Finland from an English experience.

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jvrijn
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Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2003 10:00 pm
Location: Hakaniemi, Helsinki, Finland

Post by jvrijn » Mon May 05, 2003 4:24 pm

Well, why not make your stay conditional. Say, you'll be here for three months and if it still looks hopeless you go back. Though I should warn you that the summer vacations are coming up and business is pretty much dead around that time.

Furthermore, if you haven't lived outside your home country ever before, it'll be a bit of a learning experience.

/Jeroen



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WebDesEyen
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Post by WebDesEyen » Mon May 05, 2003 4:29 pm

i was already thinking about something like that. just try, apply my ass off, learn as much as possible, and if it gets me nothing for 6 months i go back.
my plan is to wait until schools are about to start again after the summer vacations. that way all the temporary people like students are off the market and companies will need other people.

i have more or less lived in toronto for a couple of months. so i know what it feels like to be away. i only missed my cats... which i will take now.
i should have studied something basic, like quantummechanics...

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Hank W.
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Post by Hank W. » Mon May 05, 2003 4:31 pm

WebDesEyen wrote:this number (the mentioned 3.4%, which is highly outdated) is the number of people that actually get unemployment benefit. people getting any other form of benefit for whatever reason are not included in this
Ah, OK, there is lies, big lies and statistics. In Finland there are two unemployment figures also, the statistics of the ministry of labor who list all jobseekers listed in the MOL system and then there is one from the statistics centre that calculates the kind of groups you mention. Or the other way around. A big mess anyhow. In Finland there is the problem with age discrimination, so when you are around 50 depending on your employability, they swiftly move you to some disability pension scheme as nobody hires you. Worse part is that in case like you - over 1 1/2 years you are considered as "not wanting to work anyhow" so your marketability is lower. And of course graduates straight from school don't get a job without any work experience. Vicious cycle.

Vaasa region is 50/50 swedish-speaking (some counties like 101%) so I'd say in your case learning Swedish wouldn't be that bad an idea. And then you have also Sweden for jobs (though they aren't doing much better there economywise).
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

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WebDesEyen
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Post by WebDesEyen » Mon May 05, 2003 4:39 pm

Hank W. wrote:In Finland there is the problem with age discrimination, so when you are around 50 depending on your employability, they swiftly move you to some disability pension scheme as nobody hires you.
same here. when you lose your job and are over 55 you'll get early retirement. which usually is not all that cracked up to be iether...
Hank W. wrote:Worse part is that in case like you - over 1 1/2 years you are considered as "not wanting to work anyhow" so your marketability is lower. And of course graduates straight from school don't get a job without any work experience. Vicious cycle.
which is why i list myself as "freelance". this applies here just as much, and being freelancer shows that you are willing to work. dis does not apply to the unemployment agency though. they don't do anything but waste money. out of every 5 euros spent on benefits by the government only 0.40 euros ends up at the one needing it. the rest is wasted on commitees, inspectors, bulldroppings, ect... sad really.
Hank W. wrote:Vaasa region is 50/50 swedish-speaking (some counties like 101%) so I'd say in your case learning Swedish wouldn't be that bad an idea. And then you have also Sweden for jobs (though they aren't doing much better there economywise).
i know! which will make it so much easier for me! also there is a big international university there, resulting in english being the third language there!
i should have studied something basic, like quantummechanics...

tonyvw
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Joined: Mon May 05, 2003 4:18 pm
Location: Ireland

Work in Finland

Post by tonyvw » Wed May 07, 2003 10:42 pm

Hey guys, i am an Irish guy looking for work in Finland.
I was there for two months and visited offices, sent e-mails and called a total of 150 companys.
I drive a truck here so i thought that there would be no problem getting work there, because some Finns said that there was a shortage of truck drivers. But i could not get a job.
I dont speak any finish, so if anyone could help me or give me some advice, that would be great.
Regards Tony :roll:

suzy
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Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 11:19 am

Re: Finland from an English experience.

Post by suzy » Mon May 12, 2003 11:42 am

SteveJ wrote:
On the upside, I now live in a very beautiful, clean country where the people are still fairly honest. You can leave a bike for days in a public place and no-one touches it. You can hang your coat up in a bar cloakstand and go back hours later and it's still there and un-rummaged. Drop your wallet (and if it's got ID in it) it gets returned - This happened to me and it even had the money still there.
After reading the 'upside' you've mentioned I guess I could put up with 1-3 :D

Caroline
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Post by Caroline » Wed Jul 23, 2003 3:57 pm

Hank W. wrote:
WebDesEyen wrote: unemployment is at 21% ...
Wat are you smoking, man? In February 2003, lowest rates were registered in Luxembourg (2.8%), the Netherlands (3.4% in January)...

Finland is at around 8-9%, not the worst in the Eurozone where something like 11% is the max in Spain.

If you mean industry specific =?





But what about the (questionable) method which Finland uses to calculate annual unemployment figures? According to the Helsingin Sanomat, and according to my own experiences, people in a "work/ job practice" (internship in American English) contract are considered to be officially unemployed (especially if their "wages" are being paid by Kela), yet the national statistics count such people as "Temporarily employed", which is why the unemployment statistics keep shifting up and down like a kangaroo on a pogo stick.


The problem is complicated by the fact that in other countries, work practice often leads to permanent job offers, whereas in Finland that is not necessarily so. For example, a friend of mine (who speaks Finnish) from Kazakstan has lived here for over about 5 years, and is still unemployed even though she has been through MAMU and at least 3 fixed-term work practice contracts.
Former expat in Finland, now living in New Hampshire USA.


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