English-Speaking Network brought to life

The number of foreign professionals within technology is increasing. One way to integrate is to join the English-speaking network.

The Union of Professional Engineers in Finland organized an international after work in Helsinki. The informal event was hosted by specialists of the union. The focus of the event was to get to know each other while eating tapas and having a drink.

Many of the participants wished to meet new people. The pandemic has made it difficult to integrate with the Finnish society.

Working conditions perplex

Nazli Deniz Türker, data analyst at Rovio, started working in Finland in 2019. She wanted to hear more about the Finnish working life.

– When I signed my work contract with my employer in 2019, I totally trusted my employer. I didn’t know what the work conditions in Finland are. I want to hear more about collective agreements and the salary level in my field, Türker says.

Türker arrived at the event with her partner Hakan Özkan. Özkan started working in Finland as a scrum master at Nets one month ago.

So far both Türker and Özkan like Finnish working life. They both moved to Finland from Turkey.

– Good about Finnish working life is, that here people work efficiently, and after work you have the evening free. The good thing about working life in Turkey is, that often the employer pays a car, cab or collective traffic and possible education, in addition to your salary, Türker says.

Apply for jobs in small companies

At the other table the conversation topic is finding jobs. Babatunde Dunmoye from Nigeria tells about his experience. He has been working as a system testing engineer at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) since 2018.

– The work community has become much more multicultural since I started working, but there are still improvements to make. The requirement for speaking Finnish is still a problem in many companies.

Dunmoye recommends looking for jobs especially at small companies. Big companies seem to have a strong tradition of requiring Finnish skills.

The Union of Professional Engineers in Finland has almost 900 English speaking members, and the number is growing. The English-Speaking Network is a network for members and is run as a discussion platform on Teams. The network has more than 200 members. The network is informal, and the members have the possibility to discuss Finnish working life and support each other, tells regional advisor Anne Granat-Jukakoski.

You can join the English-Speaking Network here: www.ilry.fi/networks