the visitor of the whole WIMA Lab, and he or she may not come again for the second time.

11.1 Building Knowledge

Business guests can be asked to talk about their own expertise, especially if it is related to the subject matter of the assignments. For example, a guest can give a small lecture on their speciality. This way, the terminology used in the field will become familiar and students will at the same time gain an understanding of the goals and challenges of work.

If a virtual company has an acute emergency and the guest might be able to help, they can be asked for advice on the problem.

11.2 Showing Knowledge

WIMMA Lab participants will also be given the opportunity to show their expertise whenever a guest is visiting. Especially in the IT field, presenting your expertise and your knowledge in a good light can sometimes be challenging, but the visitors provide an excellent opportunity to talk about yourself in a presentable manner.

Please note that not all guests are necessarily from the IT field. In this case, you should be able to tell your skills in a way that is easy to understand.

11.3 Networking

While visitors are visiting, it is good to remind the participants of the importance of networking, as it is very often forgotten. In the future, networking may be useful in finding jobs as well as implementing your theses if needed.

WIMMA Lab had its own business card in the summer of 2018. Each virtual company was also provided with their own business cards, on the back of which the participants could write their own contact information and a link to their Linkedin. A physical reminder leaves a more permanent image to the visitor that it was given to.

WIMMA Labians and guests from Qvantel. Photo: Lauri Mäkinen.

11.4 Raising motivation

Guests has been found to increase participants motivation in general. Studying in schools sometimes get numb and tiresome, so guests give a much neede variety to the day to day work. It is nice when the professional is giving feedback and getting to know your work, and bringing their perspectives to the mix.

At the same time, one's own image of the choice of profession is confirmed and senhanced.