Find a Job in Finland For Rookies
Updated: Sep 18, 2023
Looking for work in a new country and also with a completely different language from ours is always a rather intimidating experience. Fortunately, Finland from this point of view is one of the most advanced countries in the whole world, and given the low number of inhabitants it has, it tries how it can to integrate newcomers and insert them into the labor market with all the tools it is able to provide.
The first thing I advise you to do as soon as you arrive in your new home is to go to the kela.fi office, a stone's throw from the Kamppi shopping center, and register as unemployed looking for a job - clearly, if you haven't found a job before physically moving - this will set the employment office in motion; you will be assigned to a person who will take care of your specific case step by step and who will build with you a plan to find a job, to apply for unemployment benefit and above all the integration machine.
You will be subjected to a language test that involves all aspects of Finnish, and at the end, you will be awarded a level; ranging from A1 (no knowledge or basic knowledge of Finnish) to C2 (native speaker). Having taken this data into consideration, you will decide together with the office manager which type, of course, is best suited to your person.
Exactly, course, because in Finland, to integrate yourself and make yourself a functional individual of the society, you are entitled to take a Finnish language course, and you will also be placed in a company, so as to accrue the state unemployment benefit. This type of "internship" lasts about six months and goes alongside the language course, which can be of low, medium, or high speed; depending on whether you already have experience in learning languages and your aptitude for learning new ones.
This is from the state's point of view, it also serves to have access to the health and social security number and therefore to the residence permit.
But, as we say in Italy, whoever does it by himself does for three, you don't want to leave all the responsibility to the state of getting you a job? So here are some practical tips to put a little nose in the Finnish job market.
LinkedIn, is definitely a must that I believe we all know, but of which few understand the real potential. Make the most of it, put on a nice resume, and do your research with the job alert that the social network makes available to you, it is really a great tool also because it is basically in English.
Great local site for housing and job seekers; there are loads of listings for all categories.
Again, lots of personalized ads and alerts
One of my favorites, the number of ads on this site is surprising, among other things if you register and fill in the resume, it will save it, and precisely like LinkedIn when you send an application, it will attach it.
In short, there are many ways and systems. Luckily even if it takes a long time (and it does, especially if you are not specialized in something), the state will help you as long as you are functional and do not eat only, you have to be willing to work a little. Exactly as is done in a normal job, after all.
I just have to wish you good luck in the job market or a good study of this difficult language.