Borderless Kouvola: an Innovative Vision of Finnish Job Market

Vol 27, Issue 5, 11 October 2024

On Thursday, 10^th of October, Junior Chamber International (JCI) organized a wonderful event for international students, as well as immigrants, to give them a chance to dive deeper into Finnish work culture and employment opportunities. Their idea is simple: to create valuable connections, bring knowledge, and give a chance of finding employment. For these purposes, they invited 6 speakers and created a warmly welcoming environment for students to listen to experts’ journeys as international workers and their stories of adjusting to Finnish culture.

Rasel Khan

The first speaker of the event was Rasel Khan. He shared his personal and unique story as a man who was born and raised in Bangladesh. As it comes, Rasel has lots of experience travelling internationally, producing his ideas, and sharing them with others! By his journey he implies that you never know where you will end up and what you will experience, especially as an international student. His idea interlaces with the Finnish nature and consists of three things:

1. Be flexible like water.
2. Connect like a bridge.
3. Bring fresh ideas like oxygen.

Ilkka Koski

The second speaker was born and raised in Russia but moved to Finland at the very young age of 17. He has got a vocational qualification in business, photographer degree and was a JCI Joensuu president in 2020. Nowadays, he works as a full-time photographer. He is a great example of how to fit into the Finnish community as a foreigner. His tips are:

1. As much as you can, try to participate in activities with Finns, celebrating their holidays, playing their games, using Finnish products.
2. Do not be afraid of making new friends, even if it seems to be extremely hard as you start.
3.  Step by step, learn a language and try to use it as often as possible.
4. Be yourself and be unique!

Ria Andrews

The third speaker of the event was Indian woman, art creator and entrepreneur. She has been making many different art exhibitions and participating in various projects. At first, Ria felt like an outsider and foreigner in Finland, but gradually learning the language, making connections and being aware of the place to take – led her to meeting new and kind people, and adjusting here. The main point from her is that we all have to be present and be aware of the people around us because building relationships is vitally important for all human beings.

Minna Lehesvuori

The fourth speaker is a Finnish woman, whose main point was “Everyone is an alien somewhere.” As Minna said, applying for the job in Finland, there are three things you need to have:

1. Mindset – an open-minded, always seeking new ideas and innovation.
2. Network – having connections and someone who could recommend you.
3. Language – a common language in which you can communicate.

The moment you enter a new culture, you need to be reborn and always remember that there is a place where you belong to, even if it feels like you do not.

Minna Nieminen

A fifth speaker of the day, a Finnish woman who actually works in XAMK, helping people to make their CV and passing job interviews. She shared some tips on how to act when you are being interviewed, what to expect, what skills to develop, and what qualities Finnish employers value the most.

Helin Kulla

The final speaker of the day before panel discussion is Estonian woman who shared her journey of becoming a local in Finland. What she implies is that to become a member of Finnish community you have to step out from your comfort zone and start to seek for new things and opportunities. You have to actually be useful and have something to offer, in order to fit in. Think out of the box and keep trying!

Panel discussion

Six speakers, took their part in the discussion under the topic “The challenges of employing international students,” where they talked about actual benefits Finnish companies and employers could get by taking international people to work. They emphasized that a lot of Finns require knowledge of the Finnish language in order to hire an employee, however by doing this, they miss a lot of insights intercultural person could bring. Speakers came to a conclusion, that Finnish employers have to be more open-minded and think in a new way. Moreover, it has been discussed that in order to get a job, you actually have to be enthusiastic, demanding and dedicated to it, knock on the doors, make calls, build relationships with others, and reach new peaks. Just keep knocking on doors, until the right one opens for you!