Desperately seeking work in Helsinki

[NicolaeDenut]

Hi,

I am about to move to Finland with my Fiancée and am desperately seeking work, or help finding work, of any kind.

ABOUT ME:
- Bright graduate with a 1st Class Honours Law with Business Degree and a Distinction in the Legal Practice Course, but I declined opportunity to practice law in UK.
- Work in my spare time on an exciting web project and have learnt loads of skills in web project management, SEO, social media marketing, web marketing and internet law
- Lots of experience in sales and customer service roles, including telesales, telemarketing, inbound telephone customer service, barwork and retail

LANGUAGE SKILLS:
- I am a British citizen so English is my mother tongue and I am particularly skilled at written and spoken English, having previously made money in my spare time proofreading and correcting academic texts
- I am desperately trying to learn Finnish and am doing okay, but I am only really going to get the basic skills and confidence in speaking when I am over there! I have already lined up further adult education in Finnish language for when I arrive

WHAT I AM ABLE TO DO:
-ANYTHING! But in particular, the kind of jobs I am qualified, experienced or generally interested in include:
- Sales
- Marketing
- Web Development/Marketing/Management
- Law
- Management Consultancy
- Driving jobs (Delivery/courier/taxi driving)
- Bar jobs
- Retail jobs
- Warehousing / Shelfstacking / Picking / Manual Labour jobs of any kind
- Customer service
- Proofreading / Writing / Reporting / Research
- Admin/Office jobs of absolutely any sort
- Part time / Full time / Temp / Early Hours / Evening / Weekends all considered

LOCATIONS:
Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo - Anywhere within commuting distance of Helsinki

Please can anyone advise me on where to look? I have checked through all the obvious websites (MoL, Uranus, Manpower, EURES) plus a couple of well-known companies (like Nokia, UPM, Kone) but there tends to be nothing for English speaking people which isn't in a highly technical or science-based field. Can people suggest English-language based companies, management consultants, small firms, small businesses, English publications, jobs that require zero language skills etc -> Absolutely anything!

In England I am extremely well qualified for many jobs in many industries but in Finland I am a complete fish out of water! Many thanks to absolutely anyone who can help!!!

Josh

I think I can help, I sent you a mail.

[Adamhoward]

Hi josh

Not sure if your still veiwing this thread but oh well.

I moved to finland about 1 year ago, maybe a little over that, i had been working up until just before xmas when i was let go from a posistion, for in reality my own fault (took me a while to get used to finnish winter)

i moved her for the same reason your are, i met a finnish girl and fell madly in love, as you do.

Yes its hard, but the same can be said for anywhere really

im a trained chef in england but as most of my training was done in house non of it is a viable form of education here, so if by chance you do find any tempory work, well done but i would advise takeing anything that comes your way, as jobs where english is spoken are few and far between,

And i think you will find all the troll's here are just slighty jelous

[KatjaB]

Hello, Josh!

I have to say, I'm also shocked by some of the responses. Don't let them bring you down! My experience with the Finns is completely different. They are very nice, friendly and open people, who in general don't mind foreigners if they know you will not live on their tax money and will actively participate in making Finland a better place!
I've been living here for a year and I've met a lot of foreign people who managed to find a job in Finland. I would strongly encourage you to learn Finnish, but I would say that we both know it's unrealistic to think you can learn it so well and so quickly to practice law in Finland immediately. It is a very beautiful and extremely interesting language but difficult for a foreigner to master However, they respect you trying and showing your eagerness to learn!
Next thing: it would probably be easier if your girlfriend would move to UK since she's speaking your language, but if that is not possible and if you are in love, move here immediately! Don't think to much, just act, follow your heart and everything will be ok!
As far as your job is concerned, try to find something suitable on http://ec.europa.eu/eures/. Another option is to start your own business (which is what I'm doing). You seem to be very qualified and capable, you have a wide range of skills. Think about it, maybe you can combine your skills and work through the internet (internationally). You can also try to seek for a job which you can do over the internet from any part of the world (law and marketing seem to go well together), you can also try to find a job as an English teacher since you are a native speaker.
You will be fine!

[Keplerinvaimo]

With all due respect, the earlier posters have been trying to say that this sort of statement:

You will be fine!

is dangerous and lulls potential immigrants into a false sense of security. Especially if you are moving to be with a loved one.

Even though every one that moves here has a different story, the underlying theme is usually the same. The OP may very well be fine in the end. We don't know enough about him to say this with any certainty.

Guaranteed it will not be an easy road for him or his girlfriend.

[KatjaB]

Well, worst case scenario: he can't find a job, so (1) she works and he stays at home, cares for the house/children, (2) he finds out that this is not working and moves back home There are still options, but not acting upon your heart would leave you wonder: "what if..."

[cors187]

Josh, after a while you will meet a heap of foreigners all of whom have plenty of time on their hands.

[Sami-Is-Boss]

I wonder how this chap got on in the end. It's always interesting to get some closure on these things

[cors187]

bookend
ˈbʊkɛnd/
noun
noun: bookend; plural noun: bookends; noun: book-end; plural noun: book-ends

1.
a support placed at the end of a row of books to keep them upright, typically forming one of a pair.

The Finnish bookend.

Truckloads of well educated people ,All exclaiming the masters degree,most with poor form thesis , could not run a company above 25% profit from Gross return , cant actually ever get the dream job that they are qualified for.

Thats the Finnish bookend and the immigrant has to adapt their story in it.