Looking for work in Helsinki area

tonyvw · Post by **tonyvw** » Sun May 11, 2003 9:16 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

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Post by **neil** » Mon May 12, 2003 12:35 am

If you are prepared to do a sh1tty job for a while, you get some cleaning or restaurant/bar work fairly easily. Getting a decent job takes a little while longer (how long is a piece of string)? Well, the length of the string can depend upon what you do, what work experience and what level of education you have and even then there is no set formula. Its just hard to get a job here and there's a fair few people on this list who can vouch for that.

N.

tjawatts · Post by **tjawatts** » Mon May 12, 2003 1:41 am

Hei Tony

A couple of questions,

Are you looking for a driving job? What type of truck do you drive and is your license to drive it valid in Finland?

Have you tried the big international haulage firms which might operate in/out of finland? Would you do overseas trips? Maybe a company based in Ireland or the UK, who would be easier to deal with.

What other sort of work might you be interested in?

I think you might need to find someone in the trade here, someone who can get you in, works the sameway in Ireland I am sure. Definitely visiting in person or calling is important, I know you tried already.

best of luck

Tony

p.s. maybe work on the finnish if possible, even a couple of pleasantries and an introduction of yourself (hi, I am tony from ireland, looking for some driving work) might get you far enough to be considered.

suzy · Post by **suzy** » Mon May 12, 2003 11:37 am

Hi everyone! I like this forum, it seems that te members are very friendly. I am just wondering if you could give me some information on the working condition of nurses in Finland. Do hospitals hire foreign nurses there? I'd really appreciate some information thank you very much.

daive · Post by **daive** » Mon May 12, 2003 1:01 pm

suzy wrote: Hi everyone! I like this forum, it seems that te members are very friendly. I am just wondering if you could give me some information on the working condition of nurses in Finland. Do hospitals hire foreign nurses there? I'd really appreciate some information thank you very much.

Hi Suzy, welcome to the board. I will ask my girlfriend, she is a doctor here in Finland. I think one of our friends was an english nurse working here in a finnish hospital/health care centre, will look into it for you.

PeterF · Post by **PeterF** » Mon May 12, 2003 2:28 pm

Tony, trying to get a job here with a trucking company by sending e-mails or telephoning when you cannot communicate in Finnish is like throwing snow balls at the moon.
They only read e-mails from customers.

You got to make personal contact face to face.
You need to find a friendly driver or two to help you.

Here is what I would do.
Concentrate on the international operators, go for walk down to the ferry terminal and look for the info on the trucks that look like they belong international operators waiting for the Stockholm ferry.
Note where they come from...tel number address. You got find out where they are based because You will need to plan to visit them..yep un-invited.
Knock on some doors....find out where they go for their lunch breaks..you are going to need to talk..someone will speak English and they do need English speaking drivers of HGVs.

If you take your girl friend with you when you check at the ferry terminal she could try to ask a driver or two if they are recruiting.
I would also consider investing in a ferry trip to Stockholm and back I have always found the lorry drivers chatty in the bar..but then I do speak some Finnish..but the international drivers do speak basic English.
Make contact some how with drivers.
Good luck

tjawatts · Post by **tjawatts** » Mon May 12, 2003 2:47 pm

That is what I was trying to get at Peter, need someone on the inside.

I dont know if the unions can help, but they are pretty big on them over here.

http://www.sak.fi/englanti/index.shtml (central organisation of trade unions, quite a lot of stuff in english)

http://www.akt.fi/ (Finnish Transport Workers' Union, all in Finnish I am afraid)

Hope it helps

gavin · Post by **gavin** » Mon May 12, 2003 3:12 pm

suzy wrote: Hi everyone! I like this forum, it seems that te members are very friendly. I am just wondering if you could give me some information on the working condition of nurses in Finland. Do hospitals hire foreign nurses there? I'd really appreciate some information thank you very much.

Hi Suzy,

Tervetuloa! By the way - How's your Finnish? I'm afraid I can't offer you any specific advice, however the more Finnish you know, the better chance you will have.

I noticed you're an F1 fan... What's your team? The Austrian GP has never been my favourite, (coming up this weekend for those not in the know) but of course after that we have Monacco, which is pretty much the highlight of the race calender, in my opinion.

