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Aiming at recognising competences and guiding educated immigrants

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Networking – key to employment

Emilia Deseille · 8.4.2020

How have you boosted your professional networks in the past couple of months? 

As we embarked into this decade, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra published a compilation of future mega trends (1) stating that the importance of networks and managing them will only continue growing. But how to discover and seize opportunities for networking? This is with no doubt one of the most frequently asked questions I encounter in my work as a career coach for international talents at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. 

Institutes of higher education boosting networking between businesses and international talents 

Networks surely are vital for the integration process of a newcomer entering the Finnish labor market, and the lack of professional networks is perceived as one of the main obstacles to the employment of international talents. This scarcity of networks gives rise to another issue: Employers are struggling to spot the international talents with suitable profiles, while the latter group finds it hard to discover Finnish businesses in their own field (2). 

According to a study on cooperation between Finnish institutes of higher education and businesses, issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture (3), the main objective for businesses collaborating with institutes of higher education was recruiting new workforce. Further development of networking opportunities meeting the needs of everyone involved is for sure in demand, and it seems to be a timely objective for us at institutes of higher education.  

Perks of tailored recruiting events 

We, the SIMHE Metropolia team (4), have the luxury of working with various groups of international talents: both current international degree students, and persons with a higher education degree from abroad seeking to develop their career in Finland. Among these professionals of different fields, the common denominator is their motivation to create networks to local businesses and find their niche in them. 

Hence, we decided to organize a recruiting event focusing on businesses interested in the potential of our English-speaking international talents. The event, “Metropolia Match – Boost your Business” took place in early March and successfully united businesses with high-skilled talents.  

According to their feedback, the participating companies were pleased to attend an event tailored specifically for English speakers, and thanked the attending international talents for being well prepared and genuinely interested in hearing more about the businesses. For example, the recruiting company Digipool (5) not only discovered several interesting profiles for their clients, in line with the common procedure for recruiting companies, but also hired a recruitment consultant and a marketing specialist straight from the event to boost their own business.  

We are looking forward to the next round, as soon as gatherings of people are possible again. Next time perhaps with an increasing amount of businesses tapping the potential of our international talents! 

Networking events instead of recruiting events 

Events are great opportunities for brushing up on your networking and self-presentation skills and hence being less nervous when you have a chance to impress a potential employer at a job interview. Thus no need to be disappointed, if a visit at a career fair did not lead into a direct job offer yet, since you probably made new connections anyway. Due to this reason, it would actually make more sense to talk about networking events instead of recruiting events. 

Besides forging new connections at events, there are other benefits likely to arise. Perhaps you could receive valuable feedback on your CV or LinkedIn profile by a recruiting professional, or learnt more about the skills needed by an interesting company, and then used this knowledge for the most brilliant job application they are about to receive. Talk about perks!   

Growing your professional networks online 

And yes – due to the exceptional situation we are currently facing, lots of upcoming events have been cancelled. It is thus the ideal timing to fix up your LinkedIn profile and see what kind of opportunities for networking are available there, for example groups and channels in your professional field. This is also the prime time to keep an eye on emerging virtual platforms, such as the Find a job in Finland Meetup (6). Or maybe you will come up with a new online-based solution for networking?  

Other steps taken to create new networking opportunities 

What kind of a role can Finnish institutes of higher education, such as universities of applied sciences, have in facilitating networking among international talents and local businesses seeking for talented workforce, apart from organizing networking events?  

According to the study on cooperation between Finnish institutes of higher education and businesses (3), one key issue mentioned by the businesses was that institutes of higher education do not seem to be sufficiently informed on the actual needs of businesses. To address this issue, we at SIMHE Metropolia (4) aim at acknowledging the skills needs of companies as the first step in the collaboration process.  

