Software Engineer/Software Developer Looking for a job

ginofranco · Post by **ginofranco** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 7:53 am

Hi everyone,

Currently, I am working as a Software Engineer in Japan but looking for a job anywhere in Finland. I am planning to live and work in Finland because my finnish girlfriend is living there. I was hoping that somebody here will be able to help me find one or any information that will help to get me a job. I am not yet holding a work permit yet in which I think makes it difficult for me to find one. I am looking for a company who is going to sponsor my visa. I am capable of speaking the Japanese language and currently in the basic level of the Finnish language. I am versatile person in which I can do anything such as web designing, web development, software development and networking. I led the development of some projects in the company I am currently working for. I initiated and developed a project that helped the company earn a big amount of income (in million yen). I have experience talking to clients especially manager and presidents of a business since I was a freelance developer a year ago and I participated in meetings with our Japanese clients. I am quick learner and always love to learn new things, skills or techniques. I have a wide range of skills and I also love to do animations. Just like the feeling of the Japanese company I am currently working for has, I know the company who is going to hire me will not regret choosing me.

Thank you.

Regards,
Gino

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xeno2 · Post by **xeno2** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 9:04 am

Well then good luck on monster.fi

But you will be back in the line after rest of us europeans who try to get jobs there.
Your best bet would be to get a job at Nokia Japan and make them hook you up with some european position (might can take up to 5 years better than dreaming tho).

ginofranco · Post by **ginofranco** » Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:03 am

Yeah, I know that. I think I can't wait to be apart to my girlfriend that long but thank you for the suggestion.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:40 pm

For an otaku your ambition is quite remarkable.

The market here is "niche" so you need to find one company that wants your speciality... well.. umm.. same if I applied to Japan. Networking is the key.

Cod · Post by **Cod** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 2:20 pm

Tekla has jobs going in C,C++ etc etc.. and something in Perl too.

ginofranco · Post by **ginofranco** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:19 am

cow-heada: Thank you for your help.

Pursuivant: Well, yeah. I think to any country it is always going to be the same situation. Sometimes, when I am thinking about it, it is really difficult to find one that is why I am using more resources. There are times that I just want to concentrate on one specialty but most of the time, people are always asking me to do different kind of tasks in which they loved about me since they can put me in a lot of projects especially if some other projects needed some help. To what I can always do, they are always surprised and I know I am born with it. I know it is really going to be tough to find a company who wants or needs my skills and abilities. But I am always hoping I can find one soon. Thank you.

finlandforumuser · Post by **finlandforumuser** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:33 pm

The biggest challenge is the workpermit. Without it finding job is worth nothing. Language is nice to have but not strictly required.

ginofranco · Post by **ginofranco** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:07 am

Yes, exactly.

Tiwaz · Post by **Tiwaz** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:50 am

finlandforumuser wrote:The biggest challenge is the workpermit. Without it finding job is worth nothing. Language is nice to have but not strictly required.

Newsflash, not USA. We do not have workpermit. You get residence permit based on having job offered to you. If employer is prepared to go through that trouble.

And language is essential part. Even though IT field is more forgiving in this field, it is still going to be the thing which will bust most applications along with lack of existing residence permit.

finlandforumuser · Post by **finlandforumuser** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 6:11 pm

Tiwaz wrote: Newsflash, not USA. We do not have workpermit.

Not exactly. Anyone without EU passport needs workpermit. USA passport only allows visiting Finland for 90 days but not work here. As any non-EU citizen USA passport holder needs a residence permit for an employed person if he intends to work in Finland. In addition, an alien who comes to Finland to work must usually apply for a residence permit for an employed person in his or her country of residence prior to arriving in Finland.

More info:
http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp ... ,2707,2500

To apply for permit you should find the job and employer who is ready to sponsor your application. This is real challenge as it is very burden process for employers, it should proof that no appropriate candidate could be found here. The permit application handling could take couple months.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:28 pm

finlandforumuser wrote:
Tiwaz wrote: Newsflash, not USA. We do not have workpermit.
Not exactly. Anyone without EU passport needs workpermit. USA passport only allows visiting Finland for 90 days but not work here. As any non-EU citizen USA passport holder needs a residence permit for an employed person if he intends to work in Finland. In addition, an alien who comes to Finland to work must usually apply for a residence permit for an employed person in his or her country of residence prior to arriving in Finland.

But we only have residence permits. Some of which allow working, but workpermit as a standalone thing, there is none.

edit. afaik, as a native I have only second hand information and what I have read at migri.fi and various eu sites.

Tiwaz · Post by **Tiwaz** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:18 am

finlandforumuser wrote:
Not exactly. Anyone without EU passport needs workpermit. USA passport only allows visiting Finland for 90 days but not work here. As any non-EU citizen USA passport holder needs a residence permit for an employed person if he intends to work in Finland. In addition, an alien who comes to Finland to work must usually apply for a residence permit for an employed person in his or her country of residence prior to arriving in Finland.

More info:
http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp ... ,2707,2500

To apply for permit you should find the job and employer who is ready to sponsor your application. This is real challenge as it is very burden process for employers, it should proof that no appropriate candidate could be found here. The permit application handling could take couple months.

Read your own post. You always say "needs a residence permit for an employed person".
It is residence permit. It permits you to reside, and can only be obtained WITH a job.
To my understanding (generally as nations indeed have varied systems), work permit allows you to reside in nation to find a job (and then have it).

There is no work permit, only flavor of "residence permit due to employment" for residence permits.

CH · Post by CH » Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:41 pm

As was mentioned earlier, check out http://www.monster.fi. Other job boards are http://tyopaikat.oikotie.fi, http://www.mol.fi/paikat/, and http://www.aarresaari.net/jobboard.htm (mostly in Finnish). Ask your girlfriend to help you set up the search keywords and translate.

Job recruters/head hunters:
http://www.barona.fi
http://www.poolia.fi
http://www.adecco.fi/

And lots of other job boards and recruters... google!

Web coders with Java and database skills seems to be in demand currently, also project managers. But they will want you to have good English skills. Quite a lot of employers in the IT industry demand good English skills from any IT personel they employ anyway. I would recommend for you to live in the greater Helsinki area, if possible, most of the IT jobs are here. Or at least in a bigger city with IT jobs (Tampere, Oulu, Jyväskylä). Do not move to a small city in the middle of nowhere and expect to find IT jobs. You might get really, really lucky and find some, but...

ginofranco · Post by **ginofranco** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:21 pm

CH: Thank you for all the information you have shared. You are very helpful. My girlfriend is always helping me with a lot of things already such as translating some if I don't understand the meaning. English skills is not a problem for me since I had learned it from birth. Right now, my girlfriend is helping me learn the finnish language quickly. As I mentioned that since I am a fast learner, I can speak the finnish language in a month or two if only I can hear people speaking it and observing them. If I can find work in Helsinki, it is much better but as long as I can find a work anywhere in Finland, it will be fine for me because my girlfriend and I will be closer to each other. I know it is really about luck especially I am living and working here in Japan. Ever since I was a kid, I started to experiment a lot of things about computer technologies in which I know I am really gifted with the abilities and skills I have. And also I am very passionate when it comes to computer stuffs. I can learn a new skill quickly and get the job done fast. I am also still looking for a company who is going to give importance to the abilities I have in which I will be more developed day by day and use it to help the business of the company and clients. Thank you for your recommendations.

Daytrader · Post by **Daytrader** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:39 am

I just want to wish you luck and keep us posted. Don't give up (I know you won't anyway)

PS: Maybe you could consider a country very close to Finland as well to get you closer to your gf at least.

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