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)

 

  

SIMHE-Metropolia customers have many characteristics in common yet the need for an individual and personal approach for planning their path in Finland is highly demanded. The most frequently discussed topics, that are almost always in the core of the discussions when it comes to career paths and taking the first steps: how to create a coherent image of yourself as a professional, and how to sell and brand your competences to employers? Also, how does a certain field work in Finland, and which competences are appreciated in the field? How to update and supplement those competences if necessary? I will share some thoughts concerning these topics below. 

What are you made of? 

Knowing your skills and assets can take you far in today’s working life (1). To create a coherent image of you as an expert in your field, you could start by searching answers e.g. to these questions: What are your interests? Where are you good at? Which are your core skills and competences? What can you do with them? Which are concrete examples of your talents?  

It is also beneficial to strive to understand how your competences position you in your field in the Finnish context (2), as different skills might be appreciated, different applications used, or different educational level required. Finding out about the educations in your field gives you an image of the skills set that is valued and offered by the Finnish degrees. To perform a detailed comparison between your skills acquired in e.g. a degree in higher education and the Finnish counterpart, have a look at the curricula open for all at the websites of the higher education institutions.  

Do you know your field of expertise in Finland?   

It is important to understand the characteristics of the field you aim to, as fields can be different between countries. There are multiple ways to access information, but one could be through the organizations functioning in your field in Finland. You can get information e.g. about the different companies operating in your field. Another good way to get information is to go through the open job vacancies ads, as they give you information of what the employers are looking for. Remember, that you don’t have to tick every box to apply. 

Different mentoring programmes exist to give you an opportunity to connect with an expert from your own field to add to your field-specific knowledge, but also the opportunity to find out more e.g. about the practices for applying for a job and contacting interesting employers with an open application.  Overall, networking is a key skill in today’s working life. 

Where can you update your skills set? 

At the moment, the pressure to continuous self-development and learning is strong in Finland, as job descriptions are more and more complex and multidisciplinary (1). This applies to everyone, not only immigrants. After mapping your competences, comparing them with the competences gained through the local degrees, and familiarizing yourself with the competences the working life requires, it might be easier to understand what kind of completing of your skills could benefit you.  

Options to build up your expertise could be e.g. open university/university of applied sciences studies, different educational opportunities offered by the TE-office or degree studies in an educational institution. Supplementary studies do not only increase your expertise, but also help you build up your networks and knowledge of your own field. (5.) Preparatory educations for immigrants aiming for studies in higher education can give you an intensive Finnish language learning opportunity.  

How to brand and sell yourself? 

The ability to brand yourself and to sell your skills is crucial, especially because it might be that the employers do not know what skills your degree completed abroad has given you. Research shows, that the employers find it difficult to comprehend the true skills of the immigrant applicants (3). At the same time, the capacity and potential of immigrants is not in full use (4). 

Building your cv towards a skill based cv could help. Instead of focusing only on the formal degrees you have completed, in a skill based cv you focus on outlining the key skills the degree and everything else in your life has given you. The emphasis is in describing how you convert all that learned into practice, with the help of practical examples from your personal history. Don’t forget to add in the results you have gained during your work history. (6)

 

Sources:  

1 Hakala, L. (2018) Työelämä muuttuu – mitä työelämävalmiuksia tarvitsemme? https://stm.fi/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/tyoelama-muuttuu-mita-tyoelamavalmiuksia-tarvitsemme-  

2 Autero, M. (2018) Osaamisen kartoitus tukee maahanmuuttajan työelämään ohjaamista. In the title Osaamisella ei ole rajoja – Vastuukorkeakoulutoiminta maahanmuuttajien integraation tukena Suomessa.  https://www.metropolia.fi/fileadmin/user_upload/TK/Julkaisut/pdf/2018_stenberg_ym_osaamisella_ei_ole_rajoja_TAITO.pdf 

3 Hakala, K. & Pesonen, J. (2018) Työnantajien haasteet korkeasti koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien työllistämisessä. https://unlimited.hamk.fi/ammatillinen-osaaminen-ja-opetus/tyonantajien-haasteet/ 

4 Uudenmaan liitto. (2019) Helsingin seudun muuttotutkimus: Koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien osaamista ei hyödynnetä, paitsi huippualoilla. https://www.uudenmaanliitto.fi/uudenmaan_liitto/uutishuone/tiedotteet/helsingin_seudun_muuttotutkimus_koulutettujen_maahanmuuttajien_osaamista_ei_hyodynneta_paitsi_huippualoilla.34372.blog  

