“Sisu. I love this word, it explains me very well!” exclaims Shaki, who is a business professional from Bangladesh. She is determined to build her career in Finland, which she has already learnt to call home. To boost her career, Shaki has taken part in SIMHE Path (1) during autumn 2019. The project is run by SIMHE-Metropolia (2) and it aims to build an educational model to promote the swift employment of highly educated immigrants by providing career counselling, mapping of competences, relevant supplementary studies and links to companies.  

Knowing the skills-set required in the Finnish labor market 

Shaki arrived in Finland just about a year ago, in January 2019. She holds an MBA degree and has several years of work experience in the field of accounting in an export-oriented company. She has also run a small online business. In Finland, Shaki would like to find a job related to accounting, investment, and banking.  

Having looked for jobs online, Shaki has noticed that most companies require a fluent command of Finnish. While improving her language skills, Shaki also realised that she needs to focus on how to fit her professional competences into the Finnish job market. This is where SIMHE path came to help her. “I know accounting techniques, but what I lack is the language skills needed to work in Finnish”, Shaki explains. Being able to communicate in Finnish can be a crucial skill in many jobs in terms of profession and interacting with co-workers (3). 

SIMHE path evaluates how your current competences fit the Finnish context 

Shaki first heard about SIMHE–Metropolia’s services (4) on her Finnish course and immediately got interested. Luckily, the call for participants for SIMHE path in autumn 2019 happened to be open, and Shaki’s background in Business Administration matched the participant criteria (5). 

Shaki participated in an orientation session, an in-depth professional discussion with Metropolia’s Senior Lecturer in International Business, a CV workshop, and a feedback session during autumn 2019. As part of the in-depth professional discussion, Shaki also received an evaluation document that she can use for example in job-search as a reference of having her skills evaluated by a Finnish higher education institution. The Mapping of Competences (6) has been one of SIMHE-Metropolia’s services since 2016, and it is currently conducted as part of SIMHE path. 

Shaki has been happy with the process. In her words, it clarified things and helped her envision alternative paths. She will now look into the possibility of taking on additional studies, possibly in the field of ICT. Shaki is determined to make her way into the Finnish job market.  

University-level education, a keen motivation to study Finnish and sisu are a combination that will surely boost Shaki’s career and help her land her to find dream job in Finland. Shaki is open to new opportunities the future may bring: “Now I want to say yes, yes, yes!” she smiles.  

Spring 2020 SIMHE path to connect international ICT professionals with Finnish companies 

There are many immigrants residing in Helsinki and its surrounding Metropolitan area (7). Employment is seen as one of the best ways to integrate into society and it also helps in learning Finnish language.  

In spring 2020, we will pilot another round of SIMHE path, this time in close cooperation with ICT companies. The ICT field is growing rapidly, and up to 70 % of companies in the industry are hiring (8). In SIMHE Path, there will be a new call for participants during February 2020. This time it will be open for those who have completed a degree in ICT. Could that be you? Your competences will be mapped and compared to the companies’ needs, and the aim is to find you an internship in a company matching your background. Stay tuned, more information coming soon!  

Registration for spring 2020 SIMHE-path will begin on 7 February 2020. Link for enrolment will be provided on this blog post on the date.

Writers

Marianne Autero works as a Career Coach at SIMHE-Metropolia services. She focuses on especially in planning, developing and implementing guidance and counselling practices for immigrants and is responsible for the guidance process in the SIMHE Path project. 

Leena Honkasalo worked as Project Planner in the SIMHE Path project.  

Sources:  

1) SIMHE path https://www.metropolia.fi/en/research-development-and-innovation/all-projects/simhe-path/ (Read 20.1.2020) 

2) SIMHE-Metropolia https://www.metropolia.fi/en/about-us/simhe/ (Read 20.1.2020) 

3) Stenberg H., Autero M & Häkkinen, M. 2017. Kielen merkitys korkeasti koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien ohjaamisessa. Kieliverkosto. https://www.kieliverkosto.fi/fi/journals/kieli-koulutus-ja-yhteiskunta-lokakuu-2017-2/kielen-merkitys-korkeasti-koulutettujen-maahanmuuttajien-ohjaamisessa (Read 20.1.2020) 

3) Kyntäjä E. 2018. OECD-raportti maahanmuuttajien kotoutumisesta Suomeen. Virolaiset omaa luokkaansa – pärjäävät parhaiten https://www.tuglas.fi/oecd-raportti-maahanmuuttajien-kotoutumisesta-suomeen (Read 20.1.2020) 

