Desperately looking for a job

[khalid345]

I have applied to so many places including cleaning companies , dishwashing newpapers delivery, ship cleaning but no hopes at all. Does any one already working in a company can guide me. No company asks me for an interview. I don't know what is the problem. I also use to call them regularly but n hopes.Is there some place where its easy to get the job?is it really impossible to get job in Finland? Somebody said that it is easy to get job in bus and train cleaning at nights, If someone has the idea where to apply for it please help.I have also applied in Mc Donalds but there is no response.
I ll be highly obliged.

[Adrian42]

no qualifications + not speaking Finnish fluently = no job

And the economical crisis caused by the people in Southern Europe makes it even worse, with frequent news of companies in Finland firing people.

[cors187]

is it really impossible to get job in Finland?

Its possible to survive in finland as an immigrant, but your,mine and the employers definition of job will be different.
Do you want to survive in country that has a track record to force you on 10 to 40hr/month on call contracts.
Collective bargaining agreements to keep your salary high enough , but low enough that your an economic prisoner.

You know i heard a rumor that S Market has the official 0-40 hrs contract, in which your contracted on stand by with no salary.(is it exactly true, i dont know)

[kiwijim]

I've had the same thing, it doesn't matter if you have a qualification, if you can't converse in Finnish your going to be last on any list. As for not getting a reply, expect it to be something to do with company, best not to work for those who don't take time to acknowledge your existence, it's your warning not to work for them.

[neronakos]

The problem is that you don't speak finnish and that you don't have previous experience in Finland. Same goes for me. I hold two masters and I have made applications to everywhere but of course noone did ask me for an interview.

[Oye]

Khalid345, based on your message it is impossible to say what is going wrong but I can assure you that the labour market is very competitive even for Finns, so there is nowhere to get a job "easy".

However,

no qualifications + not speaking Finnish fluently = no job

is not quite true either. E.g. my husband didn't have a qualification when we arrived, still doesn't speak Finnish and the first time we came landed a job in 3 weeks, the 2nd time in 2 weeks. And no, I have no connections in his field.

You need to know what you can offer ("I can do anything" will not do!!!!), and then be in contact with the right person. Again, as I don't know what your background is and and what you can offer, I can't give any precise examples.

'

i heard a rumor that S Market has the official 0-40 hrs contract, in which your contracted on stand by with no salary.

I know for a fact that the S-chain has also other type of contracts but yes, that sort of a contract is one that is used a lot in a field where there are big variation in how much employees are needed. However, you will NOT be on call: this type of contract is perfect e.g. for a student, as they get the work place benefit (e.g. health care), they can agree with the employer on work - or they can say "no, I have to study/can't". So the employer doesn't have to offer work, but the employee doesn't have to hop every time he is called either. It is about a mutual agreement, and obviously this is not the type of contract you want if you want to work fulltime (also good to know, if a contract says you'll have 25 hrs/week and you don't get them, the employer will have to pay you for 25 hrs anyway. Hence the contract of 0-40 hrs for casual workers)

The problem is that you don't speak finnish and that you don't have previous experience in Finland. Same goes for me. I hold two masters and I have made applications to everywhere but of course noone did ask me for an interview.

Let me guess, you've sent all applications via e-mail, and that was it? Also, how many are "everywhere"? About 4-5 years ago, according to a study, a Finn had to apply in the average for 49 jobs in order to get one. Without Finnish skills, you may expect to apply a bit more than that. It would be worthwhile to also do a bit of a research in which employers might actually be potential when it comes to hiring, saves you a lot of extra work (I hope you have not sent the same application to every place?!) Also, having a masters doesn't single you out from the crowed here, every second Finn has a masters degree, so I hope you are actually pointing out what you can offer that the employer might find useful?

Good luck to you all!

[neronakos]

Let me guess, you've sent all applications via e-mail, and that was it? Also, how many are "everywhere"? About 4-5 years ago, according to a study, a Finn had to apply in the average for 49 jobs in order to get one. Without Finnish skills, you may expect to apply a bit more than that. It would be worthwhile to also do a bit of a research in which employers might actually be potential when it comes to hiring, saves you a lot of extra work (I hope you have not sent the same application to every place?!) Also, having a masters doesn't single you out from the crowed here, every second Finn has a masters degree, so I hope you are actually pointing out what you can offer that the employer might find useful?

Good luck to you all!

Nope.Unortunatelly you guessed wrong. I have sent applications via e-mail of course and even call them or went to places and submit applications. Of course with a background in communication studies and my 5 year experience in another country I didn't expect much, since I cannot speak the language. But since I am desperately looking for any kind of job I also went and asked to restaurants and cleaning companies by myself and also ask people if they knew something. And I have also applied for traineeships maybe to all companies in Helsinki and of course I am 30 years old, I know that I cannot send the same application everywhere. But not luck at all.

[Oye]

Nope.Unortunatelly you guessed wrong.

Happy to hear that! You definitively sound active, good on you!

