Looking for any job

[JohnGabriel]

Hi Dragos,

while reading this thread I have been positively impressed by your efforts to find a job here, I can see that you are trying really hard. For the time being I am also looking for any kind of job, and since you mentioned that you have registered at the EURES office, I would like to ask you what kind of documents or permits are required at the EURES office in order to obtain the registration in their database.

Thanx for your help, and keep up with your good attitude!

[Pursuivant]

I domn't know what the average has been lately, but last year the range was from 2 weeks to find a job to 8 months or even more. It depends on the location but at least in GHA there should be *something* even with limited language skills. Romanians are also one of the lucky ones they actually have a "learn Finnish" book made in Romania.... the dictionary is a bit dubious tho.

FYI - looking to study Finnish in Romanian Limba finlandeza. Simplu si eficient autor Molnar Bodrogi Eniko, Palyi Eva Ildiko, Varga Piroska Ildiko | editura Polirom | 2005 | 176 pagini | 973-681-677-X

[filipdragos]

I am willing to relocate too so my problem is not related to relocation or to the thing that I am searching for a certain job. Yes there is a book about learning Finnish made in Romania and I have it with me...I study from time to time but it is very hard to learn...I would have to learn like a robot if I did it by myself. Anyway it is not very easy to learn Finnish. I was thinking of going to some payed courses but after I find a job because I spent a lot of money in this country on rent and living generally. I also spent money on Hygieniapassi (Hygiene card), Työturvallisuuskortti (Occupational Safety Card) and I thought that maybe it will help me if I have those courses. . But it was and is the same. Hope to find something soon, anything...Hope this damn recession will come to an end.

[biscayne]

To the OP

Wow, I am really impressed with the quality of your English. You have a university education, so does it have to be Finland??? As you are an EU citizen, you could relocate to the UK or Ireland and not have the language problem. Now, I know Ireland is not the best place to be looking for a job at the moment, and the UK is only a little better, but Finland is not the right place to look for a job when you don't know the language - especially when your education is based on communication skills. I believe you might end up wasting a lot of time pinning your hopes on staying in Finland, when you could do better in the UK. Remember, even if your girlfriend is studying in Finland, there are cheap flights from the UK, and if you were working and earning a decent salary in the UK you could visit her quite often.

[filecore]

Good luck with it. I was a cleaner as my first ever job in Finland, about a decade ago (despite coming here with a university degree and experience as a journalist), and it was hard back then, and I believe a similar job is harder to get nowadays. You would need the appropriate hygiene and sanitation qualifications as well as Finnish skills - it's frankly incredible. And despite being a trained and experienced journalist, I was unable to find any jobs in the field - there are only a few English-language journalism jobs in Finland, the people who're currently in them have no intention of leaving them, and even if that happens, there's line of a million people all with qualifications at least as good as mine. I've long since given up on what I was originally trained for, and moved to other fields. Unfortunately, Finland is a very insular country and it can be hard for an outsider to get a break.

As for practical advice, I might recommend asking the language schools if they need Romanian teachers, but it's a slim chance. Your best bet is personal networking - get to know people, get them to ask around on your behalf or tell you of any potential opportunities - also, try looking for jobs in localisation as some others have suggested. Sorry to be so negative, it's just the reality of this country, especially at this particular time. You just have to keep trying and hope you get lucky.

Remember, even if your girlfriend is studying in Finland, there are cheap flights from the UK, and if you were working and earning a decent salary in the UK you could visit her quite often.

Really? What companies and to what destinations (apart from London which is utterly useless for me)? I've had a hard time finding 'cheap' flights to anywhere but bloody accursed London.

[filipdragos]

To the OP

Wow, I am really impressed with the quality of your English. You have a university education, so does it have to be Finland??? As you are an EU citizen, you could relocate to the UK or Ireland and not have the language problem. Now, I know Ireland is not the best place to be looking for a job at the moment, and the UK is only a little better, but Finland is not the right place to look for a job when you don't know the language - especially when your education is based on communication skills. I believe you might end up wasting a lot of time pinning your hopes on staying in Finland, when you could do better in the UK. Remember, even if your girlfriend is studying in Finland, there are cheap flights from the UK, and if you were working and earning a decent salary in the UK you could visit her quite often.

Well what can I say thanks for the advice but I don`t need it...As long as I am in Finland and I already spent a lot of my money here and put all of my hopes in I don`t need somebody to came and tell me to look for jobs in the UK...If I had wanted to go to the UK I would have tried there from the beginning. Anyway is not a pink situation in the UK. About the cheap flights first of all I hate flying and second of all I don`t think they are so cheap.
In other order of business my qualification in communication and my work experience as a journalist are just to show that I am a well educated person and not a begger or what people here think about Romanians. I am looking for a job anywhere: as a garbage man, loading and unloading trucks, cleaning, driver, etc...anything that doesn`t require Finnish for the beginning...

[rinso]

I am looking for a job anywhere: as a garbage man, loading and unloading trucks, cleaning, driver, etc...anything that doesn`t require Finnish for the beginning...

