Browsing by Author "Oesch, Alisa"

The number of international students in Finnish higher education has been on the rise within the past decade. After graduation, these international graduates are faced with the decision of whether to stay in Finland and enter the Finnish labour force or find employment elsewhere. Previous research demonstrates that international students and graduates in Finland face linguistic obstacles in both the process of finding a job and working in Finland. These linguistic obstacles range from issues with language barriers and not being able to understand Finnish job applications to issues, having to work in one’s non-native language and the low number of English-speaking jobs. This thesis investigates the experiences of four Faculty of Arts graduates from outside of the European Union, who are all currently employed in Finland. These participants were interviewed about their experiences of linguistic obstacles while applying for jobs in Finland, linguistic obstacles while working in Finland and their overall feelings on the state of the Finnish labour market for immigrants who do not speak Finnish. This included discussion on their experiences learning Finnish, transitioning between being a student and working in Finland, the different stages of the job application process and what kind of language policies and practices exist in the Finnish workplace practices. According to the interviews, the biggest obstacle to employment in Finland for international graduates were insufficient Finnish skills to work in Finnish. The participants’ felt that learning Finnish can be difficult and take a long time, it is still the best way to ensure employment in Finland. Additionally, when graduates work in English-speaking roles, the realities of hiring an English-speaking employee are not fully considered.