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Various Variables
Aiming at recognising competences and guiding educated immigrants

Browsing Archive June, 2020

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Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and improved employability for international talents

Marika Antikainen · 8.6.2020

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin

Expertise today and in the future is all about continuously learning, sharing and interacting with others (3). This applies to all professional stages – from juniors to seniors. Mentoring programs, currently popular and numerous, are founded on the same idea of enabling networks and developing competences in interaction. This is particularly invaluable for international graduates. In our case, this spring with the COVID-19 pandemic gave us a unique chance to experience a virtual learning journey together, as a mentor and a mentee.

Daniel’s perspective: networks, insight and improved competences for the mentee

For international graduates in Finland, besides Finnish language skills, networks and knowledge of the local professional practices are immensely important for finding a job (4, 5). I joined the EntryPoint programme as a mentee because I have an extensive education from this country in the fields of business and education, yet no expert level experience so far. I therefore felt I needed some guidance from an experienced professional and decided to take action to improve my employability.

The discussions with my mentor Marika helped me better understand the local job market, my options for a career path and ways to develop my self-preparedness. Marika connected me to a whole new range of networks and services and helped me identify my utmost competences and skills. I discovered the connections between my skill sets and how to integrate them in my career path. The experience was eye-opening.

Marika’s perspective: diversified professional perspectives and new views for the mentor

Mentoring is a learning experience also for the mentor (2). My day job at Metropolia focuses on international talents’ employability, yet also on the personal level the topic motivates me and I am always interested in learning new. I therefore wanted to volunteer as a career mentor and share my professional experiences and insights as a private person as well.

The experience opened new views for me not just to myself, but also to employability, the education sector, Finland, professionalism and human interaction. The mentoring discussions made me think about organisational learning as well, so crucial for any organisation today (see e.g. 2). I realised that we can all do mini-scale mentoring in any encounter in an expert organisation. Moreover, for internationalising organisations, cross-cultural mentoring could definitely be used as a tool to develop staff competences for both mentors and mentees.

Leap to digital: surprisingly effortless and efficient

Our five-month mentoring program started in January 2020 and took an unexpected turn in March with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us to adjust to virtual meetings. Luckily, we had met face-to-face once before, immediately establishing a rapport based on a combination of friendship and professional support. Shared professional and personal interests, such as helping others and teaching, made it natural for us.

As first-timers in career mentoring, going suddenly digital meant stepping out of our comfort zone. Mentoring is based on openness, trust and confidentiality, which in a virtual environment requires a different type of a focus on the process and the choice of tools. The communication needs to be structured and goals clear particularly when using social media. (1.)

We ended up using WhatsApp messages and video calls and also shared material in LinkedIn. Using such common social media made the communication surprisingly effortless and quickly more informal than perhaps in a face-to-face setting. The uniqueness of the crisis situation also brought us closer together on a personal level. However, we did have a structure of working together as well: we set goals and topics for each video call, whereas messages were used for updates, follow-up and building a rapport.

The organiser of the program, Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, also arranged joint Zoom meetings for mentees and mentors for sharing experiences. These were not only fun but also supported the process and gave us new perspectives to what we were doing. Mentors also met in virtual peer sessions which helped us mentors face the new normal and brought in even more professional networks for us. We both learned new ways of communicating and the experience actually also motivated Daniel to write a PhD research proposal on remote working.

Mentoring as a tool for international students’ career development

80% of Finnish employers say that they are open to multiculturality (5), yet the employment rates of international graduates from Finnish higher education institutions are significantly lower than those of locals (6). Employers need to start opening doors to international talents. Moreover, higher education institutions and Finnish society at large need to rethink their support for employability to get more talents to work in Finland. (4.)

Mentoring provides an excellent and natural way to tackle the employment challenges. For instance, it provides networks and field-specific tacit information, develops professional competences and at the same time empowers the mentee through positive feedback (2). These are important for any junior expert, yet even more so for international graduates who struggle with the lack of local working life connections as well as with sometimes rather discouraging job search experiences.

Activeness and action needed to build a successful career

Just like in any competitive career building, the success of a mentoring process is dependent on the international student’s activeness – it is their career after all. The mentee needs to be open about their goals and needs, as the process is always unique to each mentoring relationship (2). The most important step is the first one: to grasp the chances available.

