Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

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DroptheBombadil
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Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by DroptheBombadil » Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:11 am

Hi everyone, this is my first post here.

I am a non-EU member from The United States wondering what is possible and where to start.

I am a college graduate with a bachelors in Biology, I have a TEFL certification in teaching English as well as young learners and business English. I have years of research experience in a lab and worked as a manager for three years.

The real issue rests with the immigration process.

I am aware that an American passport gets you 90 days without a Residence Permit. Also it seems you need a job to get a residence permit. This is of course without a student visa. I find it hard to believe that an employer will sponsor my visa instead of finding an EU member instead.

So, my current answers to this problem are to either start teaching English online, potentially act as a live-in English teacher for a family, or get incredibley lucky in my job/internship search.

So my questions to you are:

What more can I do in order to get a job before going to Finland?

Would calling the US embassy in Finland help?

Is there anybody who can help me?

What should I focus on first in this process?



Thank you so much for your time. Please contact me if you have any information that you think might help.



Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

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rinso
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by rinso » Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:46 am

DroptheBombadil wrote:
Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:11 am
Hi everyone, this is my first post here.

I am a non-EU member from The United States wondering what is possible and where to start.

I am a college graduate with a bachelors in Biology, I have a TEFL certification in teaching English as well as young learners and business English. I have years of research experience in a lab and worked as a manager for three years.

The real issue rests with the immigration process.

I am aware that an American passport gets you 90 days without a Residence Permit. Also it seems you need a job to get a residence permit. This is of course without a student visa. I find it hard to believe that an employer will sponsor my visa instead of finding an EU member instead.

So, my current answers to this problem are to either start teaching English online, potentially act as a live-in English teacher for a family, or get incredibley lucky in my job/internship search.

So my questions to you are:

What more can I do in order to get a job before going to Finland?

Would calling the US embassy in Finland help?

Is there anybody who can help me?

What should I focus on first in this process?



Thank you so much for your time. Please contact me if you have any information that you think might help.
Since you call yourself already desperate you probably realize it is going to be very difficult.

You are right in thinking that employers like to hunt for candidates in Finland and the EU first before looking elsewhere. Legislation makes it even difficult to hire someone if you haven't explored the EU option first. A reason to ignore the EU is if the employer is looking for specialized skills.
Here you have some disadvantages. Many applicants have masters (some even two) so bachelor probably doesn't put you on the short list.
As for teaching; this is mostly done based on short term part time contracts. Often not an option for a residence permit.
I wouldn't pursue the live-in teacher thing. Finns get a good English education at school and they are very private. I cannot imagine they will hire someone and let him live in their home. (besides the problems with taxation, insurance and so on)

In your situation I think the best option is to look for a US company with a Finnish office or Finnish partner.

DroptheBombadil
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Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2018 2:24 am

Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by DroptheBombadil » Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:48 pm

Yeah, this only confirms how difficult this is going to be.

Do you thing ESL teaching online would be enough to count as employment? Maybe starting my own ESL tutoring business for self-employment?

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wolf80
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Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:43 pm
Location: Helsinki

Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by wolf80 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:04 am

DroptheBombadil wrote:
Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:48 pm
Yeah, this only confirms how difficult this is going to be.

Do you thing ESL teaching online would be enough to count as employment? Maybe starting my own ESL tutoring business for self-employment?
No. Not only is there no Finnish employer, it is freelance work that does not require your presence in Finland. You can do this from anywhere in the world, it has nothing to do with Finland, therefore you won't get a residence permit.

Calling the US embassy probably won't help you much, there are so many US citizens here looking for a job, I do not believe the embassy can help.

In general, there are already so many English native speakers in the country, so many even with some pedagogic training of sorts, you won't stand a chance as English teacher unless you are highly trained and experienced - and even then it would be very hard. Basically, everybody who wants to speak English in this country can speak English. The education system is very good, and tv series and movies are all in English. Most 80-year-old ladies in the retirement home would have no problem with a conversation in advanced English.

Your BSc in biology counts nothing here. Finns graduate at least at MSc level, and there is a huge amount of graduates from several universities around Finland. At university you would not even be hired as a research assistant. Outside of university there are almost no jobs in biology unless you speak native level Finnish. For almost all lab jobs (microbiology, genetics, etc) you need to speak Finnish to communicate with colleagues. Companies that hire people who only speak English are rare. And then again, you only have a BSc from a non-Finnish university, which doesn't count much.

So, your choices are:
- get the money to afford MSc studies in Finland
- acquire skills needed on the Finnish job market (some selected skills in IT/programming, some manual labor jobs such as experienced welders, etc)
- find a Finn and marry him/her to get a residence permit based on family ties.