In general, the lower the pay, the more you are required to speak Finnish. Your co-workers and foremen often don't speak English and you have to understand them perfectly for instructions and safety reasons.
Not that it is impossible, but if the employer has a choice, he'll go with Finnish speaking candidate. And since those jobs demand little qualifications, there are often other candidates.

[biscayne]

The op wrote

Well what can I say thanks for the advice but I don`t need it...As long as I am in Finland and I already spent a lot of my money here and put all of my hopes in I don`t need somebody to came and tell me to look for jobs in the UK...

Ok, I get your point. What I was trying to do was to suggest that if you don't absolutely HAVE TO live in Finland, then why make it so hard on yourself to go to a country where (a) the language is notoriously difficult (b) there is an EXTREMELY bad perception of your country. I know Finland is a good country in many ways, nature, healthcare and social welfare systems, everything works, infrastructure etc., but it is not the promised land either. I am from Ireland and worked for 5 years in the USA(study included), over 10 in central europe and just came back from studying in Australia for all of last year. I can tell you that many places in this world are lovely, not just Finland. Many of the towns are rather ugly and depressing looking compared to the lovely Irish fishing villages and the central european towns with their lovely arhitecture, I miss the cafe culture of just hanging around different cafes for hours meeting up with people etc. On the other hand I loved Finland ever since I first came here when I was 18 and love sailing and so it is heaven for me. I was also lucky with money in that a house I had bought years ago suddenly increased hugely in value, so I got a lot of equity out of it, therefore did not have a money panic when I came here which really helped. People say money can't buy you everything, but it certainly helps take a lot of the worry of life away..........

Regarding advice. You are young. I think that the reality is, as someone else posted, you will never get to use your degree here, it is a million to one shot. Why not train for something else and get into education here. For example, there is a nursing shortage. I am a nurse, very highly qualifed with 2 masters degrees and a phd. I am working here at a much lower level than I should be, but I am working, at a normal job with normal pay and conditions. There are some other foreigners working here who have really bad Finnish, but they manage to get along with the patients. There are jobs. Think about it. It is only one idea, but by trying to find out where the real need is in Finland, and what professions are less tied up with writing Finnish, because that is hard to do correctly, you might find something. You are educated, don't end up as a cleaner or waiter for the rest of your life just from some idea that you HAVE TO live in Finland.

[sinikala]

Really? What companies and to what destinations (apart from London which is utterly useless for me)? I've had a hard time finding 'cheap' flights to anywhere but bloody accursed London.

off topic, but

http://www.airninja.com/discountairlines/Finland.htm

[Pursuivant]

[ I am looking for a job anywhere: as a garbage man, loading and unloading trucks, cleaning, driver, etc...anything that doesn`t require Finnish for the beginning...

Those jobs are the ones that require Finnish. The lower the ladder the more the Finnish, as more people contact with less education = no foreign languages. Who will hire someone they cannot communicate with or who cannot read the instructions? In small companies they hire people to do the job they tell them to do without needing to supervise them all the time, so only big companies with a large workforce that can operate a multinational crowd will hire a no-speak. Cleaning and forklift/warehouse jobs are available, as is assistant jobs in old folks homes and I know (romanian) people who just could say "hello" that got them(but that was before this recession). So unless you live in some hick town in the middle of the forest without any big employers around you should be able to find something... and of course if you apply for a forklift job you need to have done driving a forklift, and not present too fancy degree papers.

[slinky1088]

Really? What companies and to what destinations (apart from London which is utterly useless for me)? I've had a hard time finding 'cheap' flights to anywhere but bloody accursed London.[/quote]

Off topic but Easyjet have just opened up a Helsinki to Manchester route for pretty cheap, my friend just got a return flight for around £50

[biscayne]

Op

I tried to reply to your PM, but it doesn't seem to be going through. Let me know if you got it. Otherwise I will post on your questions.

[biscayne]

Stadia.fi has nursing programmes through english. But you have to hurry, TODAY is the final day for application. Get on their website and apply.

[filipdragos]

Stadia.fi has nursing programmes through english. But you have to hurry, TODAY is the final day for application. Get on their website and apply.

No I didn`t receive your pm. It seems I didn`t understand from the beginning. I thought that you are talking about some courses that last for 1 year or something like that...I don`t think I have the money to support myself in Finland for 3,5 years to get a Bachelor Degree in Nursing. I don`t need that and I can`t do that financially speaking. That`s too much for me in the situation I am in...A change of career that involves 4 years of studying is not the solution...I would rather look for some MA. Thanks anyway.

As for forklift jobs I would go and try to get the forklifting license but I don`t know where to go o...And what money does that involve? I think that even if I had that license that wouldn`t help me, because the language issues will still be the main impediment. I payed to get that health card and work safety card because people said that I will certainly have more chances having those cards...It turns out that my chances are the same. But the ones that organized those courses got their money and are happy with them...

[Pursuivant]

The hygiene card is a prerequisite to get a restaurant job, but to get a job where people are involved - its the language that counts first.... so, manual finlandez in hand and rote learning