28y/o, recently became a Finnish citizen and will start the conscription soon. Which division would you recommend to me?

[TruthSeeker]

Hi all,

As I explained in the title, I recently became a Finnish citizen. I will soon be 28 years old, meaning that I am eligible for conscription. I happily want to do it, hopefully this summer, although I have a permanent job, which I really enjoy doing. However, I would prefer to do it for only 6 months, and no longer (due to my personal and career plans).

I made some research, and I found that these options all take 165 days (6 months) to complete.

Considering my age, and my lack of Finnish skills (which are not even close to my English, but good enough to pass YKI testi, real level probably B1) which of these options below would you recommend me?

-Eläinhuoltomies
-Konekiväärimies
-Panssarihaupitsin ampuja
-Taistelupelastaja
-Tiedustelija
-Rynnäkkökiväärimies
-Pyöräalustaisen maastoajoneuvoa eli maastoskootterin kuljettaja
-Tiedustelu ja valmisteluryhmän jäsen

In which of these options I would need to speak the least? Or in which of these would I be okay with English? Another question, can my employer give me any hard time due to the fact that I will be doing the conscription and will be away for at least 6 months? I still haven't notified them, will do that once I get the confirmation when I will start the conscription.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Much love.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

It all depends on the personnel in any given outfit how well they cope with the language, so it's anyone's guess who does it best. Training is training, most of it is given verbally, and of course you will have to be able to communicate yourself and work as part of a unit. The language issue aside, you should go by your own interests for the training itself (and/or the physical location, if that's important to you). The reality is, however, that one can only state their preferences, which are followed to a degree, but ultimately the places are decided for you (as some places are more popular than others, some in practice require prior qualifications,...). Also, if one already has some experience in a specific field, e.g. medicine, IT,... that may also have an impact as it's preferred to have alignment with one's civilian profession.

Personally, I wanted to go to a certain place and would've been able to, but it would've meant waiting for half a year, due to which I decided to go somewhere else instead, at which time I was presented with two options; "place X to do Y, or place W to do Z, which one do you prefer?".

A rough "translation" of what you mentioned are about:
-Eläinhuoltomies: a care-taker of animals, an assistant to a veterinarian
-Konekiväärimies, rynnäkkökiväärimies: a basic grunt in an infantry unit
-Panssarihaupitsin ampuja: a gunner, mechanized artillery
-Taistelupelastaja: a medic
-Tiedustelija: reconnaissance, long-range patrolling, physically most demanding of the ones mentioned (good for an outdoors type, lots of time in the "bush")
-Pyöräalustaisen maastoajoneuvoa eli maastoskootterin kuljettaja: a driver/rider, messenger
-Tiedustelu ja valmisteluryhmän jäsen: reconnaissance, planning

The location itself may also have its own impact, e.g. in coastal areas, there probably will be some maritime aspect.

The employer has no say about the matter, they will have to let you do the service and it cannot be used as grounds for e.g. terminating your employment.

PS. Why did you post your question in multiple different threads?

[TruthSeeker]

Hi @FinnGuyHelsinki.

Thank you very much for your reply. I would prefer a location in the Uusimaa or Varsinais-Suomi region. I understand that I cannot choose my place, but rather state the preference, which will hopefully be taken into consideration.

Out of these options that I mentioned (Eläinhuoltomies, konekiväärimies, rynnäkkökiväärimies, panssarihaupitsin ampuja, taistelupelastaja, tiedustelija, pyöräalustaisen maastoajoneuvoa eli maastoskootterin kuljettaja, tiedustelu ja valmisteluryhmän jäsen) which ones do you think have the least "competition" to be accepted into? I have shortlisted these after making my initial research on intti.fi, considering my physical abilities, and personal interests. Furthermore, in the intti.fi website, for all of these services the period of service is 165 days. Is that the official period or it could be further extended later on?

Thanks again for the info.

P.S. I was not sure where to place my question since I couldn't find a special thread about the army, that's why I placed this in 2-3 threads.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

There may be some regional variation, but in general I'd say rynnäkkökiväärimies/konekiväärimies has the least primary interest, as that is the basic infantry, and those wanting (also) different training are looking to get elsewhere first. E.g. Kaartin jääkärirykmentti specializes in operating in urban environment, and it's close to the capital region, therefore it probably gets more interest than other infantry (jääkäri) units.

The length of service you can see from https://intti.fi/palvelustehtavat-ja-paikat (selecting the palvelusaika checkbox). In any field it's the full length if you are selected for leadership training. I don't think they'll force anyone that route against their will, as it would be quite counter-productive.

[inkku]

Just a side comment that the military leadership is still much appreciated in Finland, it might increase your employability. So do not write off the possibility to serve longer than the minimum number if you have what is required.