In the Helsinki region plenty of opportunities are available for different needs, for example:

  • EntryPoint mentoring by Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce (in English)
  • FIKA mentoring program and networking program Dörren by Luckan Integration (in English)
  • Womento mentoring for educated women by the Family Federation of Finland (in English)
  • Suomen Mentorit mentoring by the association Suomen Mentorit ry (in Finnish)
  • Yrittäjien Mentorisi.fi mentoring for entrepreneurs by the Finnish federation of entrepreneurs Suomen Yrittäjät (page in Fnnish but the search and mentoring are available in English)
  • NewCo Helsinki mentoring services for start-ups by NewCo Helsinki (in English)
  • Several higher education institutions also have their own mentoring programs for students and alumni

Mentee – take your first step towards goal-oriented career building!

Mentor – why not use your professional expertise for helping somebody get started in their career?

Organisations – encourage your employees to share and develop their expertise and build networks with talented graduates!

The EntryPoint mentoring program is part of the AIKO Talent Boost project activities of the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, funded through the Council of Tampere Region. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences is one of the project partners. The program for autumn semester is open for applications until 31 August 2020.

 

Writers:

Daniel Boateng is a qualified teacher and holds an MSc in Business and Health. He lives in Finland.

Marika Antikainen is a project manager working in SIMHE-Metropolia.

 

Sources:

1. Ala-Tommola, Sirpa (toim.) 2017. Jokainen opiskelija ansaitsee eMentorin! eMentoroinnin kehittäminen ammattikorkeakouluopintojen ja työelämän rajapinnassa. Kajaanin ammattikorkeakoulun julkaisusarja B 78 / 2017. Viewed on 3 June 2020.

2. Karjalainen, Merja 2010. Ammattilaisten käsityksiä mentoroinnista työpaikalla. Jyväskylä Studies on Education, Psychology and Social Research 388. Jyväskylän yliopisto. Viewed on 2 June 2020.

3. OECD 2019. OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030: Conceptual learning framework – Skills for 2030. Viewed on 1 June 2020.

4. OKM 2019. Kansainvälisten korkeakouluopiskelijoiden maahantulo ja integroituminen sujuvaksi yhteistyöllä. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2019:31. Published on 16 September 2019. Viewed on 2 June 2020.

5. Taloustutkimus Oy. 2020. Kotona Suomessa – Selvitys maahanmuuttajien rekrytoimisesta: Tutkimusraportti (pdf). Kotona Suomessa -hanke, Elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus. Published on 15 May 2020. Viewed on 2 June 2020.

6. Vipunen 2020. Education Statistics Finland: Placement after Graduation. Viewed on 2 June 2020.

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Various Variables -blog introduces information, ideas and experiences about  support services in University of Applied Sciences for highly educated immigrants for recognizing their prior learning and competence and their guidance.

Various Variables blog´s Editorial Board

  • Heidi Stenberg, Project Director, tel. +358 40 535 3388
  • Marika Antikainen, Project Coordinator, tel. +358 40 681 1244
  • Riikka Wallin, Publications Coordinator, tel. +358 40 869 1849

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Editorial Board handles all the publications of Various Variables blog before publishing.



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Bloggers

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Heidi Stenberg

has a vast experience in various fields as she has worked in promoting health, in sales and marketing, in conceptualizing services and in the field of education in expert and supervisory positions. Heidi has a Master’s Degree in Education and is also a Public Health Nurse. Learning, developing competencies, leadership and promoting health are in the center of her expertise and competence. Heidi devotes her free time for spending time with her family and friends and she is also active in many areas of sports. Heidi’s motto is: “If you start something today, you’ll notice it was worth the effort in a year’s time”.


Elisa Manninen

Elisa Manninen

has gathered various experience in the field of higher education as well as in guiding international applicants and students in different institutions. She has a Master’s Degree in Education and is a Special Education and a Class Teacher. Additionally she studies to become a Guidance Counselor. In her work at SIMHE-Metropolia, she focuses in guiding customers with immigrant background to pursue their studies and career. Elisa has a keen interest towards social issues, stories behind everything and taking it easy. Favorite quote: “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire” by Confucius.


Emilia Deseille

Emilia Deseille

is passionate about career development of international talents in Finland. Having studied and worked abroad on several occasions, she has experience in starting a career abroad, and feels at home in a multilingual and intercultural environment. Before joining the SIMHE Metropolia team as a career coach and employer relations specialist, Emilia was working in the field of labor market integration in Austria. She has a Master of Social Sciences degree in Development and International Cooperation, and studies in Intercultural Communication and Adult Education. In her spare time, Emilia enjoys dancing and doing other sports with friends, and the language geek in her enjoys learning new languages.


