Very confused as to all of the negativity here on jobs

[sinikettu]

(-Graham, 29, with my lowly B.S. in Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management)

Try making contact with Orion...
http://www.orion.fi/english/
Their working language is English..they are expanding their international activities..very active in South America.
If you have other languages (Spanish/Portuguese), and a track record in marketing, I am sure they will at least talk to you..good luck..

http://www.orion.fi/english/careers/ala ... 9b03?24869

[raamv]

Hmm I suggest that you (original poster) read the stickies since you are from NY ( especially the part about an American looking CV). I guess its moot point to mention that "dont come here without a job" as he says that he is already here..
For an American, This comes as a rude culture shock as this is a very different culture than one they see or face (pockets of ethnically divided places in NY): Starting from Language and then Culture. The advices you perceive to be negative, are pretty much reality than rose-colored glasses..
There ARE many cases of success for people to find jobs easy, but then they dont see the 1000 others who have not had that success and have had to return back to where they came from, move to another EU country etc..
Remember, you are competing in any job here with a Finn who speaks fluent English(mostly in almost any jobs here) as well as they are aware of the culture of "job seeking" and "Fitting in the workplace" etc than a foreigner who have no clue on "workplace culture", "job seeking"..
Finns already have a "network" for job seeking than foreigners who are pretty much isolated with their HBS(Hot blonde syndrome) spouses or are already here on a short term contract but have no "network"...
As people said, hope that you have lots of savings to last at least 6 months to many years..and plan B, C D, and E..

[hychamaz]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Great tips, advice, links, and wittty remarks. Since the type of job really doesn't matter to me (I have done some weird ones), I was wondering how the unemployment office handles people who do not speak Finnish. Temp jobs, janitorial jobs, etc.. Thanks

[Hank W.]

I was wondering how the unemployment office handles people who do not speak Finnish.

They send a guy named Marcellus to interview you...

Temp jobs, janitorial jobs, etc.

The more prole the job the more fluent the Finnish must be. The more niche specialist, the more your arse is golden, the less fluent you need to be.

[interleukin]

I was wondering how the unemployment office handles people who do not speak Finnish.

They dont handle you at all. They give you lots of smiles when you go there, but nothing concrete and no job offers.
"learning Finnish could be good I guess". "no, its not so easy to find a job when you dont know Finnish".
Actual unemployment office quotes.

Their solution is always to "check mol.fi".

[sinikettu]

I was wondering how the unemployment office handles people who do not speak Finnish. Temp jobs, janitorial jobs, etc.. Thanks

They sit you down in front of a PC and give you a list of links..to look at...most are in Finnish...a few (very few) are in English...when you say...
1: Dont understand.
or
2: Cannot find anything.
They say.."come back tomorrow and try again!"...

IMO over 80% of job vacancies in Finland are filled via the "who you know/contacts!"...I doubt that Kela have found many foreigners work in their chosen/main field. Most vacancies are filed before Kela even know/notice them.

[blaugrau]

While you're still looking for a job, there's the possibility to take part in intensive Finnish classes (=full time) organized by the employment office, and they'd pay you a somewhat increased unemployment money for it.

So you could ask the unemployment office about this option (it's called the "integration programme"), I think it's in any case a good way to "kill time" in a productive way during the longer or shorter time that you'll be without a job. And you can quit the course once you find employment of course.

[hychamaz]

The integration program is what I have been thinking about if working becomes impossible. They currently are paying you about 25 Euros a day (2-3 hours) to sit there and learn Finnish.
Hey everybody there is plan B
Now lets see about plan C, D, E, F, .....

[Mölkky-Fan]

Not that I right now am really hunting, but out of curiousity and interest on behalf of relatives, I can not but ask:
What business is your company in?

Sounds like someone buying piles cream... of course its not for me, its for a relative...
my company is in the fire protection business... and we are especially looking for sales or project fire professionals and (mechanical, electrical and hydraulic) engineers etc. We are advertising on Monster, Mol and Helsingin Sanomat so the job adverts are in the public domain.

