I'm an "adopted" Oululainen (Oulu resident), meaning that I originally took an interest in the city because of all of the Internet gatherings which take place here, and now I live here with my Finnish husband.
There is potentially so much I could advise you on,
except for the work environment at Nokia ---->not an IT professional<------, so if you have any specific questions I can try to answer.
The Oulu area has indeed been the target of a lot of jokes and ridicule from Finnish people in other areas of the country- basically the only thing that has "saved" the city is the tech industry.
In my time here, I have mostly been in contact with locals; I know very few foreigners (3 to be exact), so I could give advice based on the perspective of a foreigner "living as a Finn" here. Despite the funky smell, ugly architecture, and moody native inhabitants, there is something strangely appealing about this city