Ari Koistinen

Ari Koistinen

teaches mathematics, computer programming, application software, and modelling and simulation in Metropolia UAS. In recent years, his work has been related mainly to international degree programmes. Ari has also a long experience in hydrological modelling and development of software used in water forecasting. In free time he reads books, travels and does a variety of sports such as gym, climbing, ashtanga yoga and mountain biking.


Leena Honkasalo

Leena Honkasalo

works as project planner in Metropolia’s SIMHE services (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education). She holds a Master of Arts degree in Spanish philology and has professional teacher qualifications. Before joining the SIMHE team, Leena worked in the NGO sector developing global citizenship education. Her special interests include sustainable development, equity and diversity. In her free time, Leena loves spending quality time with family and friends, eating out, visiting art exhibitions and doing yoga.


Marika Antikainen

Marika Antikainen

works as a project coordinator in Metropolia SIMHE services. Her work focuses on increasing employment among international professionals living in Finland. Internationalisation and societal responsibility inspire Marika in her work and life. She has a Master of Arts degree in intercultural communication and a professional teacher’s qualifications. She has also worked several years in international relations in Metropolia and has taught intercultural competence. Travelling and salsa bring an international flavour also to her freetime, balanced with hiking in Finnish forests and other sports.


Niina Tapanainen

Niina Tapanainen

spends most of her working hours with SIMHE personal and group guidance. Niina has a Master’s Degree in Education and is a qualified Guidance Counsellor and Psychology (as a second subject) Teacher. She has worked over a decade in Higher Education Institutions in various posts within the study and student services also with international students and admissions. She volunteers to help youngsters and spends rest of her free time enjoying life: relaxing, dreaming and whatever interesting comes her way.


Oksan Niemi

Oksan Niemi

has experience both in field of education and in agile projects in IT environment. Oksan holds a Master of Social Sciences degree in International Relations. Before joining SIMHE Metropolia as a project manager for two different projects, which concentrate on the employment of higher educated immigrants, she has guided international degree and exchange students and worked with the international partner higher educational institutions. Having graduated from an international degree programme herself and worked in international environment in different business areas, Oksan enjoys working in a global environment surrounded by people with various backgrounds. Oksan devotes her free time to her multilingual family, friends and travelling with them.


vierailija

vierailija


Latest posts

  • Courage to Use Finnish – Growing into a Professional

    9.12.2020
  • Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and improved employability for international talents

    8.6.2020
  • Picture: Pixabay

    Now everybody’s viral – how we made it to the new decade of online education and work 

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Archive

  • â–Ľ2020 (5)
    • â–şDecember(1)
      • Courage to Use Finnish - Growing into a Professional
    • â–ĽJune(1)
      • Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and improved employability for international talents
    • â–şApril(2)
      • Now everybody’s viral – how we made it to the new decade of online education and work 
      • Networking - key to employment
    • â–şFebruary(1)
      • SIMHE path ─ connecting Finnish employers and international talents 
  • â–ş2019 (4)
    • â–şDecember(1)
      • Boost your Talent with Finland - Towards a Career Path for International Degree Students
    • â–şJune(1)
      • My Journey in Supporting Immigrant Women in Higher Education
    • â–şMay(1)
      • Finding suitable career paths for the highly educated immigrants
    • â–şMarch(1)
      • Do you need supplementary education?
  • â–ş2018 (2)
    • â–şMay(1)
      • How to succeed in higher education in Finland?
    • â–şFebruary(1)
      • Supporting Highly Educated Immigrants' Career Paths in Finland
  • â–ş2017 (5)
    • â–şDecember(1)
      • Highly skilled immigrants aboard to build Finland
    • â–şNovember(1)
      • Healthy Mind, Healthy Life - How to improve the sense of belongingness among highly educated immigrants in Finland?
    • â–şSeptember(1)
      • Is it all about happiness?
    • â–şMarch(1)
      • 365 steps later
    • â–şFebruary(1)
      • Mathematics and various variables
  • â–ş2016 (3)
    • â–şSeptember(1)
      • Can you see it more clearly now?
    • â–şJune(1)
      • To have someone who listens to me...
    • â–şMay(1)
      • Recognising competencies of educated immigrants

SIMHE on Metropolia.fi pages

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences has launched Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education SIMHE project to start services for recognizing prior learning and competence of highly educated immigrants and their guidance.

SIMHE Metropolia

Services for Immigrants

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Sisällöt edustavat kunkin kirjoittajan henkilökohtaisia näkemyksiä, Metropolian johtoryhmän Pelinavaajat-blogi ilmaisee Metropolian virallista kantaa.

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