[shrecher]

there are lots of jobs in IT here.
check here:
http://hae.monster.fi/jobsearch.asp?cy= ... &x=37&y=17

every day ~10 opened positions. To be hired you need education as MSc, expirence 5+ years, demanded skills or be willing to train a new skill, good references.

[Hank W.]

To be hired you need education as MSc, expirence 5+ years, demanded skills or be willing to train a new skill, good references.

But your man's a drug dealer B.S. in Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management

[olofsson]

Not that I right now am really hunting, but out of curiousity and interest on behalf of relatives, I can not but ask:
What business is your company in?

Sounds like someone buying piles cream... of course its not for me, its for a relative...
my company is in the fire protection business... and we are especially looking for sales or project fire professionals and (mechanical, electrical and hydraulic) engineers etc. We are advertising on Monster, Mol and Helsingin Sanomat so the job adverts are in the public domain.

I just tried with Nordic sincerity.


I have a job, with advantages and disadvantages, and plan to stay there, despite the many days abroad each month.

Thank you for answering!

[MC Deli]

Remember, you are competing in any job here with a Finn who speaks fluent English(mostly in almost any jobs here) as well as they are aware of the culture of "job seeking" and "Fitting in the workplace" etc than a foreigner who have no clue on "workplace culture", "job seeking"..
Finns already have a "network" for job seeking than foreigners who are pretty much isolated with their HBS(Hot blonde syndrome) spouses or are already here on a short term contract but have no "network"...
As people said, hope that you have lots of savings to last at least 6 months to many years..and plan B, C D, and E..

This is so true - ad a good answer to the original question. Our Finnish breathren are on the whole; incredibly well educated, fluent in English (even the ones who claim not to be), educated for the job they are in (or applying for), mates / related to / from the same town as / family friends with / trusted by - someone important, and they are not about to upset the office dynamic by being culturally or behaviourally diverse.

Since the type of job really doesn't matter to me (I have done some weird ones)

I think this is the point that experienced job seekers are trying to answer. There are Estonians doing all the manual labour, even the bar workers in Helsinki tend to be qualified and doing it as a profession (especially in the 'local' boozers). There is just not the same grey labour market and mobility of labour that you get in a any small UK town (and presmably any US city).

Yes, skilled people get hunted down abroad and brought to Finland, but it is still really difficult for skilled foreigners to get a foot in (IT being one possible exception).

Don't be put off. But be prepared. My best advice is to network through your best contacts (e.g. extended family) as much as possible

[shrecher]

Yes, skilled people get hunted down abroad and brought to Finland, but it is still really difficult for skilled foreigners to get a foot in (IT being one possible exception).

completely wrong. I'm here since 2000. If you are true professional, doesn't matter in which subject you are. Under "professional" I mean:
- education Msc, PhD. professional sertificates. Finns very value education
- experience, 7-10 and more years
- skills.
- good references, publications


Those at least valid for:
- sails
- doctors
- scientist
- IT
- builder, construction works
- electric engineer

Of course for average people it is very difficult to find any work here.

[Mölkky-Fan]

Those at least valid for:
- sails

Shouldn't a professional also be able to spell?
(BTW: my spelling is not great either)

On a serious note, I agree with Shrecher. There are jobs available for professionals, or people with relevant experience or people with valued skills... but the problem is that the normal jobs are much more difficult to get without Finnish.
I worked in my wife's shop for a little time, and it was extremely difficult without Finnish to cope... therefore employers are quite right to prefer people who speak Finnish over those who cannot.
I could not imagine someone without any English skills getting a normal job in a restaurant, hotel or shop etc in US or UK.

Remember Manuel in Fawlty Towers... the joke was that they were so unprofessional that they employed someone with basic English skills and the mess it caused.