Job hunting

[MBV]

Hi guys,
I am going to be moving to Finland in the next few weeks, I have been lucky enough to get a job as a teacher in an English speaking school in Oulu. However, my partner is wanting to move out with me, not straight away, but after a little while. Unfortunately he is feeling downhearted about finding a job. He has no formal qualifications as such, and has changed his job role often, but has a good understanding of logistics and delivery companies, as well as managing bars. Unfortunately, he does not speak a word of Finnish but is willing to learn.
Can anyone recommend the best way to go about finding a job as I understand that most places require at least a basic grasp of Finnish and a skill set?
Could he get some sort of funding to help him train in a different field?
How difficult would it be to find a job whilst not in the country? We are both worried about how long our savings would last if he was unemployed in Finland without any sort of unemployment benefit.
I have done a lot of research into moving, but still can't get my head around being unemployed if from an EU country without being a resident as such.

Thank you in advance

[betelgeuse]

Could he get some sort of funding to help him train in a different field?

As your partner he is entitled to Finnish social security. For example your partner can use student financial aid to study a degree:

http://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid ... n-students

How difficult would it be to find a job whilst not in the country?

The initial step is searching online, which you can do wherever. After potential phone interviews and such he must at least have plans how to attend interviews etc.

[GermanInHelsinki]

Your partner does not have any formal qualifications.

Your partner does not speak Finnish.

The unemployment rate in Oulu is going towards 20%.

It is of course not realistic that your partner would find any job at all for several years after moving to Oulu.

[GermanInHelsinki]

Whether the partner is entitled to any Finnish social security benefits at all does of course depend on what the "partner" is legally.

"Registered same-sex partnership" as Betelgeuse assumes is of course not the only possible use of the word "partner".

[betelgeuse]

Whether the partner is entitled to any Finnish social security benefits at all does of course depend on what the "partner" is legally.

I assumed the OP meant sexual partner, not business partner. Yes for full disclosure, registering right of residence based on family ties or getting a family ties residence permit is not possible for non married couples with less than two years of cohabitation:

http://www.poliisi.fi/poliisi/home.nsf/ ... endocument

"Registered same-sex partnership" as Betelgeuse assumes is of course not the only possible use of the word "partner".

There is no information of the sex in the first post so I did not make any assumptions about it. The gender of the OP does not matter any way. The rules are the same.

[GermanInHelsinki]

The sex of the partners is of course irrelevant.

A partner without (same-sex or traditional) marriage and without 2 years of cohabitation and without a common child does of course not differ much from a business partner legally - they are both not family members.

[rinso]

Your partner does not have any formal qualifications.

Your partner does not speak Finnish.

The unemployment rate in Oulu is going towards 20%.

It is of course not realistic that your partner would find any job at all for several years after moving to Oulu.

Since the Oulu branch of Nokia is hit hard twice in a row a lot of Finnish families depend on social security.
You at least have work.
Don't count on any pity for a poor foreigner. Employers will feel more sorry for the ex-Nokia workers.
So in this case I would say GiH might even be optimistic in his post.