Hello all,
My name is Jacques and I am turning 23 years old very soon.
I have been reading this forum for a while and like many others I am looking for a job.
I am hoping to find a job in the Turku/Salo area as this is where my girlfriend lives, and the reason I am planning to move over. I graduate from university with a degree in Law, however I am not passionate about the subject after studying it for 3 years so I decided not to pursue it as a career. I am open to temporary or permanent jobs, night shifts/day time work. I have had 3 jobs between university and now: working in a warehouse, as a product manager and as a secretary. Of course with no knowledge of the Finnish language apart from moi and kiitos I doubt there will be many opportunities. I have already visited 6 times as airfare is cheap and I have fallen in love with Turku, a cleaner, smaller city and much more suited to me than London!
As I understand unemployment is fairly high at the moment in Finland. Salo being a small city, I don't feel I have much hope there. Additionally I have heard Turku has many students also looking for jobs, and who can speak Finnish.
I believe as I come from England and hold a British Passport I should have no problem moving to Finland, but I understand I have to go through some procedures with the police to allow me to work.
If anyone could help me with some suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Jacques
Looking for a job from England
Re: Looking for a job from England
Making money only speaks one language.
If you know that language , then you need to show the locals you speak it, when they see you speak it, some of them will not care about your lack of Finnish skills.
Thats the fastest way to enter the market.
BTW saving money = making money ,
If you know that language , then you need to show the locals you speak it, when they see you speak it, some of them will not care about your lack of Finnish skills.
Thats the fastest way to enter the market.
BTW saving money = making money ,
Re: Looking for a job from England
Thanks Cors,
I have saved quite a bit of money so if I don't have a job straight away I have some time to look when I get there, just curious to see if it is possible to get a job/job offer before moving,
Kind regards,
Jacques
I have saved quite a bit of money so if I don't have a job straight away I have some time to look when I get there, just curious to see if it is possible to get a job/job offer before moving,
Kind regards,
Jacques
-
leroyragamuffin
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:55 pm
Re: Looking for a job from England
Hi Jacques,
Just thought i'd let you know my experience as i'm just doing similar to you, moving to Turku to live with my fiancee and am going through the intergration process now. Firstly, there are English speaking jobs available but they are very few and far between, typically they're in the professional job market and the ones available in the general market are quickly snapped up by people who are already here waiting. But its not all bad, you still have some other options such as going to uni, there are a few degree courses available at Turku uni which are taught in English (IT, nursing and business), or if not then there is an intergration course available to all new residents which basically puts you on a 6mth intensive language course and whilst attending this you receive unemployment welfare.
Registering here is quite straight forward if you have all your correct paperwork, firstly you'll need to register at the police station as a resident and get your residency permit. For this i had to produce bank statements showing i was financially self sufficient, some kind of proof that i had somewhere to live and the usual identification (passport). when you get your residency permit from them you go to the registrar office where you register the permit with them and get your ID number. Once you have that you are eligible to work if you can find it, if not you can go and register at the job centre and apply for the intergration course.
I'm not sure if they give some time frame that you have to have lived here for before you could register/claim as i'd lived with my fiancee for 2 years - going back to the UK every 3mths - i seem to remember the registrar or police station wanting proof that we'd been in a relationship for a certain amount of time, but as i'd been here 2 years i was OK.
You also will need to register with Kela to get your Kela card which once you have will give you entitlement to the health care and welfare - it's worth bringing work references and as much paperwork regarding your career so far, as they will help support applications. Kela won't give unemployment benefit until you've lived here officially for 6mths, and if you've been out of work for more than 2yrs you wont receive anything for 5mths - but if you get on the intergration course you will! Be prepared for lots of forms and bureaucracy!!
On the job side, there are quite a few available if you check the jobsites - for info, my Fiancee finished her masters degree in languages last year and she works in a launderette - there are jobs available if youre willing to do the work and its funny that most people do speak English but Finnish is a requirement
So yes get saving as you will need it......but its worth it!
Regards
Lee
Just thought i'd let you know my experience as i'm just doing similar to you, moving to Turku to live with my fiancee and am going through the intergration process now. Firstly, there are English speaking jobs available but they are very few and far between, typically they're in the professional job market and the ones available in the general market are quickly snapped up by people who are already here waiting. But its not all bad, you still have some other options such as going to uni, there are a few degree courses available at Turku uni which are taught in English (IT, nursing and business), or if not then there is an intergration course available to all new residents which basically puts you on a 6mth intensive language course and whilst attending this you receive unemployment welfare.
