Thread: Finding a job in Finland

Originally Posted by Ali

There are many jobs in Finland. Government need people to come in finland. its just finnish people are shy and they hestitate to hire foriegn people.May be cuz they are afraid of making mistakes when they speak english,,lol.The way i see it, its not about finnish language its just the hestitation. I can see they wanna communicate but usually shy.Well im still trying to figure out how to approach them so they will feel comfortable. Cuz when some foriegn guy go for job the first thing they think is like oh its not gona be same easy as before.im currently in Raahe its a small town in nortehren finland. I did get a small job at a car showroom. i deliver cars from helsinki or tampere.The guy was extremly social so he offered this work.

Mr. Ali,
If I don't like Finland at the first sight, I won't spend my precious time on trying my best to understand this land deeper and deeper for months. And the more I learn, the more complex I find. It's not that simple as you said. I'm not looking for right, wrong or simple judgment, but the whole picture of true lives in Finland, and the reasons behind all misery.
If you haven't, I suggest you spend some time on reading those thousands of comments on Uranus.fi - Avoimet työpaikat, Piilotyöpaikat, Koulutus, Rekrytointi, Yrittäjyys. IF YOU DO SO, you'll find shocking truth. There're foreigners and Finns suffering. Some foreign guy bought a crap house in Finland and lost 100000 euros in the whole process of house and law suit, which just discriminate him and leave no chance of justice for him.
IF YOU DO SO, you'll find some foreigner with very fluent Finnish skill can't find a single true Finnish friend for FIVE YEARS. IF YOU DO SO, you'll find very talented engineer in Finnish company can't fight for himself against discrimination because in this social secure society, a foreigner can't find an equal playing ground to argue. IF YOU DO SO, you'll help me to build the whole picture. And MAYBE, it's also helping yourself 'cause it's LIFE, shxt always happen.
William

Hello Guys!
I know a person, who is still living in Finland since..2005 (Im not quiet sure), and he has a job (!), and girlfriend now. He started like an erasmus student, and after he stayed there in the school. It was years ago and he found himself in Finland, even he didnt learn any words in Finnish!
what a strange situation..?
so I really wanted to go back and live there again, but I think Ive already given up... because of the language.
So I hope you can find yourself there...every of you !! enjoy every moment in Finland especially in Helsinki.Very nice place!I wont forget it!!
so just the best for you
bye

I have registered my profile in a few jobs sites, including mol.fi.

Since I'm a Canadian, I need a work permit. My Finnish is still weak. I have good Swedish skills, but it does not help much.

I have an higher education and experience in translation (Russian, English, Swedish, French), but for the time being I do not have much hope that I'll work in this profession.

Now I am learning Finnish and looking for those types of unskilled work, for which it is possible to get a work permit.

It will take a while, but if your in Espoo you will be fine finding an unskilled job...cleaning or working in a Hotel kitchen etc. Just dont give up on it, and get a hold of some good language books. 'Finnish For Foreigners' is a good one.

Thank you. Yes, after trying several textbooks, I came to the conclusion that this is the best one.

I have been 4 times in Finland, but never as a worker (Ok, when I was there last year as an erasmus student I found a parttime job for a family who wanted an italian baby-sitter, but it was not a proper job :P), and also never tryed to find a job there, so I dont have experance in that job hunting in Finland.
I' ll graduate (B.D.) this year in Languages, English and Finnish as major, but sadly I am not fluent in Finnish yet, I can comunicate. I make myself understandable and I understand what people mainly say, but I am still slow in talking and need to learn much vocabulary (you know that there is no other way to learn how to speak fluently a language than been in the country for long time and use it as much as you can).
Now I am working in a Hotel&Hostel here in Italy as receprionist, and I was thinking if it is hard to get that kind of job in Finland (expecially in Oulu), or at least in turistic field even if not perfectly fluent in Finnish.
I am a bit confused about my future I dunno what kind of job I wanna do for all my life, or if I wanna even continue studying. I was even thinking about becoming an italian teacher there, but I dont know exactly how to become and how long it takes. Do you need a M.D. in Italianistic?

Maybe my questions sound a bit silly, but I am still a bit lost in this "finding a job in Finland"-jungle. :P

no questions are silly!!! it is the only way to get to know

I think you have a good chance to get the same kind of job you have now, at some major hotel company in touristic areas, since you speak fluent english and already some finnish and have relevant experience...

per quanto riguarda alle lezioni d'italiano forse hai anche parecchi chances, non è in fatti una lingua molto popolare tra i finlandesi ma ci sono tantissimi fan dell'Italia che vogliono imparare, ho conosciuto alcuni insegnanti che non hanno nemmeno una laurea linguistica, ma siccome sono di madrelingua francese, spagnola o portogalla, ce l'hanno fatta...

quindi almeno hai qualcosa per l'inizio, inbocca al'lupo!!!!

