Any kind of temporary work without the language possible?

[forest_moss]

Hello!

I'm planning on traveling around the EU, staying at each place for a month or two, taking whatever job they give me.
So I imagine it is quite possible in the countries where I speak the language, but not sure about all the other ones.
And my first foreign goal is of course Finland, as it has been my dream to explore the country for ages now!
So now while that I'm planning all the stuff, I got stuck on figuring whether it will be possible to find a whatever job just to get by - without knowing Finnish and for such a short period of time!
Can you give me advice on whether that is possible???

I'm fluent in Russian, English and German, speak a bit of Estonian, have EU-citizenship, a graduate's degree (translating and interpreting) and quite a lot of different work experience (mostly unskilled and unofficial, sadly).

Hoping you guys can give me some help on my question!

[Pursuivant]

Depending... the sanctions are hitting, but if you found the right place at the right time (Russian New Year) you might hit lucky.

[forest_moss]

hey, thanks for the answers already given, that was fast

and also, I forgot to mention: due to my Estonian skills and to my admiration for the country I do understand some of Finnish

regarding the answers: can it be that you are just a bit pessimistic? (Finnish melancholy? ) one guy who has lived in Helsinki just recently told me it is easy to find a job in hotels and restaurants, they are often looking for staff members. do you think he was wrong?
there are currently 10 625 open vacancies in Helsinki at mol.fi, that's just gigantic!!!

[forest_moss]

sorry, not 10 625, but 1 954. still huge

[Pursuivant]

Its called realism

That way you won't end up a miserable whining foreigner as your expectancies weren't gold-paved streets. You get only happy surprises.

As for hotels - they mainly look for housekeeping - and thats seriously backbreaking. If you can navigate the mol.fi thats more than most of the people having this dream have, so start contacting the places. Also, towards the spring they start needing more farm workers...

[rinso]

there are currently 10 625 ( 1 954) open vacancies in Helsinki at mol.fi, that's just gigantic!!!

Not all of them are real vacancies.
For instance if somebody wants to hire a non EU friend, he has to prove he cannot fiend Finns or EU candidates.
Having the vacancy (unsuccessful) on mol.fi for some time will help.
Sometimes employers are just fishing for an ideal candidate and not for a must have replacement.
And vacancies are not always taken off line when irrelevant. (found several vacancies for companies that were scaling down or even in a bankruptcy process)

So 1 954 is not a huge number, on the contrary.

[Rip]

sorry, not 10 625, but 1 954. still huge

Most of them require some specific education/experience. Of the rest majority are probably low level marketing for a commission (requiring almost certainly fluent Finnish).

There is about 300 000 people working that live in Helsinki. If they would change jobs once in a ten years (I am aiming here for a modest figure), and the the job would be open before (re)hiring for one month, even that would make 2500 openings.

Officially there are closer to 30 000 unemployed in Helsinki that are unemployed and additionally many more that for one or other reason do not show in that statistic.

[cors187]

one guy who has lived in Helsinki just recently told me it is easy to find a job in hotels and restaurants, they are often looking for staff members. do you think he was wrong?

If you find it easy going for jobs, go for them, who cares if you dont speak finnish. right time right place kind of thing happens here a lot.

[Krum]

Try some of the areas in Lapland (ski resorts etc), they are usually looking for fluent russian speakers, coupled with English, you should do alright.