 Finnish
Job Application, CV, & Interview Tips
Finding
Work in Finland
Additional
Information
Ministry
of Labour Job
Vacancies (in Finnish & Swedish only)
Finnish
Job Application, CV, & Interview Tips
Before looking for work:
- Assess the Finnish equivalent of your qualifications
(here)
- Have your qualifications and documents translated into
Finnish
Job application (covering letter) and
CV / résumé - use Finnish standards!
- The covering letter should be concise - preferably
1 page
- Customise the letter to address the interests of the
employer
- The CV / résumé should be 1 - 2 pages including:
- personal and contact information
- relevant employment history and educational background
in reverse chronological order
- computer and/or programming and language skills
(if applicable)
- special skills & positions of responsibility
- hobbies (not always necessary)
- reference contacts
- DO NOT exaggerate - to a Finn it's the same as lying
- DO add letters after your name if you have them; Finns
like qualifications
- A summary of your life is NOT required
- A photo is not expected
Sample documents:
Provided by the Career Services Unit of the University of Helsinki:
CV and Covering
Letter - Structure and
Content
(Alternate link)
Job
interview - be Finnish!
Apart from global techniques* for success, consider
the Finnish culture and try the following:
- Be direct and state facts
- Show confidence, but don't show off
- Be concise - Finns think "babbling" is ridiculous
- Do not exaggerate - to a Finn it's the same as lying
- Use Finnish language if you can - even a little is good
- *Spherion.com provides a good guide
to successful interviews
Return
to top
Advertised Positions
The reality appears to be
that most good jobs are taken before they ever get to the
point of being advertised; word of mouth goes a long way
here and having the right connections is invaluable. For
the few remaining jobs competition is high and of a high
standard. However, rewards come to those with sisu (tenacity)!
Here are some good places to start your job-hunt:
- Newspapers - in Helsinki try the Helsingin Sanomat,
Metro, or 100-lehti
- The Finnish Ministry of Labour Employment Service has
over 8000 vacancies listed - click
for more information
- Europe-wide jobs are advertised at the EURES (European
Employment Services) portal, which features a comprehensive
search engine - click
for more information
- Television - if you can speak Finnish try teletext (page
521 on YLE) which lists job vacancies in Finnish. Certain programmes (e.g.
Avoimet työpaikat) also advertise jobs.
- notice-boards at educational institutions - you can get
lucky here!
Finnish Employment & Recruitment Services
The Employment
& Recruitment Services section lists a number of private employment
agencies and services where you can search job boards, submit
CV's, request specific positions etc.
EURES CV-Search is a meeting
point for employers and job-seekers; job-seekers can post
their CV's, and employers can look for suitable applicants
and get in touch with them easily -click
for more information.
The Finnish Ministry of Labour Employment
Service can help you find work, plan a career and much more
- click
for more information.
Direct Submissions
Many people find success with
direct submissions: Go through the Yellow Pages looking for
companies in the field you're interested in. All of them!
A successful company will not necessarily have a large advertisement.
Either call the companies
and make employment enquiries or send them a speculative
application - the Career Services unit of the Helsinki
Speculative
application
Networking
Networking is very important
- it's rather like "a foot in the door". You can
become known in your field of interest/expertise, hear about
jobs before they are advertised, maybe even get recommended
for a position. Don't disregard anyone you know as a potential
link to employment; let them all know you're interested,
and ask them to keep the feelers out.
These days it's a very good idea to join LinkedIn, "The World's Largest Professional Network".
Joining appropriate discussion
boards on the Web can also be helpful. For example, in Finland the Finland Forum and the IESAF Forum both have a large and active membership, and both sites are in English. You'll hear invaluable advice, learn from others'
experiences etc. Even if you don't find work, you'll probably
hear about a party or two to take your mind off it!
Advertise Yourself
Try placing a free advertisement at sites such as http://www.expatriates.com.
Start Your Own Business
The procedure for doing this
in Finland is becoming increasingly transparent, and it's
not expensive to set up a sole proprietorship (toiminimi).
So, if you have skills you think you could market, this is
definitely an option! Expat Finland has a whole section on it: Entrepreneurship
Return
to top |
