Build­ing bridges and gen­uine con­nec­tions: Débora’s gold­en rule for nav­i­gat­ing work­ing life in Fin­land.

Hei! I am Déb­o­ra Oliveira, I moved to Fin­land in 2021 from São Paulo, Brazil. I came to Oulu to pur­sue a mas­ter’s degree in Edu­ca­tion and Glob­al­i­sa­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. I am cur­rent­ly a Mul­ti­lin­gual Advi­sor for Immi­grants at Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu. I have been grate­ful and lucky to con­tin­ue grow­ing my career in Fin­land in the pro­fes­sion­al fields I have cho­sen.  

From master´s stud­ies to work­ing life 

Besides doing a master´s in Edu­ca­tion and Glob­al­i­sa­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu, I also hold a spe­cial­ist degree in Cul­ture and Edu­ca­tion from FLACSO – Latin Amer­i­can Fac­ul­ty of Social Sci­ences, and a Bachelor’s in Lan­guages and Lit­er­a­ture. I have over 15 years of expe­ri­ence in the edu­ca­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tion sec­tors, and I have been work­ing with migra­tion affairs for 8 years.  

Under­stand­ing the job mar­ket in Fin­land can be chal­leng­ing for inter­na­tion­als, I have invest­ed time and ener­gy in build­ing net­works in Fin­land, and look­ing for intern­ship or job oppor­tu­ni­ties through­out my master’s stud­ies. 

Build­ing bridges and gen­uine con­nec­tions 

I see both Oulu and Fin­land as places where you can build and expand net­works, if you make your­self known in the Finnish soci­ety. Com­pared to my home coun­try, Brazil, the inter­na­tion­al com­mu­ni­ty here is small­er and bet­ter con­nect­ed, which is some­thing I have tak­en advan­tage of. Com­ing from a mega­lopo­lis as São Paulo, I think it has been eas­i­er to build bridges and gen­uine con­nec­tions in Fin­land.  

Since my first week here I have fol­lowed what has been hap­pen­ing in town, mak­ing sure to engage in dif­fer­ent activ­i­ties. I have par­tic­i­pat­ed in all types of events, job relat­ed and leisure ones. Whether at the uni­ver­si­ty or the city cen­tre, one can always find inter­est­ing activ­i­ties to join. There are a cou­ple of events tar­get­ed at inter­na­tion­als and new­com­ers to min­gle and get to know peo­ple.  

This would be my gold­en tip for new­com­ers: be proac­tive, be open to con­nect with oth­ers, and net­work as much as pos­si­ble. Net­works are a pow­er­ful tool to help you land intern­ships and jobs, expand your per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al con­nec­tions, and find mean­ing­ful activ­i­ties. 

Net­work­ing with inter­na­tion­al and Finnish com­mu­ni­ties 

I am a com­mu­nica­tive and extro­vert per­son, and I believe this helps me a lot to engage in new con­ver­sa­tions and break the ice even with shy Finns. I under­stand this might not be everyone’s strength but one should try to have a pos­i­tive atti­tude to meet­ing new peo­ple. Finns might seem intro­verts at first, but they are extreme­ly polite and often curi­ous to know why some­one has come to Fin­land. And it is def­i­nite­ly wor­thy build­ing gen­uine con­nec­tions with inter­na­tion­al and Finnish com­mu­ni­ties. 

Unlock­ing intern­ship and job oppor­tu­ni­ties 

Before start­ing to look for intern­ships and job posi­tions, I mapped my skills and pre­vi­ous expe­ri­ences to under­stand in which fields I could work on in Fin­land. Then, I tried to engage with organ­i­sa­tions work­ing in these fields. This strat­e­gy led me to build con­nec­tions in many fields I have exper­tise in and helped me to land a cou­ple of intern­ships and job posi­tions in Fin­land.  

My intern­ship and work expe­ri­ences include roles with Business­Oulu, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu, the City of Oulu, the Con­sulate of Fin­land in São Paulo, and the Finnish Nation­al Agency for Edu­ca­tion. I have also vol­un­teered for the Red Cross Oulu inte­gra­tion pro­grammes for quo­ta refugees and asy­lum-seek­ers, an expe­ri­ence that gave me an impor­tant foun­da­tion for my cur­rent work as a Mul­ti­lin­gual Advi­sor at Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu.

What does the future hold 

Not all that glit­ters it is gold, though. Although I have accom­plished some career goals in Fin­land, the job mar­ket can be chal­leng­ing for inter­na­tion­als. While I was in between jobs, hav­ing a resilient mind­set helped me to nav­i­gate through the ups and downs of job search­ing.  

For now, I am look­ing for­ward to see­ing what my future career achieve­ments in Fin­land will be like. If you want to fol­low what the future holds for me, come check my insta­gram account @fui.pra.finlandia, where I share in Eng­lish and Por­tuguese about my life in Fin­land.