4) SIMHE-Metropolia services https://www.metropolia.fi/en/services/for-immigrants/ (Read 20.1.2020) 

5) SIMHE-path supports employment https://www.metropolia.fi/en/academics/courses-for-immigrants/simhe/ (Read 20.1.2020) 

6) Autero, M. 2018. Osaamisen kartoitus tukee maahanmuuttajan työelämään ohjaamista. Teoksessa Stenberg H., Autero M., Ala-Nikkola E. (Eds.)., (2018). Osaamisella ei ole rajoja: Vastuukorkeakoulutoiminta maahanmuuttajien integraation tukena Suomessa. Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu. URN:ISBN:978-952-328-081-6  

6) Autero M. (2018). Supporting Highly Educated Immigrants’ Career Paths in Finland https://blogit.metropolia.fi/variousvariables/2018/02/13/supporting-highly-educated-immigrants-career-paths-finland/  

7) Helsingin tila ja kehitys 2019. https://tilajakehitys.hel.fi/ulkomaalaistaustaisten_tyollisyys (Read 20.1.2020) 

8) Finnish Software and E-business Association (2019): Talouskasvun hiipuminen ei näy ohjelmistoalalla ja verkkoteollisuudessa. Press release 17.1.2019. Available online: https://www.ohjelmistoebusiness.fi/tiedotteet/talouskasvun-hiipuminen-ei-nay-ohjelmistoalalla-ja-verkkoteollisuudessa/.  

 

 

 

 

Finland and Helsinki rank in the top 10 in several studies measuring the quality of life and people’s satisfaction in their lives (e.g. Helliwell & al. 2019, Eurostat 2019, Kisi 2019). What was your reason to get interested in Finland? Would you like to build your life into the happiest country in the world?

This is what Finland and the Helsinki region are aiming at now. The message from the Finnish government and the cities is clearer than ever: we want you, international talents, and we want you to find an interesting job here, enjoying the good work-life balance with us.

To make this happen, we in higher education institutions must help our international degree students to get better connected with Finnish business and industry and our culture already during the studies. This means support for career development, cultural adjustment and learning Finnish in an integral manner, starting from day one of the studies.

Finland for life – why not?

The darkest days of December might not be the most encouraging time to discuss settling into Finland on a permanent basis. However, the fact is that Finland has a great deal to offer for international experts.

Not only the happiest country in the world (Helliwell & al. 2019), Finland is good for business too: it ranks in the top 3 in several key indicators for successful business life and professional development, including e.g. the best business environment in the world and the best skills of the workforce (Business Finland 2019a). Also expatriates place Finland high in several categories for a successful stay, particularly for family life and health and well-being (#1) as well as quality of life (#8) (Expat Insider 2019).

The Helsinki region does not fall far behind in the rankings either. It is valued for e.g. its start-up scene, intelligent communities, sustainability and investment environment (Helsinki Smart Region 2019).

If Finland starts sounding tempting, the first step after graduating is to get a job here. And that is where the challenge lies.

Improvements needed for better employability

The hard reality is that international graduates do face challenges in finding a job in Finland. The key barriers for employment tend to be the lack of professional networks and insufficient Finnish language skills. Also, there is a mismatch of communication channels: employers do not find international graduates, and international graduates do not find the vacancies. (Ministry of Education and Culture 2019.)

Employment rates one year after graduation indeed indicate that students of international backgrounds face more challenges in getting employed. In universities of applied sciences, 40% of graduates whose nationality is other than Finland are fully employed, whereas for graduates of Finnish nationality the same percentage stands at 80%. In the case of master’s degrees from universities, the respective percentages are 45% and 85%. (Vipunen 2019.)

Finland needs international talents

For Finland the hard reality is that our population is one of the fastest ageing in the world. We already now face a lack of competent workforce in several sectors. Finland and the Helsinki region need to attract more international students and experts and also help them build a career here (Ministry of Education and Culture 2019, Laakso 2019).

However, the support provided by Finnish authorities, services and higher education institutions is still far from ideal. We need to improve the processes as a whole, in collaboration – starting from the point of application to studies.

