help needed in finding a job in or around Turku

[squirrel58]

Hi all,
I have been travelling to Turku for 3 years and am getting married there in May,hence the need for a job,I am from the u.k.
I am a Maintenance Manager in a factory at the moment in the uk,and have been a maintenance engineer for the last 20yrs,I am willing to do mostly anything,as long as it pays,my understanding of the language is ok,and I am learning it very slowly.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Mark

[Karhunkoski]

I remember you said that you qualifications were certified in Finland.

This guy needed some help getting his certified too:

http://finlandforum.org/viewtopic.php?f ... 46#p313246

But nobody could be arsed to reply and help him out

[09seger]

Hi Mark,
Congratulations on your forthcoming marriage. I too am from the UK, married to a Finnish man and just moved here about 60KM outside Turku last August.
We lived in the UK for 12 years then decided to move here for our childrens language development. In the UK I was a Biomedical scientist,,,then went back to university to do secondary science teaching and then as my next decade approached it was now or never to take the plunge to come here.
I have noticed there are very few jobs here in comparison to UK and even for the lower jobs these Finns like you to have a hygiene passport or an alcohol passport or whatever passport is going. These usually cost around 100€ each and as far as i know the test is in Finnish.
There seems to be an awful lot of agency work ..temping..especially for the summer to cover the holidays but dont expect any loyalty from the employers because they will lay you off and take on new workers the following week if they want to..regardless of how well you do your job..how much extra you put into it.
Many people are educated here, and its mainly due to the high unemployment so a Masters degree is the norm some ppl even have 2 or 3 of these!
I am working in a boring metal factory at the moment a far change from teaching the wage is 9€ /hr and I have to work 42.5 hrs a week with breaks unpaid. After tax and all the other bits that disappear from your wage Im left with about 1000€ a month..which is very little to live off in this country...no tax credits and very little child benefit.
Are you sure your wife wont go and live in the UK with you?
Its 29th March today and still the snowis falling..hasnt stopped since October...his leads to extraordinary heating bills and all in all I find the Finns are left with very little money especially if you have a large family.
There is an immigration benefit system in place which will allow you to go on the Language course and do job placements in your area but its even less money to live off.
If you would prefere to go straight to work contact the agencies and register with them.

[squirrel58]

Thanks for that great reply,my future wife won't go to the uk to live,as she has a daughter,long story,and it's easier for me to move rathere than two of them,she has a good job in the University,so a lowly paid job job would suffice for a while,and I have enrolled on a language course in the evenings,a job like yours would be suitable for me,any vacancies thee??? I have to ask,sorry. Do you have any further details of that program you mentioned?

Thanks in advance

Mark

[09seger]

Its through an agency called Carrot, they have all sorts of vacancies like agencies in the UK; im not sure if you can register online but take a look at www.carrot.fi
There are other agencies too..Adecco and opteam. I cant think of anymore at the moment. Maybe the best thing to do is get registered with them now because things dont happen fast here lol!
Also in order to get a social security card here ( which everyone needs) you need to have your birth certificates certified....stupid i know and it costs money too and it has to be done in the UK so maybe phone the Finnish or British embassy to get contact details....This will just speed things up for you.
Good luck and I hope you are a very easy minded person lol .

[09seger]

Oh ye lol the language programme.... is it actually Turku you are moving too.. because if it is in the city Im guessing things move a little quicker and maybe they have these language consecutively. However if you are a bit more in the sticks then there is a long waiting list. Its through the job centre :Työvoimakoulutustiedot. Its approx an 8 month course and it runs like a school day from 9am to 3pm... it goes through all the grammar , the endings , the exceptions, Finnish culture etc.
The job centre can sort you out with a job placement in your field too and this REALLY helps with the language development. However I have found that now im ok with speaking but cant read or write doing it this way.

[tamsinspargo]

On the subject of the language course, the waiting list is very long and if you have a basic knowledge of the language you will automatically get bumped down the list in favour of people who have no knowledge at all. I'm on the waiting list in Turku but because I took a course at the evening high school and can get by in my daily life, even though I can't find a new job, they consider it less important to put me onto the course. If you're already learning and getting on ok with the language you definitely will not be a priority.
On Monday they told me the next one starts approximately in August, and that the waiting list has hundreds of names on it in Turku alone. In order to even get on the list you need a Finnish social security number, and as things don't seem to move very quickly with this course I wouldn't be too optimistic about it. I've been on the list since October.

[squirrel58]

thanks so much for all the help,I'm currently in Finland for a while now,have to find a job,so am busy concentrating on that