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rinso
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by rinso » Fri Mar 09, 2018 6:35 am

- find a Finn and marry him/her to get a residence permit based on family ties.
And then be prepared to sit at home the whole day and look out of the window.

clausc
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by clausc » Mon May 14, 2018 5:38 am

wolf80 wrote:
Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:04 am
DroptheBombadil wrote:
Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:48 pm
Yeah, this only confirms how difficult this is going to be.

Do you thing ESL teaching online would be enough to count as employment? Maybe starting my own ESL tutoring business for self-employment?
No. Not only is there no Finnish employer, it is freelance work that does not require your presence in Finland. You can do this from anywhere in the world, it has nothing to do with Finland, therefore you won't get a residence permit.

Calling the US embassy probably won't help you much, there are so many US citizens here looking for a job, I do not believe the embassy can help.

In general, there are already so many English native speakers in the country, so many even with some pedagogic training of sorts, you won't stand a chance as English teacher unless you are highly trained and experienced - and even then it would be very hard. Basically, everybody who wants to speak English in this country can speak English. The education system is very good, and tv series and movies are all in English. Most 80-year-old ladies in the retirement home would have no problem with a conversation in advanced English.

Your BSc in biology counts nothing here. Finns graduate at least at MSc level, and there is a huge amount of graduates from several universities around Finland. At university you would not even be hired as a research assistant. Outside of university there are almost no jobs in biology unless you speak native level Finnish. For almost all lab jobs (microbiology, genetics, etc) you need to speak Finnish to communicate with colleagues. Companies that hire people who only speak English are rare. And then again, you only have a BSc from a non-Finnish university, which doesn't count much.

So, your choices are:
- get the money to afford MSc studies in Finland
- acquire skills needed on the Finnish job market (some selected skills in IT/programming, some manual labor jobs such as experienced welders, etc)
- find a Finn and marry him/her to get a residence permit based on family ties.
I wouldn't be so pessimistic (or am I missing something?).

Consider http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-Un ... nland.html .

Country Rank Institution World Rank
1 University of Helsinki 56
2 University of Eastern Finland 301-400
3-5 Aalto University 401-500
3-5 University of Oulu 401-500
3-5 University of Turku 401-500

Also consider that prior to the Bologna Process in some countries BSc's used to be equivalent to Master degree level study.

Germany for example - https://www.timeshighereducation.com/ne ... ody-thinks .

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wolf80
Posts: 474
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Location: Helsinki

Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by wolf80 » Mon May 14, 2018 9:21 pm

clausc wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 5:38 am


I wouldn't be so pessimistic (or am I missing something?).

Consider http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-Un ... nland.html .

Country Rank Institution World Rank
1 University of Helsinki 56
2 University of Eastern Finland 301-400
3-5 Aalto University 401-500
3-5 University of Oulu 401-500
3-5 University of Turku 401-500

Also consider that prior to the Bologna Process in some countries BSc's used to be equivalent to Master degree level study.

Germany for example - https://www.timeshighereducation.com/ne ... ody-thinks .
What's your point? Yes, Finnish university are not top ranking in the world.Nevertheless, FINNISH employers will prefer FINNISH university degrees. That has nothing to do with the local universities being better. It has to do with the local universities being local.

Taking a graduate from a Finnish university means the employer knows exactly what standard of education he will get.

An American BSc in Biology is definitely not equivalent to any European MSc. Sorry, but I'm from that field and had my own students from all over the world, including US Ivy League universities. I don't believe any BSc would be equivalent, though some have more credits than others, and some just have better courses than others. The BSc students still lack the level of independent research skills you get from doing a MSc thesis.

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rinso
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by rinso » Tue May 15, 2018 6:38 am

Finnish university are not top ranking in the world.
Part of the ranking system is based on how often publications are refereed to in other university publications. Obviously the language is a limited factor here.

clausc
Posts: 9
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by clausc » Sat Jun 02, 2018 3:56 am

wolf80 wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 9:21 pm
clausc wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 5:38 am


I wouldn't be so pessimistic (or am I missing something?).

Consider http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-Un ... nland.html .

Country Rank Institution World Rank
1 University of Helsinki 56
2 University of Eastern Finland 301-400
3-5 Aalto University 401-500
3-5 University of Oulu 401-500
3-5 University of Turku 401-500

Also consider that prior to the Bologna Process in some countries BSc's used to be equivalent to Master degree level study.

Germany for example - https://www.timeshighereducation.com/ne ... ody-thinks .
What's your point? Yes, Finnish university are not top ranking in the world.Nevertheless, FINNISH employers will prefer FINNISH university degrees. That has nothing to do with the local universities being better. It has to do with the local universities being local.