For example, our current project SIMHE path (7) strives for matching the skills needs of participating businesses operating in the field of ICT with the skills of the project participants. The latter group consists of persons with a higher education degree in the field of ICT completed abroad, often supplemented by even years of work experience in their field, yet lacking sufficient networks for finding employment in Finland.  

Matching the profiles of international talents with the skills needs of businesses 

To tackle the challenge of international talents lacking both networks and information concerning the skills needs of their professional field in Finland (2), we first mapped the skills needs of the ICT companies taking part in the SIMHE path project. This information was then utilized in order to match the companies with the participants’ skills. If needed, the participants have an opportunity to supplement their skills by taking online courses in the field of ICT, to even better correspond with the expectations of potential employers.  

Considering that “What are the top skills in my field that employers based in Finland are looking for?” is one of the top questions asked by the international talents at our career counselling and guidance services, this kind of opportunities are desirable. The SIMHE path project also showcases the plurality of ways for an institute of higher education to facilitate networking between businesses and international talents.  

If you have ideas on what kind of further networking opportunities would be interesting to you, we are all ears! 

Would you like to utilize the extra hours at home by getting feedback on your CV or LinkedIn profile, or by discussing possible ways of developing your skills? You can book a free career counselling and guidance appointment by sending an email to , and chat with us on Skype! 

Interested in reading more about the experiences of a previous SIMHE path participant? This blog describes the path of Shaki, our participant in the 2019 intake to SIMHE path (8).  

Writer 

Emilia Deseille, career coach and employer relations specialist at SIMHE services, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.  

Sources: 

1) The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra 2020. Megatrendit 2020.  Viewed on 6 April 2020. 

2) Ministry of Education and Culture 2019. Kansainvälisten korkeakouluopiskelijoiden maahantulo ja integroituminen sujuvaksi yhteistyöllä. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2019:31. Published on 16 September 2019. 

3) Crazytown 2019. Korkeakoulujen työelämäyhteistyön tilannekuva (PDF). Published on 1 February 2019. 

4) SIMHE – Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland. Viewed on 6 April 2020. 

5) Digipool – Helping businesses in their digital growth. Viewed on 6 April 2020. 

6) Meetup: Find a job in Finland – peer-2-peer and recruiter insights. Viewed on 19 March 2020. 

7) SIMHE path: From Recognizing and Supplementing Competences to Employment. Viewed on 19 March 2020. 

8) Metropolia blogs. Various Variables. SIMHE path connecting Finnish employers and international talents. Published on 3 February 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
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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


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Archive

  • ▼2020 (5)
    • ►December(1)
      • Courage to Use Finnish - Growing into a Professional
    • ►June(1)
      • Mentoring in the time of corona: networks, insights and improved employability for international talents
    • ▼April(2)
      • Now everybody’s viral – how we made it to the new decade of online education and work 
      • Networking - key to employment
    • ►February(1)
      • SIMHE path ─ connecting Finnish employers and international talents 
  • ►2019 (4)
    • ►December(1)
      • Boost your Talent with Finland - Towards a Career Path for International Degree Students
    • ►June(1)
      • My Journey in Supporting Immigrant Women in Higher Education
    • ►May(1)
      • Finding suitable career paths for the highly educated immigrants
    • ►March(1)
      • Do you need supplementary education?
  • ►2018 (2)
    • ►May(1)
      • How to succeed in higher education in Finland?
    • ►February(1)
      • Supporting Highly Educated Immigrants' Career Paths in Finland
  • ►2017 (5)
    • ►December(1)
      • Highly skilled immigrants aboard to build Finland
    • ►November(1)
      • Healthy Mind, Healthy Life - How to improve the sense of belongingness among highly educated immigrants in Finland?
    • ►September(1)
      • Is it all about happiness?
    • ►March(1)
      • 365 steps later
    • ►February(1)
      • Mathematics and various variables
  • ►2016 (3)
    • ►September(1)
      • Can you see it more clearly now?
    • ►June(1)
      • To have someone who listens to me...
    • ►May(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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