Jobless in Finland and don't speak Finnish??

[raamv]

After I finished writing this.. There was another of those 1000000 ones looking for a job not speaking Finnish and wanting help..
Wanna answer to that one?
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=29081

[donald]

So what I am really trying to say is it's not impossible. It's also far from easy. It takes strength and persistence. Expect rejection, smile thank them for their time and go next door.
(...)
But really to most places it doesn't matter how happy, confident, qualified or experienced you are. You don't speak Finnish in Finland. Respect this, respect their decisions, respect the place you're in.

Owww, where does all this negativity come from? See, first you complain about the negativity here, then you come up with a summary that is about the same. What's your point?

[Hank W.]

The only positive assesment to most of the illusions of reality are "you're positively stupid"... just take for example the recent taxi robber. Only a "stupid foreigner" would go rob a taxi as they don't carry much if any cash. "But they do so in my home country"... which is not Finland, so "reality is different". If you come here with "foreign reality" expecting to get a job as a taxi driver or a shop assistant as those are what "immigrant jobs" are - then you're in for a rude surprise as the "immigrant jobs" in Finland are Oracle DBA and a parquet cosmetologist. The only thing negative is if you are "thinking" but do not "find out". Those who "find out" after the fact - those 56 CV's and no answers - after they decided to move to Nowheremäki where it is cheap and theres no other jobs but an inseminator in a 200km radius - then come and whine - because they just found out they have been stupid and its never easy to admit you are an idiot, shatters the little ego inside. The job market here is also skewed currently in so many ways more than just the one, getting entry-level jobs is hard even for locals. So its a combination of right talent with right set of skills and a smattering of blind luck. And at the end of the day you can be an Oracle DBA walking down the street putting your 56 CV's in while the company carts in an outside consultant - just because they don't wish to deal with the rif-raf. So the one other thing this forum does occasionally help with is creating the network the foreigner doesn't have. Knowing someone who can say "yeah, he is solid" gives you an edge, as your given employer looks at the paperwork slightly like what the cat brought in... Also "speaking Finnish" is usually an euphemism of "knows what the unwritten rules and the things nobody tells you but everybody knows are". The more prole the job the more Finnish you need. They don't have much time to explain things... Finns are notoriously "fire & forget" whereas in some countries you get micromanaged to insanity. (Depends on the workplace though, IT projets are micromanaged by megalomaniacs).

People get jobs - yes. People don't speak Finnish - yes. Therefore people who do not speak Finnish get jobs.
Penguins are black and white. Old tv-programs are black and white. Therefore penguins are old tv programs.

[Katie9]

Okeydoke, well a post intended for people who are feeling a bit hopeless in Finland has clearly been intercepted by the very people who I was referring to as "negative" in the first place. Could have predicted.
Just chill out dudes.
I'm out. Catchya on the flipside.

[Hank W.]

Your "positive" equals being feckless.

[shrecher]

1. What is your specialty or degree?

2. If you don't have professional education (except, waiter in Eatz), why don't you go for study? There is nice school including adults "Järvenpään seurakunnassa" (http://www.jarvenpaanseurakunta.fi). So far the education is free. State even provides the accommodation.

[shrecher]

People get jobs - yes. People don't speak Finnish - yes. Therefore people who do not speak Finnish get jobs.

Wrong conclusion from correct facts.

People get jobs - yes. People don't speak Finnish - yes. Therefore people who do not speak Finnish might have a job or might not have a job.

"Having job" and "speak Finnish" are not connected properties.

[Hank W.]

In some job adverts they are

Lisäksi edellytämme: Kielitaitovaatimuksena on suomenkielen hyvä suullinen ja kirjallinen taito sekä ruotsinkielen tyydyttävä suullinen taito.
Suomenkielen taito välttämätön
- Kielitaitoa(englanti), sekä hyvää suomenkielen kirjallista osaamista
olet sinut normaaleiden office-ohjelmien kanssa ja osaat suomenkielen omana äidinkielenäsi, ota yhteyttä.
Olethan reipas, oma-aloitteinen sekä suomenkielentaitoinen.


But there are job adverts that require English, Finnish is a plus but may not be even mentioned. But then you need to be otherwise qualified.

Master of Science or above;
· More than 5 years working experience in the field of electrochemistry and/or polymer material;
· Good communication skill in English;
· Good computing and analysis knowledge;
· Innovativeness to develop the existing SoftBattery technology;
· Basic knowledge related to battery technology;
· Basic knowledge in the project planning and management;

Might not be for someone not even able to find the job advert...

[shrecher]

But then you need to be otherwise qualified.

Exactly. If a person is young the best what he/she could do it is to get a degree. Lack of work at age of 20-24 is not a problem at all, however, lack of education is the real issue.

[Hank W.]

But then you need to be otherwise qualified.

Exactly. If a person is young the best what he/she could do it is to get a degree. Lack of work at age of 20-24 is not a problem at all, however, lack of education is the real issue.

For exactly which reason Finland has the "free" education and thinks someone looking at a job at 20 with a bachelor's degree is a dropout ...again "Finnish rules" - there is a logic behind things. We can't survive here counting the trees.

[MC Deli]

Katie, as you suggest, I think you were very fortunate to get a 'customer service' job with your first application and be able to 'get around' having no Finnish - you really did solve the needle/haystack equation.

But you have also highlighted what some on this forum are trying to get across to many posters who seem to expect that Finland/Helsinki will be just like their hometown in the US, UK, Oz, Italy or wherever; back home you can take a walk your town with a bunch of CVs and come away 4 hours later with a bar job. It is not the case in Helsinki, even with retail and horeca jobs.

Yes, some posts are a bit harsh, but then it is very annoying when people post with the typical 'I am coming so I will get a job with Nokia then because they must speak English, right'.

The main reason I have posted on the jobs forum about this is because I have seen two of my closest foreign friends have to return to the UK/France against their wishes (particularly against their blonde Finnish girlfriends' wishes of course ) because they couldn't get sensible work - and quite irrationally as they were both very bright, educated and employable. I think the wake up calls on FF are fair enough.

[Mark I.]

Congrats Katie, and don't get annoyed with cynical replies here - it's the name of the game here on FF (and carries some realistic substance also). You showed an example it can be done.

[hackoff]

maybe you can go to Oulu and try .....there you will face the answer Finnish and no degree to the related job ( i have posted for cleaner while i was studying there and the answer was you dont have a degree in cleaning , you dont speak finnish , we are sorry )

[haydin]

Hi Katie,
Thank you very much for everything. I need a big morale and also could you please sent me your e-mail address?
Thank you again.

[Muddy Zuk]

Gissa a job, am dead good me