The Finnish government and ministries have introduced several measures to improve the situation in the past few years. For example, the Talent Boost programme provides networks, information and financial support for companies (Business Finland 2019b). In addition, the current Government Programme (2019) sets numerous targets aiming at improving international degree students’ employment. Also, the Ministry of Education and Culture (2019) has compiled a report listing practical recommendations to different stakeholders.

We have identified the challenging points; now we urgently need to start taking the concrete steps to develop the pathway to the Finnish job market.

Joint efforts for finding the solutions

Metropolia has started to develop the needed support models in two projects. The Talent Boost AIKO funded project International Talents Accelerating Growth gathers several key stakeholders in the capital region together to work on solutions: the cities of Espoo, Helsinki and Vantaa, Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, Helsinki Marketing and Helsinki Business Hub. Also six institutions are part of the project: University of Helsinki, Aalto University, Hanken School of Economics and Haaga-Helia, Laurea and Metropolia universities of applied sciences. The city of Helsinki coordinates the project.

The project aims at developing the attraction and settling in of international talents in the Helsinki region and improving their employability. Specific measures are targeted at international degree students, e.g. matching and recruitment events and a mentoring program. A joint web portal and systematic business and industry collaboration models will also be developed for getting the talents and employers of the region better connected.

In another project, Metropolia develops a support model for international degree students’ career development and Finnish language learning. The goal is to build an integral career path, ultimately aiming at international students’ employment to Finland. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the results will be shared with Finnish higher education institutions.

Set the targets for your professional development

All in all, a great deal of improvements still needs to be made by all parties involved, but the systematic work has started at different levels of Finnish society. What you, international talents, can do in the meanwhile, is to take a look at your language learning and network building already now.

Developing your professional competence requires a goal-oriented and active approach from you as well. Are you where you want to be with your professional competence? How can you build networks and what can your institution help you with? And stay tuned for the upcoming events and developments.

If we succeed together, it will be a win-win situation for everybody. An inspiring career development path for you is something that also inspires us in higher education. As the end result, we hope to hear: “Finland for life? Absolutely!”

 

Writer:

Marika Antikainen, Project Manager at SIMHE services of Metropolia University of Applied Sciences ().

Sources:

Business Finland 2019a. Finland’s rankings. https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/do-business-with-finland/invest-in-finland/why-invest-in-finland/finland-rankings/. Read on 28 November.

Business Finland 2019b. Talent Boost Finland. https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/for-finnish-customers/services/programs/talent-boost-finland/ Read on 28 November.

Eurostat 2019. How satisfied are people with their lives? https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-press-releases/-/3-07112019-AP European Commission. Published on 7 November 2019.

Expat Insider 2019. Expat Insider 2019: The Year of the Hidden Champions. https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/ Internations. Read on 28 November 2019.

Government Programme 2019. Inclusive and competent Finland – a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable society. https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/rinne/government-programme Publications of the Finnish Government 2019:25. Published on 6 June 2019.

Helliwell, J., Layard, R. & Sachs, J. 2019. World Happiness Report. https://worldhappiness.report/ New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Helsinki Smart Region 2019. Why Finland and Why the Helsinki Region? https://helsinkismart.fi/about/top-rankings/ Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council. Read on 28 November 2019.

Kisi 2019. Cities for the Best Work-Life Balance 2019. https://www.getkisi.com/work-life-balance Read on 28 November 2019.

Laakso, Seppo 2019. Ennakointikamari: Osaavan työvoiman kysyntä ja tarjonta Uudellamaalla. 9/2019. https://ennakointikamari.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Osaavan-ty%C3%B6voiman-kysynt%C3%A4-ja-tarjonta-Uudellamaalla-2019.pdf. Read on 28 November.

Ministry of Education and Culture 2019. Kansainvälisten korkeakouluopiskelijoiden maahantulo ja integroituminen sujuvaksi yhteistyöllä. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2019:31. https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/161788. Published on 16 September 2019.

Vipunen 2019. Vipunen – Education Statistics Finland. https://vipunen.fi/en-gb/. Ministry of Education and Culture and Finnish National Agency for Education. Read on 28 November 2019.

By June this year, we have met over 800 highly educated immigrants in personal guidance at SIMHE-Metropolia (1). In 2018, we met more women than men in personal guidance. Although, the gender ratio has been fairly equal among the sexes in previous years too. In general, immigrant-background women face more difficulties in entering the labour market compared to their male counterparts as pointed out by 2018 OECD report on skills and labour market integration of immigrants in Finland (2). 

