Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

How to? Read other's experiences. Find useful advice on shipping, immigration, residence permits, visas and more.
Post Reply
christosmarg
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:10 pm

Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by christosmarg » Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:12 pm

I was thinking of moving to Finland to study there, but due to financial problems I'll probably have to study in my homeland (Greece). Now, my plan is to move to Finland in 4 years from now either for a Master's Degree and continue leaving there when I finish it, otherwise I'll move there after I finish all my studies. In the meantime I'll be learning Finnish. What I'm looking forward to studying is ONE of the following:

1. Programming
2. Psychology
3. Teaching
4. Music

So, my questions are:

1. Which of the jobs/fields I mentioned above are needed the most in Finland? It would be greatly appreciated if you could rank them and give me a bit of information on the topic.
2. What is the current economic status of Finland?
3. Is it generally hard to find a job in Finland as a foreigner with English, German, Greek and Finnish knowledge?
4. What are some skills that are a bonus for someone to have?
5. Do you believe that moving to Finland instead of another country (e.g Norway, Denmark) would be a wise choice to build a good life?
6. What about nurses and medical assistants?
7. Is there anything else important that I need to know before deciding to move there in the future?

Thanks for your time, cheers!



Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Sponsor:

Finland Forum Ad-O-Matic
 

Upphew
Posts: 10748
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:55 pm
Location: Lappeenranta

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by Upphew » Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:12 am

christosmarg wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:12 pm
I was thinking of moving to Finland to study there, but due to financial problems I'll probably have to study in my homeland (Greece). Now, my plan is to move to Finland in 4 years from now either for a Master's Degree and continue leaving there when I finish it, otherwise I'll move there after I finish all my studies. In the meantime I'll be learning Finnish. What I'm looking forward to studying is ONE of the following:

1. Programming
2. Psychology
3. Teaching
4. Music

So, my questions are:

1. Which of the jobs/fields I mentioned above are needed the most in Finland? It would be greatly appreciated if you could rank them and give me a bit of information on the topic.
2. What is the current economic status of Finland?
3. Is it generally hard to find a job in Finland as a foreigner with English, German, Greek and Finnish knowledge?
4. What are some skills that are a bonus for someone to have?
5. Do you believe that moving to Finland instead of another country (e.g Norway, Denmark) would be a wise choice to build a good life?
6. What about nurses and medical assistants?
7. Is there anything else important that I need to know before deciding to move there in the future?

Thanks for your time, cheers!
1. Programming is by far the most needed of those afaik.
2. Right now ok, in four years... who knows.
3. I'd say it is hard to find a job in Finland without connections or references.
http://google.com http://translate.google.com http://urbandictionary.com
Visa is for visiting, Residence Permit for residing.

FinnGuyHelsinki
Posts: 1439
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:52 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by FinnGuyHelsinki » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:00 am

In your situation, if after the studies still thinking about moving, I'd be looking at Denmark (and Switzerland, albeit it's non-EU). There's nothing in Finland that's inherently better, but it's colder and darker during much of the year, further away from the rest of the Europe and the language is harder to learn.

christosmarg
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:10 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by christosmarg » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:50 am

FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:00 am
In your situation, if after the studies still thinking about moving, I'd be looking at Denmark (and Switzerland, albeit it's non-EU). There's nothing in Finland that's inherently better, but it's colder and darker during much of the year, further away from the rest of the Europe and the language is harder to learn.
In your opinion, why is Denmark a better choice? I still keep my options open though, I just have to decide this year because next year I'll have to start learning the language of the country I'll be moving to, so the whole thing might happen in 4-5 years from now but I can't make a last minute decision. In other words I know a lot of things might change (e.g the country's economy, need for jobs etc) but at least I need to have a plan.

FinnGuyHelsinki
Posts: 1439
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:52 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by FinnGuyHelsinki » Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:36 pm

christosmarg wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:50 am
FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:00 am
In your situation, if after the studies still thinking about moving, I'd be looking at Denmark (and Switzerland, albeit it's non-EU). There's nothing in Finland that's inherently better, but it's colder and darker during much of the year, further away from the rest of the Europe and the language is harder to learn.
In your opinion, why is Denmark a better choice? I still keep my options open though, I just have to decide this year because next year I'll have to start learning the language of the country I'll be moving to, so the whole thing might happen in 4-5 years from now but I can't make a last minute decision. In other words I know a lot of things might change (e.g the country's economy, need for jobs etc) but at least I need to have a plan.
I just mentioned some reasons, Denmark is at least on par in just about any measure for quality of life. Have you visited Finland, or other coutries you're thinking about? To me it sounds that it's not very clear to you what exactly you want (maybe other than to leave Greece), and you're basing your plans on statistics, news stories etc. without first hand experience of the daily life in where you're planning to go. It doesn't matter that much which fields of work have openings, unless you yourself are also interested in the same. Becoming good enough in just about anything will help a lot, but that is hard to do if you don't really like what you're doing.