Hi everyone!
I'm in the fortunate situation that I am a born Finn and have a job. My hubby though is from the UK and has been a "victim" of our systems in many ways. The saddest thing ever was the difficulty of finding a job and the biggest reason for this was and is still the language. Next biggest obstacle can be the lack of an academic degree.

All foreigners should know that this country has always emphasized the importance of education and thus the better school report and university diplomas you have, the better chances you have to get a job. Finland is not a big country and the population is only a little over 5,3 million. The unemployment among even the Finns is already so huge that this makes it even harder for foreigners to take "our jobs" unless you are very skilled and can show it. Any foreigner has to fight twice as hard as a Finn to get employed unless he/she is almost exceptionally good at something or has really good luck of having good contacts.
It is unfair that education in most jobs is considered more important than actual work experience. Many graduates can be exceptionally good in theory&paper and show good reports but when it then comes to show your skills in practise, you can be a total zero. Should you happen to be a skilled professional in some "handy job", have had your own company and traded succesfully for decades, this does not often count in Finland if you don't have diplomas to show. I bet there are many foreigners who are faced with the fact that they cannot even get a job as a cleaner because they don't speak or communicate in Finnish. This is unfortunate, but so true and every foreigner thinking of working here must realise this and really learn the language cause if a mirracle doesn't happen, the job will be given to someone who can communicate in our language.

It's also true that many Finns have an attitude against foreigners. Actually I myself tend to have the attitude "When in Rome, do like the Romans do". Should I myself move abroad to another country and culture, I absolutely MUST learn at least the basics of the country's language, ways and habbits to get myself into the society. Unfortunately too many foreigners have just moved here having heard of the "country that pays and gives you everything" and that is the reason these people not even try to make an effort to learn the way of live here and this way they'll get disliked and even discriminated.

To understand the slight dislike of foreigners has to do about our history and I recommend every foreigner to study some of it, the experience will help them to understand our way of thinking. This country has fought hard for its freedom and grown to be one of the most important countries in the modern world so we really don't want "lazy loiterers" living on our taxes and social benefits without doing nothing. I know it's wrong to generalise "lazy loiterers" but too many foreigners act like this when they get rejected and turned down by employers. Soon they have nothing else to do than spend time in gangs at the railway stations or fast food places and give that type of picture of "how hard they try to be part of this society and contribute to it". Unfortunately this too often leads to crime being the way of making it here.

I don't want to discourage anybody, this is just to state the facts and give a Finns' view of how many of my fellow citizens think. I read a few comments here about opening an own business and trying it solo. From our experience I just want to recommend - think twice! Been there, done it! Should one's business idea and plan not be exceptional and something really spectacular and there is a need for something new on the market, one should really think twice. The tax people want their VATs payed on a regular basis despite one's business result and income. The health care fees, retirement funds and other obligatory monthly fees have to be covered no matter what. Should you fail, you end up in a flash into the registers open to all officials. Should you like to apply for a loan or a credit card, you can just as well forget it. It can take years to get your "name and reputation" cleared and get out of this "black list (for example Luottotietorekisteri)".
Finland is a very modern country when it comes to IT technology and making use of it. This has its advantages and disadvantages. All information about you can be found in less than a second.

Sorry for the length of my "comment". I think the question was "What is your experience in finding a job in Finland?". To end this monologue I would say that it is unfortunately really hard for Finns but even harder for foreigners.

LEARN the language!!!, send applications to all imaginable places, don't get discouraged if you don't get any response (very common indeed) and do not give up. Better yet, have a job ready before even moving ;-)

Originally Posted by djvm98

no questions are silly!!! it is the only way to get to know

I think you have a good chance to get the same kind of job you have now, at some major hotel company in touristic areas, since you speak fluent english and already some finnish and have relevant experience...

per quanto riguarda alle lezioni d'italiano forse hai anche parecchi chances, non è in fatti una lingua molto popolare tra i finlandesi ma ci sono tantissimi fan dell'Italia che vogliono imparare, ho conosciuto alcuni insegnanti che non hanno nemmeno una laurea linguistica, ma siccome sono di madrelingua francese, spagnola o portogalla, ce l'hanno fatta...

quindi almeno hai qualcosa per l'inizio, inbocca al'lupo!!!!

Oh, thanks so much for your replay. It cheered me a bit :P I though I was hopeless.
Well, ok, we will see what happens, I still have sometime here in Italy before seriously come to find a work in Finland. I already started looking for something through internet because you never know, but when I will really start the "hunting" I will tell about it
May I ask why you speak so well Italian? *_* I am always so impressed about people who can speak so well my language, it's amazing!!