I have recently finalized my Master degree at Tampere University. Finishing the thesis work seemed like an unachievable task, so I couldn’t believe the moment I finally submitted the final document in Trepo (the open institutional repository of Tampere University). But unfortunately, that happiness did not last that long. Don’t get me wrong, completing a masters degree is an amazing achievement worthy of all the possible celebrations and something to be proud of, but there is a hunting question that comes right after: what next?
How to Navigate the Job Search
From my perspective as an international student I can say that getting a job in Finland after graduation sounds scary. What is the best way to search for a job? What should I include in my CV? How to approach the companies that I am interested in? How to cope with Finnish working culture? Which type of positions might be the best for me?
The university often offers workshops to review your CV or your Linkedin profile, as well as hosting job fairs. But there will always be certain factors particular to the working field or things we might not know or understand at the beginning due to the culture difference. But you are not alone! I can assure you you are not the first person having these same questions or experiencing this struggle. There have been many generations of international students that have come to Tampere University and looked for a job in Finland after graduation.
I can assure you you are not the first person having these same questions or experiencing this struggle.
Find Guidance Through Mentorship
The idea of the mentoring programme is to connect students in their last year of studies or recently graduated with professionals that have already had the experience of integrating into the Finnish working culture and are willing to share their advice. The organizers of the programme find your perfect match based on the application form, and you meet your pair at the kick-off meeting. After meeting your mentor you get to agree on when to meet next and discuss your questions and fears about Finnish working life, career paths, etc.
Every pair of mentor – mentee will work differently as we are all very different people with different backgrounds. But in my case, I have been meeting with my mentor at least once a month during the duration of the programme and I pick the discussion topic of the meeting. Usually I pick one of my many questions and we start the discussion with that. Some of the conversation topics were: working cultures, navigating the changes of technology, and integrating into working life.
I must say that talking with someone with experience in the same field has been a real relief and I have gotten many good tips and advice. Actually, I would like to share with you my favorite advice from my mentor: “Ask lots of questions!” For some reason sometimes I tend to assume things or feel embarrassed to ask, but as my mentor said, what is the worst thing that could happen? Usually nothing terrible happens for asking (even if the question sounds silly in our heads) but misunderstandings due to wrong assumptions can in fact cause problems.
Ask lots of questions!
Support and Networking through Mentoring
Besides the discussions with your mentor, this programme also gives you the opportunity to network and meet other students and mentors, as they have planned three meeting sessions with all the people participating in the programme with different activities to share all together. The initial and final meetings included networking sessions with a timer to get the chance to talk to more people as well as some ice breaking questions and exercises to get the conversations started. We also had a very casual hangout with ice skating and boardgames that was super fun!
So, if you’re about to graduate or you have graduated recently I would highly recommend you to keep an eye on the intranews for when this programme opens the application. Also, if you happen to know a mentor, invite them to sign up! Get to know more about the mentoring program from tuni.fi website.
About the writer:
Hello! I am Andrea Maybell Peña Echeverría. Originally from Guatemala and moved to Tampere in 2021. I am now part of the Tampere University Alumni, recently graduated from the Master in Factory Automation and Robotics. Besides my love for robots and technology, I enjoy outdoor activities, being surrounded by nature, swimming, knitting, traveling, and taking pictures.