Good luck finding a job in Finland, it's not so easy, but well worth the effort IMHO.

Cheers
Gavin

suzy · Post by **suzy** » Mon May 12, 2003 4:28 pm

[quote="daive
Hi Suzy, welcome to the board. I will ask my girlfriend, she is a doctor here in Finland. I think one of our friends was an english nurse working here in a finnish hospital/health care centre, will look into it for you.[/quote]

Thanks! I really appreciate it, hope to hear from you soon

suzy · Post by **suzy** » Mon May 12, 2003 4:41 pm

Thanks Gavin

To answer your questions, well I can't speak Finnish but I am flexible in learning languages. I can speak Spanish. I don't like the Austrian GP myself, I've been a BMW Williams fan since 1998 but lately I am not quite pleased with their performance. I am impressed with Fernando Alonso's podium finishes so far and except for the last GP, I think Kimi Raikkonen is doing well he still has the highest points.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Mon May 12, 2003 5:13 pm

suzy wrote: I am just wondering if you could give me some information on the working condition of nurses in Finland. Do hospitals hire foreign nurses there?

Well, hospitals do hire foreign nurses - there is a shortage. However there is also shortage of tenures so the work is on temp contracts mostly. All the Finnish nurses that can get teir ass on the move go to Norway and UK or better salaries & more secure employment. Also in Finland nurses do a lot of stuff that may be "doctors stuff" in other countries, so they offer update courses for foreign nurses (russian mostly). Language is an issue though - I suspect your chances without any Finnish is for the lower end jobs despite your qualifications.

suzy · Post by **suzy** » Mon May 12, 2003 5:22 pm

Thanks for the information Hank

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Mon May 12, 2003 5:45 pm

assistant nurses:
http://www.mol.fi/Tyovoimapalvelut/Paikat/1/0/6/

nurses:
http://www.mol.fi/Tyovoimapalvelut/Paikat/1/0/3/

As you can see - quite a lot of openings. Also as I said, nurses are being recruited to UK, Norway and Sweden too...
Sairaanhoitajia Lontoon yksityissairaaloihin (HCA International)
Sairaanhoitajia Norjaan (Kommunal Konkurranse KF Oslo)
Sairaanhoitajia Norjaan (Medical WorkPartner AS)
Sairaanhoitajia Norjaan (Medical WorkPartner AS)
Sairaanhoitajia Ruotsiin (Nyköpings kommun)
Sairaanhoitajia Tukholmaan (Ingria AB)

daive · Post by **daive** » Mon May 12, 2003 7:32 pm

suzy wrote:[quote="daive
Hi Suzy, welcome to the board. I will ask my girlfriend, she is a doctor here in Finland. I think one of our friends was an english nurse working here in a finnish hospital/health care centre, will look into it for you.

Hi Suzy...

OK,straight from the horses mouth, she said that she couldn't imagine any nursing job in Finland where you wouldn't need the use of some Finnish.

Even though they are short staffed, it is a basic requirement to be able to communicate with the patients... So start learning. She said you should apply to the English and International schools here in Helsinki and surrounding areas as they quite often need English school nurses.

She also said you should get in contact with TEHY which is the major trade union for trained practitioners of health, their web address is http://www.tehy.fi/english/index.html

Good luck and if you need any more help just give me a shout to my private email.

Daive

tonyvw · Post by **tonyvw** » Mon May 12, 2003 8:55 pm

Hi guys,
sorry i could not reply all day had to work, i only get to my computer in the evening time.
Tj thank you for all your suggestions.
My education is leaving cert in Irish school.
I drive an articulated truck it is about 52ft long, i have alot of experience in different types of trucks and trailers, the truck is a Volvo FH12.
My licence is the same here as they use in Finland.
When i was in Finland i spent 4 days walking to every office in all the 3 ports. and yes i targeted the international companys big and small but had no luck.
I was getting a job from one company it involved going to Italy and the owner said that i would spend more time in other countrys than i would in Finland .
There is only one Irish company going to finland and they are a company called Carna, but they only go about once a month and are based in northern Ireland and i live in the south west.
As for English companys i have looked, but connot find them, i am still trying.
I could do other work also, i worked in a factory for the first part of my working life. I am very mechanically minded but have no qualifications, i could maybe work in the buildings labouring?

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