Registering here is quite straight forward if you have all your correct paperwork, firstly you'll need to register at the police station as a resident and get your residency permit. For this i had to produce bank statements showing i was financially self sufficient, some kind of proof that i had somewhere to live and the usual identification (passport). when you get your residency permit from them you go to the registrar office where you register the permit with them and get your ID number. Once you have that you are eligible to work if you can find it, if not you can go and register at the job centre and apply for the intergration course.
I'm not sure if they give some time frame that you have to have lived here for before you could register/claim as i'd lived with my fiancee for 2 years - going back to the UK every 3mths - i seem to remember the registrar or police station wanting proof that we'd been in a relationship for a certain amount of time, but as i'd been here 2 years i was OK.
You also will need to register with Kela to get your Kela card which once you have will give you entitlement to the health care and welfare - it's worth bringing work references and as much paperwork regarding your career so far, as they will help support applications. Kela won't give unemployment benefit until you've lived here officially for 6mths, and if you've been out of work for more than 2yrs you wont receive anything for 5mths - but if you get on the intergration course you will! Be prepared for lots of forms and bureaucracy!!
On the job side, there are quite a few available if you check the jobsites - for info, my Fiancee finished her masters degree in languages last year and she works in a launderette - there are jobs available if youre willing to do the work and its funny that most people do speak English but Finnish is a requirement
So yes get saving as you will need it......but its worth it!
Regards
Lee
Re: Looking for a job from England
leroyragamuffin wrote:Hi Jacques,
Just thought i'd let you know my experience as i'm just doing similar to you, moving to Turku to live with my fiancee and am going through the intergration process now. Firstly, there are English speaking jobs available but they are very few and far between, typically they're in the professional job market and the ones available in the general market are quickly snapped up by people who are already here waiting. But its not all bad, you still have some other options such as going to uni, there are a few degree courses available at Turku uni which are taught in English (IT, nursing and business), or if not then there is an intergration course available to all new residents which basically puts you on a 6mth intensive language course and whilst attending this you receive unemployment welfare.
Registering here is quite straight forward if you have all your correct paperwork, firstly you'll need to register at the police station as a resident and get your residency permit. For this i had to produce bank statements showing i was financially self sufficient, some kind of proof that i had somewhere to live and the usual identification (passport). when you get your residency permit from them you go to the registrar office where you register the permit with them and get your ID number. Once you have that you are eligible to work if you can find it, if not you can go and register at the job centre and apply for the intergration course.
I'm not sure if they give some time frame that you have to have lived here for before you could register/claim as i'd lived with my fiancee for 2 years - going back to the UK every 3mths - i seem to remember the registrar or police station wanting proof that we'd been in a relationship for a certain amount of time, but as i'd been here 2 years i was OK.
You also will need to register with Kela to get your Kela card which once you have will give you entitlement to the health care and welfare - it's worth bringing work references and as much paperwork regarding your career so far, as they will help support applications. Kela won't give unemployment benefit until you've lived here officially for 6mths, and if you've been out of work for more than 2yrs you wont receive anything for 5mths - but if you get on the intergration course you will! Be prepared for lots of forms and bureaucracy!!
On the job side, there are quite a few available if you check the jobsites - for info, my Fiancee finished her masters degree in languages last year and she works in a launderette - there are jobs available if youre willing to do the work and its funny that most people do speak English but Finnish is a requirement
So yes get saving as you will need it......but its worth it!
Regards
Lee
Thanks a lot for your help Lee, it is all truly informative.
I have a few questions if you don't mind.
How much money do you need to have to prove you are financially self sufficient?
Additionally, do you know a way to transfer money from an international bank such as HSBC to a Finnish bank so that your funds are in Euros? I was thinking this might be a good idea otherwise I would get stung on transfer fees and bad exchange rates. I remember when I was there on holiday it actually cost me about £22 to withdraw 20 euros from the ATM, whereas when I changed cash at the Forex I got 117 euros for £100.
How long did it take to get your residency permit and then ID number?