Taking a graduate from a Finnish university means the employer knows exactly what standard of education he will get.

An American BSc in Biology is definitely not equivalent to any European MSc. Sorry, but I'm from that field and had my own students from all over the world, including US Ivy League universities. I don't believe any BSc would be equivalent, though some have more credits than others, and some just have better courses than others. The BSc students still lack the level of independent research skills you get from doing a MSc thesis.
That probably has something to do with the quality of university education. I guess the circle is now complete.

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

Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by clausc » Sat Jun 02, 2018 4:16 am

rinso wrote:
Tue May 15, 2018 6:38 am
Finnish university are not top ranking in the world.
Part of the ranking system is based on how often publications are refereed to in other university publications. Obviously the language is a limited factor here.
I'll just leave this here.

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001057/ ... nce-school

In fact just a cursory review of the global rankings makes it clear that Finland is relatively poor even when compared to unis in other non-English speaking nations.

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wolf80
Posts: 474
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Location: Helsinki

Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by wolf80 » Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:02 pm

clausc wrote:
Sat Jun 02, 2018 3:56 am
wolf80 wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 9:21 pm
clausc wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 5:38 am


I wouldn't be so pessimistic (or am I missing something?).

Consider http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-Un ... nland.html .

Country Rank Institution World Rank
1 University of Helsinki 56
2 University of Eastern Finland 301-400
3-5 Aalto University 401-500
3-5 University of Oulu 401-500
3-5 University of Turku 401-500

Also consider that prior to the Bologna Process in some countries BSc's used to be equivalent to Master degree level study.

Germany for example - https://www.timeshighereducation.com/ne ... ody-thinks .
What's your point? Yes, Finnish university are not top ranking in the world.Nevertheless, FINNISH employers will prefer FINNISH university degrees. That has nothing to do with the local universities being better. It has to do with the local universities being local.

Taking a graduate from a Finnish university means the employer knows exactly what standard of education he will get.

An American BSc in Biology is definitely not equivalent to any European MSc. Sorry, but I'm from that field and had my own students from all over the world, including US Ivy League universities. I don't believe any BSc would be equivalent, though some have more credits than others, and some just have better courses than others. The BSc students still lack the level of independent research skills you get from doing a MSc thesis.
That probably has something to do with the quality of university education. I guess the circle is now complete.
Your comment shows me you know nothing about university rating systems and their criteria.

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

Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by clausc » Wed Jun 06, 2018 2:08 am

wolf80 wrote:
Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:02 pm
clausc wrote:
Sat Jun 02, 2018 3:56 am
wolf80 wrote:
Mon May 14, 2018 9:21 pm


What's your point? Yes, Finnish university are not top ranking in the world.Nevertheless, FINNISH employers will prefer FINNISH university degrees. That has nothing to do with the local universities being better. It has to do with the local universities being local.

Taking a graduate from a Finnish university means the employer knows exactly what standard of education he will get.

An American BSc in Biology is definitely not equivalent to any European MSc. Sorry, but I'm from that field and had my own students from all over the world, including US Ivy League universities. I don't believe any BSc would be equivalent, though some have more credits than others, and some just have better courses than others. The BSc students still lack the level of independent research skills you get from doing a MSc thesis.
That probably has something to do with the quality of university education. I guess the circle is now complete.
Your comment shows me you know nothing about university rating systems and their criteria.
Saying that, the bottom line is that going to University in Finland would do more damage to my CV than anything else. Real world-leading institutions carry a cachet that Helsinki University is somehow not quite able to match. I have an advanced degree from a global top 5 university and top 2 in Europe. I thought about doing a Masters in Finance while I'm working in Helsinki but in reality, if I did the first question any premium employer would ask is 'why?'. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

Upphew
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by Upphew » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:26 am

clausc wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 2:08 am
Saying that, the bottom line is that going to University in Finland would do more damage to my CV than anything else. Real world-leading institutions carry a cachet that Helsinki University is somehow not quite able to match. I have an advanced degree from a global top 5 university and top 2 in Europe. I thought about doing a Masters in Finance while I'm working in Helsinki but in reality, if I did the first question any premium employer would ask is 'why?'. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
Indeed they would ask why and you could say that doing the masters in Oxford or Cambridge while working in Helsinki makes the commuting unbearable.
http://google.com http://translate.google.com http://urbandictionary.com
Visa is for visiting, Residence Permit for residing.

clausc
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Re: Desperate Man Looking for Oppertunity

Post by clausc » Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:59 am

Upphew wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:26 am
Indeed they would ask why and you could say that doing the masters in Oxford or Cambridge while working in Helsinki makes the commuting unbearable.
GMAT information sufficiency.


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