Need avice - English Speaking Jobseeker

puscus · Post by **puscus** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:13 pm

Hi,

I am 24 years old and ive recently come to Finland to live permanently. My finnish speaking skills at the moment are not very good at all but I am very eager to learn the language and will do very soon. I do need some help with finding some employment though. At the moment I am not in a position where I have nothing to my name and cannot cope. I live with my girlfriend in Vantaa and we have funds to see us through for a while.

Now I really need to find a job because I hate sitting at home all day. Although I have done many jobs in the past few years (UK Based) including sales, marketing, insurance, bartender, customer service call centre and warehouse work the last one (Warehouse) would be my main objective. Ive heard that it can be a lot easier for a non-finnish speaking person to get a job in this kind of sector as they already employ many foreigners who cannot speak finnish.

I just need a little bit of guidance as to where and how I can find these jobs. Applying online is not a problem, I have found many sites like mol.fi and have been applying. This does not feel like enough though. I feel I should get out there and look rather than just being subjected the this computer. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

**Sponsor:**

JobSeeker · Post by **JobSeeker** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:25 pm

Hi,

Here is one warehouse job offer, you can search others on same site..http://www.studentwork.se/fi/applicants/job/3273

I hope it works for you.

Best of Luck!!!

Regards,

J.S.

wicked lewis · Post by **wicked lewis** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:45 pm

puscus wrote: Ive heard that it can be a lot easier for a non-finnish speaking person to get a job in this kind of sector as they already employ many foreigners who cannot speak finnish.

What????

First time ive heard/read that. Good luck on your job search.

Geezus · Post by **Geezus** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:19 pm

Hi puscus
You will face many obsticles in the finnish maze.

interleukin · Post by **interleukin** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:57 pm

I assume you are living now and registered in Finland based on family ties with your girlfriend? If so, you are "in the system" and you should make sure to apply for language courses while you are searching for a job. Also, the unemployment offices are usually very close to useless in helping you find jobs, but you should at least make sure to be registered at the unemployment office.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:12 pm

Itella (as in post office) and the big warehouses like INEX and KESKO in Vantaa. Also was it either DHL or UPS that've been looking for staff...

09seger · Post by **09seger** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:08 pm

Hi ,
Im a 30 year old British woman who for some outrageous reason, decided to come to Finland with my finnish husband and our four children!
At the moment i am enjoying learning the new language and the new ways, the kids are enjoying school, house is nice blah, blah blah...... But the jobs are limited here I must admit! You need a hygiene pass for nearly everything and they definatley segregate foreigners!! I am a qualified secondary Physics and chemistry teacher and I admit ...yes I cant do that here with the language barrier!
But what I dont want..( which everybody else seems to want) is to be unemployed!! Finns can turn down jobs and still get unemployment benefit..... they can go on job finding courses and openly admit they dont want to work and still they get their benefit money!!
Its a crazy country with very leniant rules regarding job seekers!
I suggest keep trying and most of all stay positive! At least you live near a city!!!!!!! Its got to be a little easier than the west coast!!!!!!

FinnGuyHelsinki · Post by **FinnGuyHelsinki** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:57 pm

09seger wrote:But the jobs are limited here I must admit! You need a hygiene pass for nearly everything and they definatley segregate foreigners!! I am a qualified secondary Physics and chemistry teacher and I admit ...yes I cant do that here with the language barrier!

Surely you're not honestly surprised? You wouldn't expect to find normal teaching jobs in Germany without speaking German, in France without speaking French or in the UK without speaking English, would you? International schools, multinational corporations having chosen to speak English and other special arrangements aside, locals everywhere speak the local language, and the fact remains that Finland is not an English-speaking country. Sometimes I get a feeling that people are forgetting that fairly obvious thing.

finlandforumuser · Post by **finlandforumuser** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:09 pm

This is good company, non-IT profile, English official language.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:44 pm

09seger wrote: I am a qualified secondary Physics and chemistry teacher

Yeah, in the UK but are you qualified here? "Qualified secondary school teacher" means you have a masters degree in physics and/or chemistry and a minor in pedagogics. They will hire you very happy for an English-language high school or a polytechnic as they can pay you as "unqualified" if you only have a bachelors. They tend to lump in maths with the physics & chemistry too. And what comes to being a "qualified English teacher" , a masters in English philology for starters... and teaching Swedish and German on the side... and the pay is crap and you get suspended for the summer holidays.

09seger · Post by **09seger** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:58 pm

Well actually surprisingly enough........I am not surprised lol its very hard to teach when you cant communicate!!!!!!!
I hope 6 years at university qualifies me enough in addition to my masters in education, however........ what does surprise me is how quick the Finns point the finger to Unemployment benefits!!!!!!!!

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:40 pm

Pursuivant wrote:
09seger wrote: I am a qualified secondary Physics and chemistry teacher
Yeah, in the UK but are you qualified here? "Qualified secondary school teacher" means you have a masters degree in physics and/or chemistry and a minor in pedagogics. They will hire you very happy for an English-language high school or a polytechnic as they can pay you as "unqualified" if you only have a bachelors. They tend to lump in maths with the physics & chemistry too. And what comes to being a "qualified English teacher" , a masters in English philology for starters... and teaching Swedish and German on the side... and the pay is crap and you get suspended for the summer holidays.

You share the same misconceptions about the superior level of qualification of Finnish teachers as the UK meeja. There is little difference in the level of qualifications, it´s just the historical background of the UK base degree being the bachelors, whilst in Finland it has historically been the Masters.

It´s even a bit frustrating when the UK meeja hops on the bandwagon exclaiming how all Finnish teachers have Master´s degree´s, yet ignoring the fact that in addition to a Bachelor´s degree in the subject they teach, almost all uk teachers have done a PGCE (a Master´s level qualification), and today most PGCEs carry credits towards a formal Master´s degree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framework_ ... ifications

It´s not the lack of qualifications that hamstrings non-native teachers, it´s the lack of Finnish language skills.

* as an aside, some UK secondary teachers have a B.Ed., but that is more usual for primary school teachers, and I don´t know if it´s true today, but it used to be the case that if you had a Ph.D., no formal teaching qualifications were needed as there is almost always some element of teaching involved in a PhD.

magenta22 · Post by **magenta22** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:36 am

Why so many people biting? 09seger said they can't do it with the language barrier

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:17 am

sinikala wrote: You share the same misconceptions about the superior level of qualification of Finnish teachers as the UK meeja.

Remember what his Oulu giltarsedness whined about day in and out? You try getting a tenure with a bachelor's degree - thats what datsundatsun tried back in the day and the result was whine with abandon.

Its the same dilemma I faced trying to fill in some UK site that was asking what "level" of bachelors I got... sheesh.... we only got the bloody one.

BTW with a M.E: one can teach at any grade 1 -6, and there is more and more English-language schools (not in them boonies), you just need to get the paperwork "recognized" by the Board of Education was it now...

09seger · Post by **09seger** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:03 am

Thankyou Magenta 22! Someone who finally read my post properly!!!!!!!! I think Pursuivant is a little bitter about something!!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha

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