Job seeking in Finland, The Hidden Job Market

1. The Hidden Job
Market
Career Services at the University of Turku
4.5.2023

2. REKRY4 Job seeking in Finland | Study guide 2022-2024 (utu.fi)
If you want to complete the course of 1 ECTS:
1. Write your name and student number to the Zoom chat
(use private message-mode)
2. Enroll for the course in Peppi in your personal study plan (PSP)
3. Attend all 5 info sessions
4. Sign into Moodle, where you can find more information:
https://moodle.utu.fi/course/view.php?id=27192
Job seeking in Finland -course

3. EC2U Career Plan Certificate participants
EC2U | The Career Plan Certificate programme
If you intend to include this info session as an ”input event” for your personal certificate:
1. Write your name, email and your university’s name to the Zoom chat (use private
message-mode)
2. After the info session, the contact person at the University of Turku for the EC2U
Career Plan programme will send you a certificate of participation by e-mail.
Students from UTU: Please note that if you complete this info session as part of the Job
Seeking in Finland course, you cannot include the info session in your EC2U Career
Plan Certificate. The activity for the certificate has to be a voluntary, extra-curricular
activity and it doesn’t count toward the formal study degree.

4. Career Services’ info sessions
• Working in Finland
• How to tell about your skills and expertise
• The Hidden Job Market
• CV & Application
• How to succeed in a job interview

5. What is a Hidden
Job?
• Search on, but not in public
• Not actively searching, but a “good guy” is always
interesting
• There is a need that has not been identified /
understood as a job
• Even 60–80 percent of open positions in Finland are
hidden jobs, i.e. they are never advertised. In these
situations, the employer is seeking a new employee
through their contact network.
• This means that up to 3 out of 4 applicants will
be employed other than by answering a job
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6. • The application process is time consuming and expensive
• Need for sudden and / or short-term (parental leave, sick leave)
• Work tasks available, no jobs
• There is no need or time to determine the need
Why are there hidden jobs?

7. Why don’t a recruiter and
a job seeker always meet?

8. Finding Hidden Jobs as
a Job Search Strategy?
Suggestion: Make a Job Search Plan

9. Job Search Plan 1/4
Know what you are looking for!
Map and write down for yourself your…
• Interest
• Skills
• Values
• Personal characteristics
• Current Life situation
• Future expectations and goals
Think about the choices you have made and
especially the basis for them!

10. Job Search Plan 2/4
Know what you are looking for!
Make a CV in which you list all activities and experience.
Take into account your:
• Education
• Work experience
• Hobbies and leisure activities
Analyze the mapping you did and the things above and think
about your message (motivation, competence, personality).

11. Job Search Plan 3/4
Where do you want to work?
Make a list of the employers you are interested in and find
as much information as possible about them: size,
products / services, financial indicators, management and
organizational structure, locations.
Use sources e.g.
• Google
• LinkedIn and other media
• Job announcements
• Your own network

12. Where can I look for hidden jobs? So where
could there be a need for an employee?
• Recruiting opportunities
• Taloussanomat
• Kasvuopen.fi
• Kauppalehti → Menestyjät
• Companies websites and blogs
• Projects
• Investors websites
• NGOs and other organisations’ websites
• https://www.kansalaisyhteiskunta.fi/rahoitushakemisto
• Networks
• Friends and other acquaintances
• Summer jobs
• Internship employers
• Study friends
• Events
• Ads, conversations and contacts on social media
• Linkedin: job, companies, groups
• Twitter: #rekry #työpaikat #jobs
Job ads
CV & application
Mentoring programme,
information interviews
Social media
Voluntary work
Conversations with friends and acquaintes
Following different organisations
Hidden jobs
Events

14. Job Search Plan 4/4
Occupational knowledge
• Follow events and phenomenon that may affect your
career/tasks
• Write down as much information as possible about your
job search processes (previous and ongoing)
What’s next?
Information
interview?

