hoping to move to tampere in feb 2007

[gegenschein]

hello all,

i am trying to plan a move to finland early next year. the reason is to apply for grad school, and also reconnect with some long lost relatives in tampere. i am a recent finnish citizen, as of two years ago. i thought that i might come to tampere for 6 months before hopefuly getting into school, so i can have a little time getting to know my two cousins (15m and 17m), as well as my aunt and uncle. and of course practice finnish! then in the fall i will relocate to helsinki if accepted into the university. does anyone have any recommendations as far as preparations? i will also have to find a job to support myself for the six months in tampere as i cannot stay with my family, they do not have an extra room for me.

here are some of the things i am already doing:

contacted my relatives to let them know i am coming
started studying finnish "teach yourself finnish" cd and book
contacted the university and am preparing for my application
understand that i will register with kela, employment offices when i step foot in the country.
am preparing a cv, and trying to look for apartments (although the search is a bit difficult with listings being in finnish)
saving money! i will be able to save about 4,000 euros for a small financial landing cushion
reading information about finland on the internet, as well as on this forum

right now i am working in a montessori preschool and have been doing so for the last 2 years. i hold a bachelor's degree in music from a private college in washington. i teach private music lessons, and nanny. i am trying to figure out what are my options for work in tampere.

any help would be much obliged!
cheers, rachelle

[Jussi]

Have you considered applying for School in Tampere? It is much cheaper to live in Tampere and a lot of the same things ae offered there.

[Rosamunda]

It is quite difficult to find fulltime permanent employment in Finland. You are very unlikely to fall into a job as soon as you get off the plane.

My suggestion is this. When you arrive you set yourself up as a TMI (self-employment... not the same as a registered company but more flexible than being salaried). As a TMI you can offer your services as a music teacher, English teacher, nanny etc. The bookkeeping is not too complicated and you don't have to worry about ALV (sales tax accounting) until you go over 8000 euro/yr. Certainly in the Helsinki area there is a demand for English speaking nannies and teachers (of English and music).... not sure about Tampere. Maybe your relatives can help spread the word and advise you how to advertise locally. Finland is a small country and the service sector is very under-developed. We found a music teacher for my son by "asking around". There will also be language schools you can apply to in Tampere who will give you work teaching English to adults. Or send a CV to the big schools in Helsinki (like Richard Lewis, Josbel, AC GLobal) as they would probably have clients outside of Hki also. With your TMI you are able to bill these companies (eg language schools) for your hours and also deduct some expenses, thus minimising your tax.

It is possible to combine TMI income with salaried work. So if you do find a parttime (or fulltime) job with a salary (for example in a Montessori school) then you can still do the occasional bit of TMI work (like teaching music). The tax gets a bit more complicated (you might end up paying too much and then having to wait a while to get it back) but the system is very flexible.

It will be a tough start until you find enough customers and it won't make you rich but if you are careful you should be able to survive.

Getting into university might not be so easy though...

Hope this helps.
P.

[gegenschein]

Have you considered applying for School in Tampere? It is much cheaper to live in Tampere and a lot of the same things ae offered there.

i want to apply to sibelius specifically for the program there in composition and the head of the department, veli-matti puumala. i may apply for other schools as well but don't know if they would offer the same program as sibelius academy.

[Hank W.]

When you arrive you set yourself up as a TMI

Which means no chance of getting any KELA "as you have a business". That path is very dangerous with someone without anything to drop back on. Doing something stupid and getting the tax office jump you will finish the Finnish, let alone some bright-eyed straight off the ryanair...

Not saying it is not a good idea - just that there are 1001 things to consider.

working in a montessori preschool

There might be some assistant positions in an english-speaking playschool - they require a police background check in child care these days so you might ask for one from your local sheriff beforehand, it doesn't hurt.

[gegenschein]

Doing something stupid and getting the tax office jump you will finish the Finnish, let alone some bright-eyed straight off the ryanair...

what do you mean "finish the finnish"?

[Hank W.]

The biggest suitor for bankrupcies in the courts is the local Tax Office.

And even you can read http://www.vero.fi, can you take it all into your heart and cherish it?

[Rosamunda]

But as a TMI can't you make your own TEL etc contributions? I'm not sure that being a TMI totally excludes you from KELA. My understanding was that salaried or TMI was pretty much the same kind of thing from a tax and benefits point of view. But then again... I may be wrong. What you are saying Hank is that in order to get KELA she has to have a salaried job????

[Hank W.]

No, to "get KELA" as in healtchare, but any handouts get dodgy say unemployment. welfare and the likes, student aid etc etc.

[gegenschein]

The biggest suitor for bankrupcies in the courts is the local Tax Office.

And even you can read http://www.vero.fi, can you take it all into your heart and cherish it?

so what exactly could i do to make the tax office jump me? how would bankruptcy come into play, forgive my ignorance?

[Hank W.]

Oh, a lot of things. Move to Finland to start with

[gegenschein]

No, to "get KELA" as in healtchare, but any handouts get dodgy say unemployment. welfare and the likes, student aid etc etc.

so if i come over to finland and apply for the self-employment, it may screw me over in applying for student aid, even if i make less than 8,000 euros that year?

[Hank W.]

Right, because you are a rich capitalist with your own business, so you don't need any welfare unlike the downtrodden exploited masses of the proletariat!

Didn't go to social awareness classes, tut tut tut

Now in all this must be a paragraph "we do not pay" as KELA is better known for being the not-paying-anything-office...

[gegenschein]

Now in all this must be a paragraph "we do not pay" as KELA is better known for being the not-paying-anything-office...

isn't it the same for most health care systems??

[gegenschein]

Getting into university might not be so easy though...

getting into a university in general or specifically sibelius? and for everyone or internationals especially?