RISE 2025: Empow­er­ing Inter­na­tion­al Tal­ent in Oulu

This is a per­son­al jour­ney through Start-Up Refugees career devel­op­ment pro­gram. The pro­gram has been designed accord­ing to its name; to cre­ate resilience, inclu­sion, sup­port and empow­er­ment among peo­ple. On our arti­cle, Aman­ta Oyshi talks about her experiences.

Intro­duc­tion

This autumn, I had the priv­i­lege of join­ing RISE 2025, an ini­tia­tive by Start-Up Refugees in coop­er­a­tion with Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu designed to help inter­na­tion­als and refugees inte­grate into the Finnish job mar­ket. More than just a train­ing pro­gram, RISE is a bridge between tal­ent and oppor­tu­ni­ty offer­ing prac­ti­cal tools, men­tor­ship, and access to net­works that open doors to employ­ment and entre­pre­neur­ship.

Over two months, we explored essen­tial top­ics like CV build­ing, sto­ry­telling for inter­views, Finnish work cul­ture, and nav­i­gat­ing the hid­den job mar­ket. Each ses­sion was a step toward con­fi­dence and clar­i­ty in a new pro­fes­sion­al land­scape.

Pro­gram Overview

The pro­gram began on Sep­tem­ber 11, 2025, with an intro­duc­to­ry ses­sion where we met the Start-Up Refugees team and learned about the agen­da. RISE 2025 con­sists of week­ly two-hour ses­sions over two months, focus­ing on essen­tial top­ics such as CV devel­op­ment, sto­ry­telling for inter­views, under­stand­ing Finnish work cul­ture, and access­ing hid­den job oppor­tu­ni­ties.

High­lights from the Learn­ing Jour­ney:

1. Craft­ing a Pro­fes­sion­al CV with Han­nu Pel­li

Han­nu Pel­li, a sea­soned head­hunter, shared invalu­able insights into cre­at­ing a CV that stands out in the Finnish job mar­ket.

Key learn­ings:

• How to struc­ture a CV for clar­i­ty and impact
• Tips for opti­miz­ing LinkedIn pro­files
• Per­son­al­ized feed­back from an indus­try expert

2. The Pow­er of Sto­ry­telling with Zara Kukka­maa

Zara Kukka­maa empha­sized the impor­tance of sto­ry­telling in inter­views and pro­fes­sion­al brand­ing. A well-craft­ed intro­duc­tion can leave a last­ing impres­sion.

Take­aways:

• Begin inter­views with a con­cise, impact­ful sto­ry about your skills and jour­ney
• Use LinkedIn strate­gi­cal­ly to show­case your experiences
• Zara’s own sto­ry inspired us to embrace resilience and cre­ativ­i­ty

3. Mock Inter­views: Learn­ing Through Real Sce­nar­ios

One of the most prac­ti­cal ses­sions was the mock inter­view exer­cise. Two par­tic­i­pants vol­un­teered to be inter­viewed live based on their CVs, while the rest of us observed. This ses­sion pro­vid­ed a real­is­tic view of Finnish inter­view cul­ture, includ­ing com­mon ques­tions, expect­ed eti­quette, and the impor­tance of clear com­mu­ni­ca­tion.

What made it valu­able:

• See­ing how inter­view dynam­ics work in Fin­land
• Under­stand­ing the role of body lan­guage and con­fi­dence
• Receiv­ing expert feed­back on answers and pre­sen­ta­tion
• A Q&A seg­ment where we clar­i­fied doubts about inter­view strate­gies

4. Under­stand­ing Finnish Work Cul­ture

A rep­re­sen­ta­tive from a Finnish trade union, Miik­ka-Aukusti Heiska­nen, gave us a com­pre­hen­sive overview of employ­ment laws, work­place rights, and ben­e­fits. This ses­sion was eye-open­ing because it high­light­ed how Fin­land pri­or­i­tizes fair­ness and employ­ee well-being.

Key insights:

• The impor­tance of col­lec­tive agree­ments and trade unions
• Pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties offered by unions
• How to nav­i­gate work­place norms and expec­ta­tions
• Under­stand­ing these aspects is cru­cial for any­one aim­ing to inte­grate suc­cess­ful­ly into the Finnish job mar­ket.

5. Nav­i­gat­ing the Hid­den Job Mar­ket

Moni­ka Cwiek, HR & Pay­roll spe­cial­ist from Polar Elec­tro, explained why many jobs in Fin­land are not pub­licly adver­tised and shared strate­gies to uncov­er these oppor­tu­ni­ties.

Prac­ti­cal tips:

• Intern­ships and vol­un­teer­ing can open doors
• Net­work­ing is essen­tial to attend events and con­nect on LinkedIn
• Ask for rec­om­men­da­tions and main­tain vis­i­bil­i­ty online

6. Speed-Dat­ing with Com­pa­nies: Build­ing Real Con­nec­tions

The pro­gram con­clud­ed with an excit­ing speed-dat­ing ses­sion involv­ing 10 com­pa­nies in Oulu. Each par­tic­i­pant had 3–4 min­utes to intro­duce them­selves to com­pa­ny rep­re­sen­ta­tives, fol­lowed by infor­mal net­work­ing.

Why it mat­tered:

• Direct inter­ac­tion with poten­tial employ­ers
• Learn­ing about dif­fer­ent indus­tries and job oppor­tu­ni­ties in Oulu
• Build­ing per­son­al con­nec­tions that could lead to intern­ships or jobs
• This ses­sion was a con­fi­dence boost­er and a reminder that net­work­ing is a pow­er­ful tool for career growth.

7. Clos­ing Thoughts: Why RISE Mat­ters

As the pro­gram end­ed, I real­ized RISE was not just about learn­ing, it was about trans­for­ma­tion. I walked in with ques­tions and walked out with con­fi­dence, clar­i­ty, and a net­work of inspir­ing peo­ple. The speed-dat­ing ses­sion with com­pa­nies was the per­fect reminder that oppor­tu­ni­ties often start with sim­ple con­ver­sa­tion.

RISE 2025 gave me more than career tools; it gave me resilience, inclu­sion, sup­port, and empow­er­ment, the very val­ues it stands for.

Today, I feel ready to take on the Finnish job mar­ket, not as an out­sider, but as a pro­fes­sion­al with a sto­ry worth shar­ing. By con­nect­ing tal­ent with oppor­tu­ni­ty, Start-Up Refugees helps cre­ate a more inclu­sive and diverse work­force in Fin­land.

Get Involved

Inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about RISE and upcom­ing pro­grams?

• Vis­it Start-Up Refugees
• Explore ser­vices at Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu

Aman­ta Oyshi ís an HR pro­fes­sion­al from Bangladesh, liv­ing in Fin­land for one year now. Cur­rent­ly work­ing as an intern at Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu, sup­port­ing in admin­is­tra­tive works most­ly and doing her Finnish lan­guage course at Arff­man Fin­land Oy. She ís also involved with vol­un­teer­ing works; with Oulu 2026 cul­tur­al cap­i­tal.

Read Aman­ta’s per­son­al sto­ry: