after graduating, sallinen took a position as composition teacher at the sibelius academy and continued composing. among his pupils were i.e. the austrian born finnish composer herman rechberger and jouni kaipainen. he was appointed as the general manager of the finnish radio symphony orchestra in 1960 and held the position until 1969. he was the chairman of the board of the society of finnish composers between 1971–74. though he was a known teacher and was on many boards of directors, his compositions were not particularly noted until he was made "artist professor" by the finnish government in 1976, letting him concentrate on composing.