Non-Finnish speaking Brit possibly moving to Finland - Any advice....?

[drewdavis]

Hi there,

I'm after any kind of advice/suggestion in regards to my current situation, as I'm currenly unsure of what to do & how to progress, & am hoping some of you on here may have similar experiances.....

The short version of my story is that I met my Finnish girlfriend while living abroad. We returned to the UK in February & subsequently found out we were expecting a baby (due in November). Since then things haven't really worked out & she has returned to Finland while I am still in the UK.

From our ongoing discussions it would seem as if there is no chance of her returning to the UK (depite it being the best & most sensible thing to do for all involved) & I obviously want to be there to bring up my child. Therefore, I am currently considering moving to Helsinki to be nearer them.

My main concerns are around the language & work. I am a Business Analyst for a bank & am earning half-decent money, but should I move I have no real savings to live off & therefore need a job asap (anything considered). As I do not speak Finnish, I'm pretty sure any 'professional' job role is out of the question for the time-being, so am wondering what else (if anything) is available out there...... or if anybody knows of any decent, English-speaking, recruitment agencies out there?

Also, I would obviously learn the language, but would like private lessons on arrival (just to get me up to speed with the basics) - are there many English/Finnish speaking tutor over there at all?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[FinlandGirl]

The short version of my story is that I met my Finnish girlfriend while living abroad. We returned to the UK in February & subsequently found out we were expecting a baby (due in November). Since then things haven't really worked out & she has returned to Finland while I am still in the UK.

From our ongoing discussions it would seem as if there is no chance of her returning to the UK (depite it being the best & most sensible thing to do for all involved) & I obviously want to be there to bring up my child. Therefore, I am currently considering moving to Helsinki to be nearer them.

How often would you have visitation rights?

If your job and life are in the UK and you would see your child only every second weekend, plane+hotel for visiting your child would also be an option to consider.

My main concerns are around the language & work. I am a Business Analyst for a bank & am earning half-decent money, but should I move I have no real savings to live off & therefore need a job asap (anything considered). As I do not speak Finnish, I'm pretty sure any 'professional' job role is out of the question for the time-being, so am wondering what else (if anything) is available out there...... or if anybody knows of any decent, English-speaking, recruitment agencies out there?

Recruitment agencies won't help much, outside IT there are not really jobs available for people who are not able to work in the local language.

"anything considered" your option would be gig work like Uber or food delivery.

[heretostay]

Consider starting your own business or buying an existing one. Is remote consulting work an option for you? These are typical expat solutions here if you’re not a Finnish speaker.

[betelgeuse]

Recruitment agencies won't help much, outside IT there are not really jobs available for people who are not able to work in the local language.

We have discussed this many times on this forum. There are other fields than IT (for example academia). Doesn’t mean that English speaking jobs would be plentiful but they do exist.