Caelum Davies, 26, loved Finland so much as an exchange student in 2016 that he returned to the master’s program in social sciences.
He graduated in the summer of 2020 and, like many foreign students in Finland, found it difficult to look for work.
"I have to say that finding a job in Finland, especially during the coronavirus year, was not easy," he told Yle about his student apartment in Kamppi, Helsinki.
Davies tried everything from responding to job postings to establishing direct contact with employers and submitting open applications.
Since September, he has worked for a large banking company in the crime prevention department and got a job through a program for recent graduates.
About half of the students in his master’s program were from other countries, and all the Finns he knew there have since found work.
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To the best of his knowledge, he is the only foreigner to get a job.
"With the exception of start-ups and freelance jobs, I have not heard of foreigners getting permanent jobs. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, it may be the same thing for Finns. But I think itโs even harder for foreigners to" Davies said.
He also added that he found it frustrating that he had to expand his searches beyond his own expertise to secure the position.
Demographic decline
Many official bodies want to see more international students repeat Davies โsuccess. As the population ages and the country’s working-age population declines, Finland will have to recruit more and more workers from abroad.
One government initiative to address this imbalance is Talent Boost programdesigned "increase the migration of senior experts, workers, students and researchers" To Finland. The program includes co-operation between the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry of Education and Culture and other organizations.
Birgitta VuorinenThe Director of Higher Education Policy at the Ministry of Education and Culture told Yle that Finland’s share of international degree students is above the OECD average. Many students are attracted to Finland by the quality of education and employment opportunities, he added.
"If, in principle, they already have a desire to find work in Finland, we naturally hope that the labor market will also become an attraction," Mountain said.
The number of foreign degree students has grown steadily over the last two decades, despite a small decline in 2017, when tuition fees for non-EU / EEA countries were introduced.
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The most popular research areas for foreign students are business and administration, information and communication technology, and social and health care.
"These are also areas where there would be a demand in the Finnish labor market for both Finnish and international experts," Mountain said.
Racism and discrimination are still visible in the Finnish labor market
Postdoctoral Researcher Rolle Alho From the University of Helsinki led a research experiences of international students in the Finnish labor market.
"In Finland, it is very important that jobseekers have social networks and informal contacts, ie that they know people. Many jobs are not open to search," Alho said and added that it was unclear to some participants in the study how to apply for jobs in Finland.
Alho added that he had heard people talk about experiencing discrimination and racism when looking for a job.
"Unfortunately, we have discrimination and racism in the Finnish labor market. For some employers, it matters what color a personโs skin is or what country they come from," he said.
Therefore, Alho suggested that Finland introduce an anonymous recruitment policy in the same way as the pilot project tested in Helsinki last year.
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"I think this should be considered more broadly, how to move to anonymous recruitment in different sectors," Alho said and hoped that language skills requirements would also be taken into account more flexibly.
"Sometimes employers require complete knowledge of the Finnish language, even if it is not necessary for the performance of work tasks," he said.
Extended residence permits
Finnish universities can continue to help international students create social networks, Davies suggested and added that he believes that such opportunities should be marketed more strongly to students as well.
Alho and Vuorinen also agreed that it is important for students to establish contacts with employers already during their studies.
According to Vuorinen, the universities are committed to the goals of the Talent boost program for 2021โ24, especially to improve the integration of foreign students into Finnish society and to strengthen employment opportunities in Finland.
The government’s program aims to extend the residence permit for non-EU / EEA students to two years after graduation from the current one-year period.
Vuorinen said he believes that residence permit processes are of great importance to how attractive the country is to international students.
"If you have two years to apply for jobs after graduation or graduation, it is certainly an attractive factor. In Finland, recruitment processes are also quite long," he said.
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Caelum Davies says that there are many career advantages in Finland. A better work-life balance was one of the key factors in his decision to stay in the country.
In his master’s program, he met several other foreigners who had returned to Finland after the exchange and wanted to stay in the country.
"So it’s a shame to see them leave," said Davies. "Two or three months of part-time work is often not enough."
Davies says he would have returned to Britain too if he hadnโt found a job. He had calculated at the beginning of the year that his assets would last until October.
"I also applied for a job in the UK during the spring, although I really didnโt want to" says Davies. "I miss my country, but my life is here now. It would have been a real shame to leave."
Source: The Nordic Page