christosmarg
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:10 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by christosmarg » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:36 pm

FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:36 pm
christosmarg wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:50 am
FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:00 am
In your situation, if after the studies still thinking about moving, I'd be looking at Denmark (and Switzerland, albeit it's non-EU). There's nothing in Finland that's inherently better, but it's colder and darker during much of the year, further away from the rest of the Europe and the language is harder to learn.
In your opinion, why is Denmark a better choice? I still keep my options open though, I just have to decide this year because next year I'll have to start learning the language of the country I'll be moving to, so the whole thing might happen in 4-5 years from now but I can't make a last minute decision. In other words I know a lot of things might change (e.g the country's economy, need for jobs etc) but at least I need to have a plan.
I just mentioned some reasons, Denmark is at least on par in just about any measure for quality of life. Have you visited Finland, or other coutries you're thinking about? To me it sounds that it's not very clear to you what exactly you want (maybe other than to leave Greece), and you're basing your plans on statistics, news stories etc. without first hand experience of the daily life in where you're planning to go. It doesn't matter that much which fields of work have openings, unless you yourself are also interested in the same. Becoming good enough in just about anything will help a lot, but that is hard to do if you don't really like what you're doing.
All the fields I mentioned are fields I'm really interested in, actually. As far as the preference is concerned, this is the reason I joined the forum, to read about experiences from people who live there, and not just statistics and numbers. I'm trying to get in contact with other people as well who live in Finland and are musicians as well so at the moment I'm gathering as much information about life there as I can, so I can make a proper decision when the time is right. Now, about the other thing you said, I actually admire the Finnish culture, customs, nature (obviously) and language as well, so it's not that I just want to move there out of desperation.

FinnGuyHelsinki
Posts: 1439
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:52 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by FinnGuyHelsinki » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:28 am

Being a musician is the same as anywhere else - the vast majority will barely make a living, if even that, having to have a "real job" (and/or being on wellfare) is the norm. Whatever you end up studying, make sure that the degree is transferable to the rest of Europe. The more people-facing a job is, the more important being fluent in the local language will be. I think one will have to be something extraordinary learning Finnish to that level without actually using the language on a daily basis for quite some time. Thus, it's not very realistic to expect to land a job in Finland e.g. in healthcare, having just completed studies for it somewhere else.

christosmarg
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:10 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by christosmarg » Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:34 pm

FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:
Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:28 am
Being a musician is the same as anywhere else - the vast majority will barely make a living, if even that, having to have a "real job" (and/or being on wellfare) is the norm. Whatever you end up studying, make sure that the degree is transferable to the rest of Europe. The more people-facing a job is, the more important being fluent in the local language will be. I think one will have to be something extraordinary learning Finnish to that level without actually using the language on a daily basis for quite some time. Thus, it's not very realistic to expect to land a job in Finland e.g. in healthcare, having just completed studies for it somewhere else.
I'm planning on learning the language in the years in between. Apart from actual classes which I'll obviously attend, is there any good site-app for starters?

christosmarg
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:10 pm

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by christosmarg » Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:37 pm

christosmarg wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:34 pm
FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:
Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:28 am
Being a musician is the same as anywhere else - the vast majority will barely make a living, if even that, having to have a "real job" (and/or being on wellfare) is the norm. Whatever you end up studying, make sure that the degree is transferable to the rest of Europe. The more people-facing a job is, the more important being fluent in the local language will be. I think one will have to be something extraordinary learning Finnish to that level without actually using the language on a daily basis for quite some time. Thus, it's not very realistic to expect to land a job in Finland e.g. in healthcare, having just completed studies for it somewhere else.
I'm planning on learning the language in the years in between. Apart from actual classes which I'll obviously attend, is there any good site-app for starters?
Never mind, I found the Language school section on the forum.

clausc
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2018 3:19 am

Re: Planning on moving to Finland in the future. I've got some questions.

Post by clausc » Sat Aug 25, 2018 3:34 am

christosmarg wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:12 pm
1. Programming
2. Psychology
3. Teaching
4. Music

So, my questions are:

1. Which of the jobs/fields I mentioned above are needed the most in Finland? It would be greatly appreciated if you could rank them and give me a bit of information on the topic.
2. What is the current economic status of Finland?
3. Is it generally hard to find a job in Finland as a foreigner with English, German, Greek and Finnish knowledge?
4. What are some skills that are a bonus for someone to have?
5. Do you believe that moving to Finland instead of another country (e.g Norway, Denmark) would be a wise choice to build a good life?
6. What about nurses and medical assistants?
7. Is there anything else important that I need to know before deciding to move there in the future?

Thanks for your time, cheers!
Programming. If you are a good programmer you might not even need Finnish. As the above poster I'd recommend you look at other similar countries first, in particular Sweden, Switzerland and maybe even Norway as they are less xenophobic, are generally wealthier, have broader and larger economies and have higher ranked Universities - esp. Switzerland.


Post Reply