One thing that strikes me in your answer is though that you are explaining how you are asking for a job/traineeship but the one thing I can't read, (maybe because this is a public forum? At least that is the reason I am not going into deatails) is what are you offering? You are stating that you didn't expect much in your field, did your low expectation show? If you don't expect much, you typically don't get much... I am sorry, that sounds harsh, but unfortunately that is often the case. If you want to be successfull, you need to make it clear from the start for the employer how they'd benefit from you, don't expect them to sit down to think about how they could use you when reading your background. Have a clear offer. Show what you can do even though you don't speak Finnish. Even better, what can you offer that Finns can't?

Btw, I know a person with a background in communication with next to know Finnish skills (well, nowadays passable), that have found a job in the field. Apparently not impossibile. However, of course, communication is also a vast concept, you may have specialiced in different areas.

The big problem when highly skilled foreigners (and Finns with masters but no related work experience) look for positions as trainees or in a completely different field, is that employers expect you to leave as soon as you find something else. So what you need to do is to convince them of being able to do the job/somehow benefit them AND to convince them that you can be relied on.

Even though this was quite general, I do hope an active person like you will find his place! Just remember not to give up, others have made it, and also, you always need a bit of good luck with the timing as well, when looking for a job. It is not all about how you do it, unfortunately.

[neronakos]

Nope.Unortunatelly you guessed wrong.

Happy to hear that! You definitively sound active, good on you!

One thing that strikes me in your answer is though that you are explaining how you are asking for a job/traineeship but the one thing I can't read, (maybe because this is a public forum? At least that is the reason I am not going into deatails) is what are you offering? You are stating that you didn't expect much in your field, did your low expectation show? If you don't expect much, you typically don't get much... I am sorry, that sounds harsh, but unfortunately that is often the case. If you want to be successfull, you need to make it clear from the start for the employer how they'd benefit from you, don't expect them to sit down to think about how they could use you when reading your background. Have a clear offer. Show what you can do even though you don't speak Finnish. Even better, what can you offer that Finns can't?

Btw, I know a person with a background in communication with next to know Finnish skills (well, nowadays passable), that have found a job in the field. Apparently not impossibile. However, of course, communication is also a vast concept, you may have specialiced in different areas.

The big problem when highly skilled foreigners (and Finns with masters but no related work experience) look for positions as trainees or in a completely different field, is that employers expect you to leave as soon as you find something else. So what you need to do is to convince them of being able to do the job/somehow benefit them AND to convince them that you can be relied on.

Even though this was quite general, I do hope an active person like you will find his place! Just remember not to give up, others have made it, and also, you always need a bit of good luck with the timing as well, when looking for a job. It is not all about how you do it, unfortunately.

No of course I am confident and I don't tell them that I don't expect something. Well I have worked in my field for 5 years back in my country so I know what a "boss" wants to hear etc. So I guess I might just be unlucky. I also know two persons that managed to find job in communication field without knowing Finnish. Of course the timing is a very important matter. I don't want to give up of course, but soon I won't have money to stay. But you know I am also writing here because a lot of people might want to come and don't know what to expect or are more optimistic than it should. I think that they should know the truth. I mean that it might be able not to find a job. Well the funny thing is that I really wanted to learn the language and I have started to learn the basics but this searching for a job really didn't allow me to learn it. But thanks for encouraging in any way.

[Oye]

No of course I am confident and I don't tell them that I don't expect something. Well I have worked in my field for 5 years back in my country so I know what a "boss" wants to hear etc. So I guess I might just be unlucky. I also know two persons that managed to find job in communication field without knowing Finnish. Of course the timing is a very important matter. I don't want to give up of course, but soon I won't have money to stay. But you know I am also writing here because a lot of people might want to come and don't know what to expect or are more optimistic than it should. I think that they should know the truth. I mean that it might be able not to find a job. Well the funny thing is that I really wanted to learn the language and I have started to learn the basics but this searching for a job really didn't allow me to learn it. But thanks for encouraging in any way.

Neronakos, have to comment on a couple of things still, partly, because I think you have had a few very good points, partly because of what you say: you are writing here for other people as well. I certainly wish our labour market would be more flexible and open for expats (well, more flexible for us Finns too ) but it is what it is, and therefore it is good to be prepared for it if thinking of coming here (e.g. have something to live on for a while).

So the following comments are not so much just for you, but more in general for other ones too to think of.

You say you know what bosses want to hear as you have 5 years of work experiance from your own country, could it just be that you know what they want to hear in your home country?

There is a difference in this (I've lived and been employed in a few different countries). Also, typically,if a Finn recognices that you are saying what you expect hem to want to hear, it will be a no-no for hiring you. Or if they read desperacy between the lines (equals, "this person would say anything, is not reliable"),that is not attractive either.

Timing is very important. And in my opinion, regardless of how good you are and how "right" you do it all, you do need a bit of luck as well.

[sentajazz]

The only thing that you need for such jobs you listed, that you know someone who will take you to his boos and say: I know this guy, he is good worker. that's all the philosophy you need. No qualifications+ no language+ someone you know= job

[neronakos]

The only thing that you need for such jobs you listed, that you know someone who will take you to his boos and say: I know this guy, he is good worker. that's all the philosophy you need. No qualifications+ no language+ someone you know= job

It is true! But I don't know someone