In regards to KELA and having to live there for 6 months, I read something about how countries within the EEA support each others unemployment benefits? So for example if I quit my job in England before moving over and go on the dole. England will continuing paying dole payments for up to 3 months after leaving the country as long as I am looking for work in Finland. Do you have any experience with this?
Lastly how much does one get from KELA per month?
I have no problem doing manual jobs, worked in a warehouse for 6 months, saved me gym fees!
Thank you for all your help,
Kind regards,
Jacques
-
leroyragamuffin
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:55 pm
Re: Looking for a job from England
You really do need to do some revision before you get here, get well prepared.....bureaucrats in Finland LOVE paperwork!
Ok so how much you need to prove your financially independent is negligible i think, if your partner is working then she can claim to be responsible for you financially - i had my fiancee say she paid for me, i also have an army war pension which is only £80pw but it helped, as my other income from renting my house until i could sell it, was quite useless as the rent income pretty much covered the outgoings - but i could show them my bank statements and a letter from the other half that i wasn't going to be a financial drain on the system - we lived that way for just over 2 years until i could offload my house, and then i went to the police station and it all went ok because i had a 2 years of bank statements pretty much showing all the money i'd spent while i'd been here - i've met people who've been here less than 6mths and they're registered and receiving their unemployment benefits already (i'm still going the paperwork nightmare to get my Kela card)
Being charged £22 to withdraw €20 is seriously @#$% up!!! have a word with your bank if thats the case because that is bang out of order! I rarely withdraw cash and just use my card to pay for everything, for which banks may charge about 20p per transaction, barclays doesnt but maybe they give a slightly worse exchange rate - if i do have to withdraw cash then yes there is a fee for withdrawal, i think i got charged a couple of pounds to withdraw €100. Short of bringing the cash with you, I dont know any cheap methods for transferring - british banks will charge you about £20 to transfer cash to a Finnish bank (Transferring the other way is free though!) - i've thought about transferring via paypal but have not had much reason to do so.
Once you get your residency permit confirmed at the police station then you're in, you get the piece of paper there and then. You then take that to the registry office and give them your address and you're given your ID number. The lady at the office wanted some kind of proof that i'd been staying there some time so she got shown my bundle of bank statements and the affidavit from my fiancee that i was living with her and all was Ok. You can then go straight to the TE office (job centre) and get registered on the intergration course (you'll need all your employment history/references) and depending on your work history you'll find out how eligible you are for the course and benefits etc.
Kela are a nightmare......well.....it varies greatly but i've heard some stories of the incompetence involved with some people dealing with them - If you've been out of work for more than 2 years then you have to wait 5 months before you can claim (Thats what the TE office said), if you're a new immigrant you have to have been resident 6mths before they'll deal with your claim....but if you get on the intergration course then the time period is cancelled - i know people on the intergration course that have been here for 5mths and are all sorted receiving financial help etc. If you were working in the previous 2 years then you should be ok, just be sure to bring lots of paperwork to support this - also look into getting an S1 form which the Kela office will want to see that shows you're eligible for financial help in your home country - this is what i dont have and because i have a war pension which isn't from the DWP and i'm not retired, it caused much confusion and many phonecalls.
I dont know how much the rate with Kela, i spoke to some guy on the intergration course (which i'm allowed to do even though Kela don't recognise me as a resident yet) who i think said about €650-€700pm
As i said, there are manual labour jobs available but the intergration course is the way to go, you have up to 3 years after registering to get on it. The language course is a godsend, unless you're a natural with languages, its 6hrs a day, 5 days a week for 12mths and i know a few people that have done it and they can speak the lingo quite well - i've also met people that didnt know about it, missed out as they'd been here too long and they still struggle with the lingo.....after 2 years of playing househusband i'm just so glad to be doing something constructive!
Oh and dont bother trying to apply for residency online, you'll spend a good hour or so filling the form in to find out they only accept payments from Finnish banks accounts (which you cant have until you get an ID number) in your name (so your partner can't pay either!), an appointment has to be booked, which when i done it had a 4wk waiting list.
No problem if you need any more info and i can help - i thought i was well prepared/organised until i got started, luckily my Suomi partner is well experienced with the bureaucracy!
