How do you get a job in Finland?

Ramonator · Post by **Ramonator** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:18 am

I am American. I speak English and Spanish and I have a degree. I know you probably need to know Finnish but I was thinking on taking a lower skill job to learn the language and then try to attempt at Nokia or something. Can anyone give me tips or advice on where to look for jobs that I could do with no Finnish skills? Also, I would like some advice on where to learn Finnish. Do you guys think 90 days is enough to find a low skills job? Also, how much money would I need to survive? I will appreciate any kind of help you guys can give.

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dave071061 · Post by **dave071061** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:40 am

You don't say what you have a degree in, but in short if you have no contacts in Finland I would say your chances of finding any work in 90 days is not possible,
If you have contacts then it is possible but unlikely.
You also don't say what your rights to work in Finland are based on. If you are an EU citizen then why the 90 day limit? If you are from outside the EU then you are unlikely to find an employer willing to apply for a work permit for you for the low level work you are talking about,

CH · Post by CH » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:19 am

You don't say what degree you have, or if you have any work experience. If you have work experience in some desirable area (you mention Nokia... are you perhaps in IT?) then apply for that. A lot of companies do recruit from abroad for experts. If you are straight out of school... well, that would make it quite a lot harder. The easiest route would be to apply to a school here and start working somewhere as a trainee.

Taking a low skill job and then upgrading to a higher skill job is not easy. Employers want at least some experience within the field, and if you apply for, say, an IT job and all the employers see is you working as a cleaner they are going to go WTF. And, learning enough Finnish to be able to apply based on your Finnish skills (if such would indeed be needed in your field of work) takes quite a lot of time and dedication.

Logic · Post by **Logic** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:45 am

Ramonator wrote: and then try to attempt at Nokia

Very optimistic thinking.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:49 am

As a non-EU in principle you need to find the job before you enter the country. If you come here for interviews etc. then you can apply for a permit, but unless its a high fly specialist job your chances get more meager. And I suggest you read some news, Nokia's booted out so many engineers recently its unreal. Finding a job with Nokia in the US would be easier.

Heefa · Post by **Heefa** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:34 am

i'm sorry but there are 0.0000001% english speaking jobs here. myself and surely many others have looked for this. you should look into night classes in finnish in the area you're gonna be in

Oho · Post by **Oho** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:11 pm

Heefa wrote:i'm sorry but there are 0.0000001% english speaking jobs here.

No !"#¤%, I have been employed in various jobs in Finland for more than quarter of a century. In every single one official company language has been English implying most if not all correspondence is carried out in English and certainly if there is a single non Finnish native speaker involved. Social situations at offices are different matter entirely. All you need is a PhD in some engineering or natural sciences discipline and avoiding, not finding, English speaking working environments becomes the tricky part.

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Oho wrote:
Heefa wrote:i'm sorry but there are 0.0000001% english speaking jobs here.
No !"#¤%, I have been employed in various jobs in Finland for more than quarter of a century. In every single one official company language has been English implying most if not all correspondence is carried out in English and certainly if there is a single non native Finnish speaker involved. Social situations at offices are different matter entirely. All you need is a PhD in some engineering or natural sciences discipline and avoiding, not finding, English speaking working environments becomes the tricky part.

Sort of agreed. There are presently 7 of us foreigners in our R&D centre out of 155(?) workers (4.5%).
- 2 of us speak finnisss to some degree - 1 guy fluently, I do somewhat, but the rest of them use english from what I've seen (english is a second language for most of them).
- 2 of us have PhDs, another guy has a Finnish D.Sc. (tech). The rest only have masters, though a couple are registered as doctoral students.

English is the formal company language for documentation, In meetings / discussions with foreign clients naturally english is used, but most internal communication (e-mails for example) are in Finnish.
If it's an internal meeting and there is a non-native speaker present then the discussions are still mainly in Finnish, but the furriner will almost always get a translated precis of the discussion.

@ the OP...