Career mentoring is a joint effort towards better employability  

I have volunteered as a mentor for an immigrant-background lady in the Finnish Family Federation’s nine-month Womento mentoring programme (3) in 2018-2019. The programme has been running since 2011 to pair up highly educated female immigrants and native Finnish women. The mentor-menteer pairs usually share similar educational and professional backgrounds.  

Thus, our autumn 2018 group had 12 mentor-mentee pairs with the mentees interested in finding careers in their field in Finland. I was also happy to find few of my previous SIMHE customers among the mentees in our group. Furthermore, the mentors have a long experience in their field and a genuine interest to support their mentees. As a result, the mentees become more familiar with the Finnish society and working-life.

We have met with my mentee in the joint sessions at the Finnish Family Federation and in our one-to-one meetings about once or twice in every two months since October 2018. As we shared common interests and educational background, it has been of mutual benefit to talk, share experiences and discuss about the trends in the field. My mentee had education as her main goal and we have been very pleased that she has accomplished her goal during our mentoring voyage.   

I have now been a mentor twice in my professional life. At first, in Metropolia’s own mentoring programme in 2017-2018 and now in the Womento programme. Therefore, I strongly recommend mentoring to anyone who is willing to support others in finding their way in working life and in Finland. Above all, the small investment you put in as your time and devotion results in many wonderful encounters and enticing discussions. Additionally, you will get new and fresh idea for you to use as well.

How to make Finland a home – let’s focus on the spouses 

Finland is in need of international talents (4) due to an ageing population and already existing competence-deficit in some fields. Many brave newcomers have already moved here with their families. Universities, like Aalto University (5) in Helsinki region as well as Finnish business sector (6) have also paid attention to make it all easier to move to Finland – also with the family.  

It is somewhat common that women move to Finland along with their company-recruited husbands. Thus, highly educated wives are also looking for their path in Finland. Some of them have perhaps spent several years at home due to taking care of their children. Once your family has settled in at work, daycare or school, you wish to get back to business too!  

Companies do try to make it better for people to settle. For instance, I participated in a Supercell spouse event in May to introduce our SIMHE services. Albeit, this was not a new concept at Supercell as they had had a spouse event (7) also in 2018. The get-together was well organised with guest speakers from municipality services like International House Helsinki (8), well-being experts from Compass Psychology (9) to start-up scene at Shortcut (10). There was also plenty of time to mingle prior to and after the presentations.  I had vivid discussions with some affluent ladies from Mexico, Singapore, Russia, Kazakstan and India over a buffet meal. 

It’s a woman’s world 

Moving between countries and settling into new cultures is more and more prevalent trend in our contemporary world. Although, giving immigrant women possibilities to integrate in the society through education and work benefits not only them, but also their families and the Finnish society in general.  

Living in a new country without any connection to education or work can be a daunting experience for an educated person. However, I have met many courageous ladies who are ready to tackle the obstacles. In conclusion, English writer Virginia Woolf has encapsulated this phenomenon so well nearly a century ago in her quote “As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world”. 

Sources 

1. SIMHE-Metropolia website: https://www.metropolia.fi/en/about-us/simhe/ (Read 3 June 2019)
2. OECD (2018), Working Together: Skills and Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and their
   Children in Finland, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264305250-en
   
3. Väestöliitto website: https://www.vaestoliitto.fi/monikulttuurisuus/womento/career-mentoring/ (Read 3 June 2019)
4. Kauppakamarin linjaus: Suomi ei selviä ilman työperusteista maahanmuuttoa https://kauppakamari.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tyoperusteinen-maahanmuuttolinjaukset.pdf (Read 3 June 2019)
5. Aalto University website: https://www.aalto.fi/fi/palvelut/for-families-and-spouses (Read 3 June 2019)
6. TalentBoost Finland website: https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/do-business-with-finland/work-in-finland/in-brief/ (Read 3 June 2019)
7. Business Tampere news 14.3.2018. International talents boost growth – Talent Boost Spouse event on 22 March: https://businesstampere.com/international-talents-boost-growth-talent-boost-spouse-event-on-22-march/ (Read 3 June 2019)
8. International House Helsinki website: https://www.ihhelsinki.fi/ (Read 3 June 2019)
   
   
9. Compass Psychology website: https://compasspsychology.fi/ (Read 3 June 2019)
10. Shortcut website: https://theshortcut.org/ (Read 3 June 2019)