Regards
Ok so how much you need to prove your financially independent is negligible i think, if your partner is working then she can claim to be responsible for you financially - i had my fiancee say she paid for me, i also have an army war pension which is only £80pw but it helped, as my other income from renting my house until i could sell it, was quite useless as the rent income pretty much covered the outgoings - but i could show them my bank statements and a letter from the other half that i wasn't going to be a financial drain on the system - we lived that way for just over 2 years until i could offload my house, and then i went to the police station and it all went ok because i had a 2 years of bank statements pretty much showing all the money i'd spent while i'd been here - i've met people who've been here less than 6mths and they're registered and receiving their unemployment benefits already (i'm still going the paperwork nightmare to get my Kela card)
Being charged £22 to withdraw €20 is seriously @#$% up!!! have a word with your bank if thats the case because that is bang out of order! I rarely withdraw cash and just use my card to pay for everything, for which banks may charge about 20p per transaction, barclays doesnt but maybe they give a slightly worse exchange rate - if i do have to withdraw cash then yes there is a fee for withdrawal, i think i got charged a couple of pounds to withdraw €100. Short of bringing the cash with you, I dont know any cheap methods for transferring - british banks will charge you about £20 to transfer cash to a Finnish bank (Transferring the other way is free though!) - i've thought about transferring via paypal but have not had much reason to do so.
Once you get your residency permit confirmed at the police station then you're in, you get the piece of paper there and then. You then take that to the registry office and give them your address and you're given your ID number. The lady at the office wanted some kind of proof that i'd been staying there some time so she got shown my bundle of bank statements and the affidavit from my fiancee that i was living with her and all was Ok. You can then go straight to the TE office (job centre) and get registered on the intergration course (you'll need all your employment history/references) and depending on your work history you'll find out how eligible you are for the course and benefits etc.
Kela are a nightmare......well.....it varies greatly but i've heard some stories of the incompetence involved with some people dealing with them - If you've been out of work for more than 2 years then you have to wait 5 months before you can claim (Thats what the TE office said), if you're a new immigrant you have to have been resident 6mths before they'll deal with your claim....but if you get on the intergration course then the time period is cancelled - i know people on the intergration course that have been here for 5mths and are all sorted receiving financial help etc. If you were working in the previous 2 years then you should be ok, just be sure to bring lots of paperwork to support this - also look into getting an S1 form which the Kela office will want to see that shows you're eligible for financial help in your home country - this is what i dont have and because i have a war pension which isn't from the DWP and i'm not retired, it caused much confusion and many phonecalls.
I dont know how much the rate with Kela, i spoke to some guy on the intergration course (which i'm allowed to do even though Kela don't recognise me as a resident yet) who i think said about €650-€700pm
As i said, there are manual labour jobs available but the intergration course is the way to go, you have up to 3 years after registering to get on it. The language course is a godsend, unless you're a natural with languages, its 6hrs a day, 5 days a week for 12mths and i know a few people that have done it and they can speak the lingo quite well - i've also met people that didnt know about it, missed out as they'd been here too long and they still struggle with the lingo.....after 2 years of playing househusband i'm just so glad to be doing something constructive!
Oh and dont bother trying to apply for residency online, you'll spend a good hour or so filling the form in to find out they only accept payments from Finnish banks accounts (which you cant have until you get an ID number) in your name (so your partner can't pay either!), an appointment has to be booked, which when i done it had a 4wk waiting list.
No problem if you need any more info and i can help - i thought i was well prepared/organised until i got started, luckily my Suomi partner is well experienced with the bureaucracy!
Regards
Re: Looking for a job from England
Thanks again Lee for all your help, it looks like I have a lot to think about and plan before I even consider moving over. I have heard from KELA that the job centre in England will pay for up to 3 months of benefits while I am looking for a job in Finland, so at least I am covered in that respect. I will also be employed up until I leave England so registering for KELA should not be a problem.leroyragamuffin wrote:You really do need to do some revision before you get here, get well prepared.....bureaucrats in Finland LOVE paperwork!
...
Regards
Unfortunately I hate paperwork so this looks like it will be quite the journey!
Hopefully if I can speak the lingo well enough in 6 months I at least can get a job.
Again thank you for your help and if I need any further assistance ill make sure to find you buddy!
Kind regards,
Jacques