Employers and international jobseekers in Uusimaa met at the Work for You recruitment event
The first Work for You recruitment event was organised by the Uusimaa Ely Centre and the TE Services together with the Cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Porvoo. The organisers were expecting some 500 participants. The eventual number of participants was about two thousand.
In addition to networking opportunities, Work for You featured a programme related to job seeking, including speeches on the rights and obligations of jobseekers, pay subsidies and language courses. The participants also received help with making a resume and a LinkedIn profile. The aim of the event was to offer international jobseekers and employers in Uusimaa new ways to meet each other. The event was also aimed at helping companies to see the potential of international jobseekers living in Finland on a larger scale.
“In Finland, we have a huge number of experts without work. I came up with the idea for this recruitment event when I was thinking how we could involve companies in integration work in a way that would also benefit the business world. We wanted to connect the jobseekers with employers who need experts and are ready to employ people whose Finnish language skills are not yet perfect,” says Laura Kyntölä, Senior Planning Officer at the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment in Uusimaa.
Employers happy with the large number of participants and the warm atmosphere
Employers from a wide range of industries attended the event, such as the real estate services sector, the hotel and restaurant sector and the logistics sector. Among others, StaffPoint, which provides personnel services, and bus transport operator Nobina presented their job opportunities. Both of these employers considered the event, which was organised for the first time, to be a great success.
“The event was very well organised and it was great to see how many both jobseekers and employers were able to meet each other during the event. For us at StaffPoint, it is important to act as a genuine partner for both employers and jobseekers, and it also seemed that the jobseekers received exactly the kind of advice they were looking for from the event,” says Anni Kivikataja, Senior Project Manager, International Services, StaffPoint.
“The event had plenty of participants throughout the day, and many of them were interested in the jobs we offered and our recruitment training. We definitely hope that this event will bring new employees to our team – both people from other industries who are changing jobs or previously trained bus drivers,” says Tony Stenberg, HR Business Partner from Nobina.
The City of Helsinki was also involved in recruiting foreign-language experts and providing advice on matters related to job search and education. The City’s Education Division and the Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division were looking for new experts at the event.
Project worker Terhi Utriainen from the Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division was delighted with the participants’ genuine enthusiasm to hear about the City of Helsinki’s training and employment opportunities. The Division introduced the tailored care assistant apprenticeship training to immigrants at its stand. The topic attracted a lot of interest and clarifying questions from the participants.
“This event was very important for the social, healthcare and emergency services sector, which needs new professionals, but also for the employer image of the City of Helsinki. The City of Helsinki wants to make international jobseekers feel welcome, provide them with relevant services and answer their questions,” Utriainen says.
The event provided helpful information to jobseekers
The Work for You event also received positive feedback from the participants. The opportunity to get to know different sectors and to talk directly with employers was considered to be particularly useful.
Boris Castellanos, who moved to Finland from Peru, attended the event in order to find employment and training opportunities in the IT sector.
“I have a background in IT management and project management. I came to see if there are any job opportunities for me. The best part of today was when I came across Talentgate which is a company offering ICT training with potential job opportunities for candidates,” Castellanos says.
The event also offered joy and benefits to students who have moved to Finland from abroad.
“We’re students in LAB University in Lahti. We wanted to seek some job opportunities here in Finland and hear how they recruit. We got a lot of handouts from companies, and the idea now is to go back home, do some research and apply them,” students Abeynagaha and Iroshika say.