UK CITIZEN - HOPING TO MOVE TO FINLAND

Howie2014 · Post by **Howie2014** » Fri May 02, 2014 4:24 pm

Hello People

I am a UK Citizen and I am very much desirous of moving to Finland. Would prefer Esposs or Helsinki.

Despite the harsh winters - I am really up for the challenge especially the fact that this could be compensated by the Finnish sauna culture.

Question is: how easy / hard would it be for me to secure a job in finland as an English speaker. I will of course start lessons in Finnish bit what would my chances be like?

I am a scientist and also a Management Assistant (Personal Secretary).

Thanks

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rinso · Post by **rinso** » Sat May 03, 2014 7:09 am

Question is: how easy / hard would it be for me to secure a job in finland as an English speaker.

It depends on your other qualities, field of education, experience, degrees, skill set and so on. And most important your contacts in Finland.

I am a scientist

Bachelors, Masters, Phd, which science?

Management Assistant (Personal Secretary).

Probably fluent Finnish needed and a lot of experience with the Finnish system, culture and regulations.

Howie2014 · Post by **Howie2014** » Mon May 26, 2014 10:13 pm

Thanks for all you replies.

I have Bsc in Pharmacology. I also worked in Forensic Toxicology.

What other options would you suggest in my quest for working in Finland especially considering the language barrier.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Tue May 27, 2014 6:54 pm

Howie2014 wrote:Despite the harsh winters - I am really up for the challenge especially the fact that this could be compensated by the Finnish sauna culture.

Houses are heated, you wear clothes outside (or don't go outside), problem solved.

http://naurunappula.com/1202714/tyamiasten-mysteeri.jpg

GermanInHelsinki · Post by **GermanInHelsinki** » Tue May 27, 2014 7:49 pm

Someone who has nothing more than a Bachelor's degree is of course not considered studying seriously - university is free in Finland, so everyone who has studied seriously of course has at least a Master's degree.

Everyone who calls himself a scientist is of course at least writing on his PhD thesis, or making a fool out of himself with such a ridiculous claim.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:17 am

Bachelor's in pharmacy ('farmaseutti') is actually one of the few lower level university degrees that has practical significance here even before these new EU changes. The jobs in pharmacies though must require fluent local language; I doubt if the pharmaceutical industry is any better in that respect. Actual science and research might be made in English (with at least a master's degree), but for jobs where one is responsible that substance 'A' isn't in the wrong place, a language barrier seems like unnecessary risk to take (even if it were legally allowed)

GermanInHelsinki · Post by **GermanInHelsinki** » Wed May 28, 2014 12:10 pm

Pharmacology and pharmacy are of course completely different studies, with completely different job fields.

macora · Post by **macora** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:39 pm

GermanInHelsinki wrote: Everyone who calls himself a scientist is of course at least writing on his PhD thesis, or making a fool out of himself with such a ridiculous claim.

I worked in science for a couple of years, without PhD. Guess I have to let the (international) journals publishing my articles know that I made a fool of myself

Funny that the peers reviewing my articles did not notice.

(Edit: that was ironic...)

macora · Post by **macora** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:40 pm

Howie2014 wrote: What other options would you suggest in my quest for working in Finland especially considering the language barrier.

How much money are you willing to invest? There are certified (and actually awesome) teachers teaching via Skype out there, so you COULD start high quality studying next week. Get partners on mylanguageexchange, and livemocha, so you can use what you learn, native speakers if you can.
(this was still WAY cheaper, and WAY more real than any language learning I could have done in my country, no idea about yours though). With less money, and much enthusiasm, one can self study at home with the book from Terttu Leney (have not tested the audio material myself yet), or I think also with Suomen Mestari 1 (gets expensive though, if you need to buy the CDs, which for self studying I strongly suggest). MLE and LM ask for a small fee, I personally have found crazy interesting friends, specially on MLE. One has to kiss several frogs to find a prince (or princess) sometimes, though

Especially if you consider self study, it is totally worth it.

If (or when?) you move here, use any opportunity to use the language, and do something close to your field. My field of work also offers unpaid opportunities, which is a bit risky. But oh well. Learning the language, and custom, and contributing in some way are worth it. To me at least. As long as one can support one's living.

The help you get here for integration, especially also in regard of the language, are many. Not sure you mean options when being here already, also, though.

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