me want job

[malongo]

let me explain. whenever i visit the employment office i feel stranger than usual when doing the usual "en puhu suomea, puhutteko englanti?" normally, it's no big deal because my next request is usually for something trivial like directions or a beer. but when i'm at the employment office, and the initial exchange is over, i sit down and kind of feel like i'm saying, "me want job."

hence the title of this post. (surprise! i'm not posting to ask for a job.) i'm actually interested in other people's thoughts on the job search, more specifically their time at the employment office. i figured since more people are using the employment office (and simultaneously have more time to talk about their time there), maybe there are others like me that find the experience a little strange, or have a good story to tell.

as for me, i just moved to helsinki last weekend and went to my local kluuvi office today. as i was waiting for my number to ring, i'm worried that i'll get somebody who hates their job or is having a bad day, which always sucks. but it especially sucks when it's just you and the bureaucrat, together trying to determine how you'll spend most of your day earning a living. feels like that number you get is a lot more important than it should be.

but i was lucky and my advisor was awesome. we just shot the !"#¤% for at least 30 minutes about hockey, the swine flu, the kentucky derby. when we finally got down to business, it turned out i was supposed to go to the immigrant's office in hakaniemi, so i ended up leaving without anything productive being done. i ended up waiting for 2 hours to have a nice conversation with a stranger. but it was kind of worth it.

...so maybe that experience wasn't very interesting to you. or maybe you have something better? me want stories.

[maurine]

did you get a job?

[malongo]

nope

[imneverdrinkingagain]

feels like that number you get is a lot more important than it should be.

Sorry this is not really related specifically to finding a job, but I have found the same as you regarding the waiting number. Sometimes you get a horrible person who is unwilling to help, sometimes an awesome person who is great. If there are quite a few people waiting, the trick is take a ticket, then wait for someone else to take one, then take another. Repeat as necessary. Now while waiting check out the people and you can see who is having a bad day or just looks generally miserable and who looks like they are going to be hepful. Normally I find the younger ones are most helpful and older ones less so (not always true of course but generally speaking). Then when your number comes up, if its a good person, go for it, if not then just ignore it, then next person in line will go to that person and then when your next number comes up, with a bit of luck its the good person

[malongo]

when your number comes up, if its a good person, go for it, if not then just ignore it

very sneaky.

went to hakaniemi immigrant's office today. it was a battle trying to get information out of the woman i got. she wasn't offering up anything that wasn't in direct response to a specific question. it's like she was hording advice to prep for the apocalypse. and she smelled like eggs.

#545. stupid lottery.

[JimmyBang]

i learn more and more that its whoever your talking too on the day your there that determines the outlook of your future...at least till you go back and talk to someone else, than, again, your destiny is altered. What I notice is alot of the problem is 3,4 or 5 different "offices" all dealing with the same issue...in their own unique way, when it should all be done a one place (i mean, if its all related to the same thing, a job, than why make it so hard?...oh yeah, because they really dont want forig-ners here

kela has gotten me in debt with the tax office
social office has gotten me in debt with lindex... blah blah blah...

...by way of WRONG information given.

but alas, i admit its all my fault because i havent learned the language enough to understand all their incoherant info that contradicts the previous info given at the place the other place sent me to.