90 days is how long you can be here as a tourist, but you are not supposed to be here to seek work ... and if you find it, you can't stay, you've then got to go back to the states to apply for the relevant permits.

http://www.finland.org/public/default.a ... ture=en-US

www.finland.org wrote:To work in Finland you must apply for and obtain a worker's residence permit before leaving to Finland. Applications for a first residence permit must be filed personally with the Finnish Embassy or Consulate General in the country of origin

Oho · Post by **Oho** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:56 pm

sinikala wrote:
English is the formal company language for documentation, In meetings / discussions with foreign clients naturally english is used, but most internal communication (e-mails for example) are in Finnish. If it's an internal meeting and there is a non-native speaker present then the discussions are still mainly in Finnish, but the furriner will almost always get a translated precis of the discussion.

Curious, in my current office environment people frequently default to English even in 100% native Finnish speaking situations and really need to be pointed out there is no need for foreign language. I mean I find my job hard enough without the added burden of limitations brought about by language I am no where near as comfortable with as my native Finnish.

Kutittaa · Post by **Kutittaa** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:24 pm

Think of the job you want in your mind, rub your hands together, turn in a circle 3 times and scream 'simsalabim!'

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:09 pm

Low-skilled jobs are an entry port to further low-skilled jobs.

We had a discussion about that here a few years ago. Someone thought they'd work at McDonald's to have something to put on their resumé when applying for higher-level positions. I said then it would be the kiss of death on such a resumé, though a couple of other posters had minority opinions on the question -- based, however, more on idealism than on life experience or recruiting experience.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=50563

Kutittaa · Post by **Kutittaa** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:38 am

Depends on your patience actually. Mc Donalds > K Citymarket > Anttila > Vero Moda > etc. etc.

Sure you will never be able to get a really decent job starting off at a lower place. But you'll be able to move up (so-to-speak).

It goes without saying that a decent job requires decent qualifications. None of the jobs I've listed really require qualifications. Though everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone has goals.

Ramonator · Post by **Ramonator** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:07 am

Thanks for your replies so far.

I studied electronics. It has been impossible to find jobs that do not require Finnish. And I don't know where I could learn the language. As I said I am American so yes, I am non-EU. If not Nokia, can you guys tell me which companies focus on electronics and technology?

tizlit · Post by **tizlit** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:18 am

There are people here unemployed who speak fluent Finnish (foreigners that is), English etc with qualifications, it seems the situation is getting from bad to worse. a friend of mine got a job, like 4 months "trial", then was laid off, no jobless again.
Electronics.

Try applying for any sort of lowskill job, this is Finland and you should be able to communicate in this language.

browndude · Post by **browndude** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:20 am

sinikala wrote:
Oho wrote:
Heefa wrote:i'm sorry but there are 0.0000001% english speaking jobs here.
No !"#¤%, I have been employed in various jobs in Finland for more than quarter of a century. In every single one official company language has been English implying most if not all correspondence is carried out in English and certainly if there is a single non native Finnish speaker involved. Social situations at offices are different matter entirely. All you need is a PhD in some engineering or natural sciences discipline and avoiding, not finding, English speaking working environments becomes the tricky part.
Sort of agreed. There are presently 7 of us foreigners in our R&D centre out of 155(?) workers (4.5%).
- 2 of us speak finnisss to some degree - 1 guy fluently, I do somewhat, but the rest of them use english from what I've seen (english is a second language for most of them).
- 2 of us have PhDs, another guy has a Finnish D.Sc. (tech). The rest only have masters, though a couple are registered as doctoral students.

English is the formal company language for documentation, In meetings / discussions with foreign clients naturally english is used, but most internal communication (e-mails for example) are in Finnish.
If it's an internal meeting and there is a non-native speaker present then the discussions are still mainly in Finnish, but the furriner will almost always get a translated precis of the discussion.

@ the OP...

90 days is how long you can be here as a tourist, but you are not supposed to be here to seek work ... and if you find it, you can't stay, you've then got to go back to the states to apply for the relevant permits.

http://www.finland.org/public/default.a ... ture=en-US
www.finland.org wrote:To work in Finland you must apply for and obtain a worker's residence permit before leaving to Finland. Applications for a first residence permit must be filed personally with the Finnish Embassy or Consulate General in the country of origin

Ditto to what Sinikala said. I have a PhD in science and the foreigners who work with me have one or are working towards one. I also speak some Finnish and some of the other foreigners speak fluent Finnish. Having said that, my workplace is aggressively switching towards using English but it is likely to take a very long time.

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