When a Prohocian joins a project, they don’t stay on the sidelines. Specialist Services is built on people who integrate into the team and take responsibility where it matters most.
Jari Ojanen, Senior Site Manager
“Strong technical expertise, a solution-oriented mindset, the ability to perform under pressure and, above all, excellent social skills. These have been at the core of Prohoc’s Specialist Services since the very beginning and still are today.
The service ensures that our clients have the right expertise to execute their projects. In practice, we bring the required technical disciplines and professionals into the project organisation. Skills that are not always practical to hire permanently. Our scope covers a wide range of industrial investment project needs, excluding design, from marine to heavy industry and energy.
I usually join projects when execution starts to take shape. When steel, equipment and people start moving, that’s our home ground.
I joined Prohoc as one of the early hires when the company and the service were just starting to grow. At the time, there were only around ten of us. I had also worked as an entrepreneur, but at Prohoc I got to work on equally diverse projects without having to worry about sales myself.
Now, after 15 years in the company, a lot has changed. In the past, we entered projects as individual specialists. Today, we can build complete project organisations for our clients. Projects are often global, and the required expertise is rarely found in one country or team. Our strength lies in bringing together the right people, regardless of location.
Although I now focus more on domestic projects, international projects have left a strong impression. I remember a project in Japan where we were commissioning a Palm Oil Power Plant with a technology provider, just the two of us from Finland with local Japanese specialists. I was working at engine level when the whole plant shook violently. My first thought was that someone had driven a machine and hit the engine. Then I noticed the second engine shaking as well. It took a moment to realise it was an earthquake. The entire site was evacuated, but fortunately there was no danger. The situation illustrates well how unpredictable this work can be, and how experience and a solution-oriented mindset help you move forward, no matter the situation.
There is still plenty of work for me, even though I could already be retired. That says something about the ongoing demand for the expertise we are providing.”
Miro Dahlman, Commissioning Engineer
“Networks are everything in this work. The whole service is built on having an exceptionally broad pool of expertise. Today, Prohoc has over 400 employees, and we have connected with tens of thousands of professionals through recruitment processes. From this continuously evolving network, we select the best-fit specialists for each project.
Another key network is built within the projects themselves. It’s important to build strong relationships with clients, project teams and people on site through your own work.
As a consultant, you can find yourself in highly demanding projects that build experience. That requires flexibility and a willingness to take on different tasks. On site, you shouldn’t think, “this isn’t my responsibility” – quite the opposite. The more you can contribute, the more valuable you are.
You need to handle pressure, solve problems and adapt to different projects. One day I work as a consultant in a client project, the next as part of a Prohoc team. It keeps the work interesting when every day is different. With the right mindset, you keep learning and developing all the time.
In the end, it all comes down to people. We step in at the right time, work well with others, find solutions and ensure the job gets done with quality.”
Prohoc was built around Specialist Services in the late 1990s. In the beginning, there was just a man with a van, bringing strong energy sector expertise to industrial clients in the Vaasa region of Finland. Through determined work, a strong network was formed – one that still underpins the business today.
Following a generational shift, operations were developed systematically: the business was professionalised, the service offering broadened and the company expanded internationally.
Over the years, what started as individual experts has grown into a significant partner capable of building complete project organisations for clients’ global needs.