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työnhakijalle: tietopalvelu: tapahtumaraportit: Career Evening for International Students 5.2.2008

How to get a job in Finland ?

The Career Evening for International Students was held for the first time on February 5, 2008 at the University of Tampere . It was part of the theme week “YP – the Contact and Recruitment Event 2008”.

— It is great that there is an event like this because most of the information on the Internet is in Finnish, says postgraduate Yang Xi from TAMK.

The event was organized by Studying in Tampere Region (SITR), a collaboration project between all the institutions of higher education in Tampere . Therefore, every international student from UTA, TUT, PIRAMK and TAMK was welcome, and some 150 turned out.

The idea was to give international students advice on finding, getting and keeping a job in Finland . After the words of welcome, Jutta Keski-Korhonen from toinennäkymä oy provided some general information on job hunting and the Finnish working life.

— Employers are not interested in the fact that you need a job. Focus on the needs of the employers — you should be the solution to their problems. But remember to stick to the facts, don't exaggerate your skills.

Keski-Korhonen has given counselling to job seekers to find out the Finnish way of hiring people.

— Finns might be hard to approach, so you shouldn't be too aggressive. It might be better to call the employer or send an email rather than go and visit them. The recruitment process itself is fairly informal in Finland : usually applicants are treated like equals.

According to Keski-Korhonen, Internet-based recruitment is very popular in Finland . The most common place to find job advertisements used to be the newspaper, but these days the ads are mostly on the Internet.

“Remember the social importance of language”

Many students wanted to know how important it is to be able to write and speak Finnish when trying to get a job. When asked whether it is better to write an application in very good English or in very poor Finnish, Jutta Keski-Korhonen's answer was simple:

— In English, so that you can express everything you want to say. Later in the interview, you can make a good impression by speaking some Finnish.

However, all the former students of TAMK, TUT, PIRAMK and UTA who were given the floor during the evening seemed to think that the Finnish language is overrated among employers. You might not even need it in your actual job, but it is the social importance of it that counts. TUT graduate Christian Kutschke mentioned the possibility of taking a national language test in Tampere , which at least shows you are motivated to learn Finnish.

Motivation is the key

One of the former students speaking was Kenyan-born Brown Onduso , who described his path to his present job as a marketing and PR coordinator.

At first, he found it very difficult to get an interview. When he finally got one, he received honest feedback about his application. The interviewer did not know how his enterprise could use Onduso's work experience. In addition, Onduso learned that there are hidden barriers in the Finnish working culture: many members of the work community were not comfortable with the idea of a foreign workmate.

First of all, Onduso had to shorten his seven-page CV drastically to improve his application.

— The Kenyan rule “the longer the better” doesn't hold true in Finland . Here, you should be able to squeeze everything substantial to one page, Onduso points out.

Onduso, as well as three other speakers, Christian Kutschke, Amanda Barret-Utunen and Daniela Ungureanu , agreed on the importance of getting to know oneself before applying for a job. They recommended everyone some kind of personal case study, for example a SWOT analysis (i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).

Specific answers to common problems

Summarizing the event, the primary thing in job hunting is to know what you want and verbalize it clearly in your application and during the interview.

Information technology skills and networking are also important for international students. Hobbies are a good way to meet Finns and learn the language. In spite of all, if getting a job still seems to be like getting blood from a stone, it is relatively easy to set up your own business in Finland . You can also try to get a permanent job through an internship or by doing volunteer work.

Exchange student Björn and degree student Adnan from TUT were pleased about the evening.

— We got lots of specific information we wouldn't get anywhere else. Especially the last part, the speeches by former students with very different backgrounds, was fruitful. It is good to know that all international students wrestle with the same problems.

There is still something that can be done to perfect the event if it is organized again.

— It should take place earlier than the day before the main Contact and Recruitment Event. If you want to show your CV there, you have too little time to improve it, Björn remarks.