5 Hiitelä, E. & Kolu, M. (2018) Korkeasti koulutettu maahanmuuttaja matkalla työelämään. https://verkkolehdet.jamk.fi/elo/2018/11/29/korkeasti-koulutettu-maahanmuuttaja-matkalla-tyoelamaan/ 

6 Uusivirta, M. (2019) Pelkkä töiden listaus ei enää riitä – Näin laadit osaamista korostavan cv:n, jonka avulla erotut ja saat työpaikan varmemmin. https://www.hs.fi/ura/art-2000006091980.html 

Application process has started to five different educational models, which enable your rapid transition to individual career path. The aim is to remove the language barrier and build up the networks for you to get employed.

Deploying competence in Finland

According to UTH-research (1), in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area with 47% of the immigrant population of Finland, a special need has been identified to create an ecosystem for the integration of highly educated immigrants to work-life. As the number of immigrants living in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa is growing yearly, deploying the competence of each and everyone makes a big difference both in the society and in the daily lives of highly educated immigrants.

Jobseekers with higher education and immigration background are facing multiple obstacles in finding employment that corresponds to their skills and education. For example, the previous education might not be recognized by the recruiting companies or lack of some niche skills might prevent the use of the existing education. Comparison of the foreign-born unemployment data available from OECD (2) and the total unemployment rate (3) shows that the immigrants have a lot higher unemployment rate in Finland and this has been recognized by the SIMHE (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education) services at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

Paths to support your integration and employment

Since 2016, SIMHE-Metropolia (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education) has been offering its services for recognizing the competences and for guiding to suitable educational and career paths. Within SIMHE services, Deploying Competence in Finland Project will facilitate your participation to private and public sector jobs via different development paths: first, it will create an ecosystem for promoting your integration in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. In addition, higher education institutions will implement several educational paths for recognition and completion of your competence. Each educational model enables your rapid transition to an individual career path. The above development paths will be supplemented by improving the accessibility of the education offering of the higher education institutions by collecting the relevant courses to an easy-to-access location.

What is our goal with the project?

The aim of the project is to develop a cross-administrative ecosystem, which enables the recognition and completion of your competence and rapid transition to individual career path, for promoting your integration in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Most importantly, the project includes partnerships from potential employers: direct link with the public and private sector employers ensures that the additional training is impacting the right skills and facilitate your employment.

We aim to strengthen the inclusion and equality of the multicultural population in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, and also promote your employment and integration as active members of the society.

Check if you belong to our target group!

Check if you are in the target group in this specific project!

Do you have a higher education degree in the following areas? If yes, do you need to get the legal qualification?

• Nursing, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (continuous application)

If you have a nursing degree from an ETA or EU country, you belong to our target group. During this path, you will get to know about the Finnish service system, legislation and decrees.

• Early childhood education and care, University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education HY+ (application deadline 5th April, 2019)

If you have a degree in early childhood education and care from abroad, you belong to our target group. The aim of this path is to complement your existing degree with certain pedagogical studies required in Finland.

In addition, different supplementary studies, providing a bridge for the participants to professional and managerial positions, are organized in three different paths:

• Construction and Real Estate Management, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (application deadline 30th April, 2019)
• Sales, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (application deadline 30th April, 2019)
• Travel and hospitality, Laurea University of Applied Sciences (application deadline 30th April, 2019)

All the educational paths have a common objective, which is to develop your Finnish language skills in the specific area of studies. More information about the specific requirements concerning each path and the scheduling can be found from the website of the project.

If you have a degree in one of the areas mentioned above, do not hesitate to apply!

 

Sources:

• UTH-research online: http://www.terveytemme.fi/uth/(read 11th March, 2019)
• OECD data online: https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-unemployment.htm (read 11th March, 2019)
• Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey online: https://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2017/06/tyti_2017_06_2017-07-25_tie_001_en.html (read 11th March, 2019)

 

More information:

Deploying Competence in Finland Project

Korkeasti koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien osaaminen käyttöön Suomessa –hanke

SIMHE path – From Recognizing and Supplementing Competences to Employment

SIMHE (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland) SIMHE-Metropolia