15. • An information interview is a way for you to gather information about working in a specific field
or company with tasks that interest you.
• The interview makes it possible for you to get insider perspective and explore possibilities
and opportunities you might not have thought about. It is an informal way to network – without
the pressure of a job interview.
• How to find someone to interview? One way is to look for a person who has an interesting job
that you want to hear more about and contacting them via phone/email/LinkedIn.
• Most of the people get excited when somebody is interested in their work and career path!
During the interview, you are the one asking questions, and you should get to know as much as
possible about the organisation before the actual meeting.
• An information interview is not a job interview and you should not schedule an interview just as
an opportunity to find a job.
Information interview:
A way to get to tacit knowledge

16. Contacting interesting
employers

17. Contacting an interesting employer is a sign of
motivation and could improve your chances of
employment when a suitable position opens up.
Remember also to:
• Tell your friends, acquaintances, former
employers etc. about your job search so that
you have as many agents as possible to help
you.
• Utilize social media and pass the word, for
example, in LinkedIn.
• Contact the companies and organizations
you are interested in. You can contact the
human resources or the head of the unit you
are interested in.

18. Show your expertise
• LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Slideshare etc.
• Portfolios, videos, jne.
• Keywords that describe your core skills
• Motivation, ”branding”
• Show evidence of your social media skills
• Tell openly that you are looking for a job

19. Map and expand your network
• Take advantage of study time (study buddies, internships,
projects, theses, visits, work groups)
• Events in your field (seminars, trade union events, trade fairs) a
good opportunity to get to know people and organizations
• It is also possible to make important contacts in leisure activities
• Friends, acquaintes
• Information Interview or Workplace Visit
• Through groups and discussions, you can exchange ideas / network
with other experts in your field
Important for
international
students (too)

20. Open application
Idea
• What kind of work are you interested in?
• How could you respond to an employer’s need?
• Concrete examples of your future work assignments
Motivation
• Why exactly this employer and these tasks?
• What motivates you?
• Plans for the future
Reasoning
• Your knowledge and skills relevant to the task
• Link your skills to the job you are applying for
• How can you apply your education and work experience

21. Electronic application
• Typically fillable text fields
• You should first look at everything they are looking for so that you can better plan your
answers
• You should fill in all the fields
• The same rules apply to an electronic application as to other applications
• Write the text for each employer and position, ie. tailor what you have to say to suit the
situation
• Use keywords that are relevant to the position
• CV attached if requested; remember to keep your CV up to date

22. Example of an email inquiry

23. You can contact:
• Head of the unit
• To the CEO of a small company
• To your previous contact
• Call or email
• You have already learned the basics. You will be able to
customize your contact better when you find out more: e.g.
strategy, values, action plan, the organization's communication in
different channels, customers, projects, contact information.
• You might want to know more about what their needs are
→ ask and listen
• The goal is to arrange a meeting or the next time to call
→ suggest a time/meeting
• After calling, you can send the contact at least a CV and briefly
tell why you are interested in the position
• Follow-up call / email
• During the call, you can refer to your possible contact related to
the organization and to some interesting matter related to the
organization's activities
Direct contact • Why am I contacting your
organization?
• Who am I and what can I do?
• What things would I like to work
on? What are you interested in?
Why?
• What I can offer to your
organization?
• How do I proceed?
• What are the needs of the
organization now or in the future?

24. • Call back and inquire about the situation
• Is there a need for your skills?
• Can you contact me later if the timing is bad now?
• Are open applications kept for future use?
• Increase knowledge and your network
• Even if the contact does not lead to a working relationship, you can get
more information from the conversation about the situation in the industry,
other operators and possible new contacts
After applying

25. YOU
CUSTOMERS
EMPLOYER

26. Tips for working life and job searching:

27. Self-study package for international students:
The self study materials focus on identifying your skills and how to find
a job in Finland. The self study package is suitable for international
degree students, doctoral candidates, Ph.D’s and post docs.
Search How to
work in Finland
in Moodle