working as volunteer

[guls]

Hi All

Anyone got any idea if hospitals/old age homes/baby centres except volunteers in Finland.If so then whats the procedures to approach them.

Thanx

[Cloudberry]

Volunteering is a great way to get exposure to the Finnish workplace. You could learn new skills (or keep skills up to date), meet people, learn about workplace culture, prove your worth as a potential employee.. I'd love to know the answer to this question too!

If you're registered with the employment office you can apply to do work placement through them. It enables you to undertake a work placement while being appropriately covered insurance wise.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

You might want to check out http://www.verkostopalvelu.fi/ . It's in Finnish but then again, I think most hospital, childcare, elderly... work requires speaking Finnish.

[guls]

Isn't that a pity,,,English speakers do not want to get their skills and qualifications get rusting and want to work ( with or without money) but nearly no jobs.I wonder how do they survive? Its really upsetting....

[onkko]

Isn't that a pity,,,English speakers do not want to get their skills and qualifications get rusting and want to work ( with or without money) but nearly no jobs.I wonder how do they survive? Its really upsetting....

I agree, its shame and apalling that Finnish people want speak Finnish in Finland, how they dare!...

[interleukin]

Well if you want to volunteer to take care of old people or young kids, I think the problem of actually communicating with them is more important than making a non-Finnish speaking foreigner feel good about themselves. But I also think that everyone could benefit from infrastructure to use the skills of understimulated foreigners. If there is an organisation in place that helps with communication or that puts the non-Finnish speaker in jobs where no Finnish is needed, that would be useful for all. But then again that would not really help the foreigner in any way to integrate or learn Finnish, just keep living in the English speaking bubble.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Isn't that a pity,,,English speakers do not want to get their skills and qualifications get rusting and want to work ( with or without money) but nearly no jobs.I wonder how do they survive? Its really upsetting....

Why don't you post an add for yourself on the same page, also calling e.g. international daycares directly might help. The fact remains, when dealing with people you usually have to be able to do it using the local language (just think about trying to get a job outside Finland speaking only Finnish).

[guls]

You are very right.It is really hard to communicate with local people without knowing their language. But I think people especially the students fron Non-English countries have to get good bands in IELTS to get admissions,thats means English is an accepted language all over.My point is only that its really nice to keep going with some kind of work,even if its unpaid,,though we all need money too but when we meet people,we learn much better about them,about their culture and the language.Moreover,there are so many areas of a job where we dont directly speak to people e.g. if someone is helping in a charity shop and is ironing clothes to be displayed,or helping with cleaning or jobs like that,, would hardly need to speak.nothing personal with the place and people but I would still like to meet people,do something to enrich myself and by the end of the day even if I dont earn a penny,but would like to feel great by feeling that I did something good.

[Alternative Sports]

Hi guls (if this is your real name),

First, let me tell you about my local 15-year experience regarding foreigners and lack of Finnish language skills (other foreigners confirm it).

The situation is:
If you are skilled / well educated and in the engineering sector, or some high-skill educational sector for example, then there is no language problem – English Only is just fine and in some cases even highly preferable… it worked for me…
The language barriers and problems become very evident in the DUMMY world – lower in IQ and higher on RAF (Reject Anything Foreign). The local dummies, as any other dummies in any other country (I have been in many countries around the world, so I can compare), do not know any other language, most of them even barely speak properly their own language, in general do not like foreigners and usually avoid any contact… So, it depends very much who you are dealing with… Furthermore, many Finnish companies (especially small businesses) do not hire foreigners – this is their policy which is followed very strictly. Additionally, in many companies the production workers do not want foreigner in their team, especially if no one speaks English, and usually give the boss hard time if there is a foreign applicant, so even if the foreign applicant is better than any other native applicant and the boss is OK with hiring foreigner, the preference is to avoid confrontation with the workers and the foreigner gets das boot… I know these insides from several bosses that are good friends of mine and they are telling me the things strait. Also, some stats I have seen show that foreigners outside the high-end sector stand almost no chance north of Tampere, no matter whether you know or don’t know Finnish, so whatever chances you have, if you are not in the high-end sector, they are better in southern Finland – below the Tampere line.


Now, about your volunteer ambitions:
I had left a message in the SPORTS section – named OPEN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR AVAILABLE BUSINESS & SELF-EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES viewtopic.php?f=22&t=46853
Obviously this is not work in hospital or other care center, but unless you are specifically interested only in such places, then this could be interesting for you.
The requirement there is good English, and Finnish is not needed… Anyway, it still depends on your situation, location and surroundings, but check the message and then decide.

Since you express desire for unpaid volunteer work, and I need some localized help regarding the sport business, you might be interested in helping me with finding suitable people for the sport business… In many cases, if the RAF in not the cause, many fins are quite shy to contact on English in regard to foreign establishments, so some personal one-on-one contact will work better… Furthermore, you might have interest in private starting up of some sport activity – starting from hobby level and building on that… So, the mentioned in the sports sector message regarding new sport-related opportunities could become you self-employment solution… Normally to start up from scratch any sport activity / business it takes unpaid time and effort, so it is not for everyone, but you already express desire for voluntary unpaid work (based on that I assume you have the time, and having time is very important) and if you have what it takes for the rest, then your unpaid effort could lead to way better payment later on.

After you check the mentioned above message, if you have serious interest, contact me by e-mail and will continue from there.

Regards,
Robert

[kalmisto]

guls

Information in English on voluntary work in Helsinki :
http://www.hel2.fi/vapaaehtoistyon_neuv ... glish.html

Contact one of the coordinators for more information !

[Pursuivant]

Furthermore, many Finnish companies (especially small businesses) do not hire foreigners – this is their policy which is followed very strictly.

I don't think it is as much a policy than a "comfort level" issue. Why would you hire someone who is no-speak and doesn't know "things everyone knows" and if they have some weird way you cross you get sued for discrimination. Safer to play sure and hire "someone you know" - which is why networking is imperative so you have someone to give the good word for you. The employer needs to have some advantage - as in exploiting them (cleaners, market gardeners etc), getting low-paid grunts, getting sober bus drivers(seriously) or then you need to have a "momentum", which small companies lack. "Momentum" means here that you can afford to hire someone as a boss to "babysit" or then some bilinguals as teamleads. Of course, the natives get upset of the "mafia" which is no-speak and threaten their jobs (as they know how to demand the union wages, but the no-speaks get exploited). Catch-22. But if you look at some professions I can draw an X on the wall if I see a native in say cleaning or construction these days. Of course in a job you need to interact with customers the Finns are adamant in demanding the language. Its not quite like in say London or especially Dublin where you had to find someone speaking English in the staff. - Ekscuus mi, what is pinta gines? Sheesh... you're working in a bar...

[guls]

Hi
I am sorry for late reply.I have always worked in educational institutions n hospitals throughout my career,for almost 17 years n I think I can be more suitable in these fields.I am presently residing at Jyvaskyla and I can work here only as I have my family too.But anyways thanx for considering me for working for u.