Working in Finland?

[Mrneedajob]

Hi, I am a US citizen looking for work, hopefully teaching English in Finland. I taught in Korea last year and I have a college degree in Political Science for a major University. I just started looking this week and am shooting to be in Finland by late next spring or early summer. I am curious, where are some good spots online to look for work and what avenues should I take to better my chances of a job? Thank you so much.

[interleukin]

Finns love degrees, so having some kind of teaching degree certificate is going to make it much easier for you to find a job. The thing is, you may have a very hard time even getting a residence permit for this. There are so many native English speakers who are EU citizens (=no need for residence permit or visa or such) that unless you are exceptionally lucky, you may not be very employable. There are a bunch of language teachers on this forum, I am sure they will post here soon as well.

[Mrneedajob]

Finns love degrees, so having some kind of teaching degree certificate is going to make it much easier for you to find a job. The thing is, you may have a very hard time even getting a residence permit for this. There are so many native English speakers who are EU citizens (=no need for residence permit or visa or such) that unless you are exceptionally lucky, you may not be very employable. There are a bunch of language teachers on this forum, I am sure they will post here soon as well.

Well, I have a friend who I think would sponsor me if that is possible, is that a viable option?

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

From today's paper; in the capital region there were 260 open permanent teaching positions, for which there were 7000 applications, and 600+ temporary positions with 14000 applications. The number of applications exceed the number of applicants, as some apply for several positions, but that should give some idea of the overall situation.

If you can get any job based of which you can get a residence permit, and then start looking for a teaching position, that would help your search a lot, applying from overseas sounds a bit of a stretch, if you don't know someone who can arrange the position for you.

[interleukin]

The problem is that to get a residence permit, you need to show that you have unique skills that no one in EU has. And looking for a teaching position without formal education, that is going to be rough. Ryanair transports a bunch of people from the UK every week, all native English speakers and all EU citizens. You need to compete with them, and that is where you need to have some unique skills. And even if you did have formal skills and a great CV, you have a certain handicap competing with EU citizens who can come here and stay as they wish while looking for a job.
Why have you decided that you want to come to Finland? Is it personal reasons? If so, can that personal reason use her network/family to get you some kind of job? That is how you normally would find a job around here.

[Mrneedajob]

From today's paper; in the capital region there were 260 open permanent teaching positions, for which there were 7000 applications, and 600+ temporary positions with 14000 applications. The number of applications exceed the number of applicants, as some apply for several positions, but that should give some idea of the overall situation.

If you can get any job based of which you can get a residence permit, and then start looking for a teaching position, that would help your search a lot, applying from overseas sounds a bit of a stretch, if you don't know someone who can arrange the position for you.

Is getting any job there actually possible for an American? I would be open to that, I just figured teaching would be an easier avenue, especially with experience. I am open to most jobs, as long as I can eat and get by.

Thanks for the info.

[Mrneedajob]

The problem is that to get a residence permit, you need to show that you have unique skills that no one in EU has. And looking for a teaching position without formal education, that is going to be rough. Ryanair transports a bunch of people from the UK every week, all native English speakers and all EU citizens. You need to compete with them, and that is where you need to have some unique skills. And even if you did have formal skills and a great CV, you have a certain handicap competing with EU citizens who can come here and stay as they wish while looking for a job.
Why have you decided that you want to come to Finland? Is it personal reasons? If so, can that personal reason use her network/family to get you some kind of job? That is how you normally would find a job around here.

Yeah, it's personal. I would be moving there to spend a year with a girl who is a Finnish national. She said she might be able to get me a job, but at the same time, I would like to help myself as well.

[rinso]

There are tons of information about teaching jobs on this forum. Use the search function.

But in short; if you haven't got a (Finnish) collage degree for teaching, you're doomed to the private sector, which is all free lance work. And free lancing doesn't get you a residence permit.

So if you want to come and stay, you need a permanent job. And that for a non-EU citizen indeed means special qualifications in a niche field.

I would be moving there to spend a year with a girl who is a Finnish national

The application for a residence permit might take up to 6 months. And during that time you cannot work.
Applying from the US is the best option, but than again, which boss would give you a job and wait 6 months for you to come.

She said she might be able to get me a job

She should look first at the paperwork needed before she makes such a statement.

[Rosamunda]

Teaching English in the private sector (ie TEFL to adults) is difficult for non-EU nationals as most of the language schools offer work on a freelance basis and pay at an hourly rate. In other words, they will not give you any piece of paper which guarantees you fixed employment. Even for EU nationals with certificates and diplomas it may take a few years to ramp up the hours to an equivalent of full-time employment.

Best bet is your girlfriend. If she can find you a "proper" job then you might just stand a chance of getting the RP.

(...as rinso already explained)

[jessesuomi]

Yes it is possible to find work if you are an American, living in the USA. I would however suggest looking for menial work at like a hotel or restaurant as a cleaner or dishwasher. The bigger hotels would be the best bet since they more often have people from other parts of the world working there. But dont be surprised to find the person working next to you having some kind of degree like Sociology or something else, only to have you wonder why are they doing dishes.... Its just the way it is here.

My application some time ago only took a few weeks to process. But honestly, unless your lady friend is willing to find the job for you, it will be very very difficult to do on your own unless you can read a fair amount of Finnish in order to find the ads posted. Also.... its not so common any more for places to offer a contract for as long as a year.
Then there is always the question of the lady friend..... be prepared for something different than what you saw while they were abroad.

[interleukin]

Yes, a hotel or SOL etc might hire people to do menial jobs. BUT there are a bunch of unemployed foreigners here in Finland already (with a residence permit and all papers fixed) and it is those foreigners that are going to get hired. A hotel is not going to go through all the work of hiring a non-EU national to get a certain guy to clean the hotel rooms. Your lady friend might be your only reasonable chance, that she can convince someone (friends, family) to hire you and only you despite all the paperwork and despite it being months before you can actually start working (you need to have a job to make the application but you need to wait for it to go through before you can start working). The current waiting time for residence permits in Helsinki is around a half year.

[Mrneedajob]

Well, I will keep all of these tidbits in mind, thanks for all the tips.

[interleukin]

Sorry for just giving you bad news, not the most fun thing to write in a forum. But better that you find out the big obstacles before buying airplane tickets and burning bridges in the US.

Have you considered going for some kind of studies in Finland instead to trying for a job? It does cost money of course to study (you get no financial support from here for rent, food, etc) but a temporary student permit is easier to get than a permit based on a job. This might give you a chance to get closer to your girl, and you can see if you actually are happy in Finland or not (you never know). Another option, can she come to the US and be with you? Or will that mean a similar black hole of bureaucracy as the one you would face in Finland?

The availability of things to study in Finland is something I do not know much about, but a quick power-googling might give you an idea of your options.

[Mrneedajob]

Oh, She goes to University here where I live. I just cannot stand it here and I want to get away/travel/work and she said she can study and work in Finland, so it just seemed logical.

[Pursuivant]

Hi, I am a US citizen looking for work, hopefully teaching English in Finland.

I am looking towards a job teaching English in Finland.

I taught in Korea last year and I have a college degree in Political Science for a major University.

I am a retarded American without any formal education in teaching, but I still believe my arse is gilt.

I just started looking this week and am shooting to be in Finland by late next spring or early summer.

So I met this HotBlonde and acquired the HotBlondeSyndrome.

I am curious, where are some good spots online to look for work and what avenues should I take to better my chances of a job?

It is known 35 credits in education brings one qualified to perform as a teacher in their major.

Thank you so much.

We rather you pissed off, lest pray tell us, have you any character in bridge?