Woot Woot - Happy Days!

The most amazing thing happened today, my husband got his first job offer in Finland, super yay! He had applied to about a 100 places, but hadn't had any luck so far. Out of those hundred places only four replied and two of the companies invited him for an interview. We had almost given up hope, and were already planning a move back to the good old America. I mean my husband didn't go to college just to hang out at home with us and being unemployed really wasn't ideal when he has to start paying back his college loans :) But if everything works out, he'll start on Monday at the new place! I have to say I'm probably equally excited about this job opportunity as he is! Out of those two places he interviewed for only this one had anything to do with his studies, so it's perfect for him!

When we lived in the US I had no trouble finding a job. Actually on my second day in the Midwest I walked into the place I wanted to work at and they hired me right away :) I was probably really lucky, jobs in the field of History are not so easy to come by. My husband on the other hand had no such luck in Finland. The job seeking culture here is a bit different, it's all about the applications and resumes, less about the casual drop ins. But when you get the job, it's yours to keep. In the US you can basically be given a two week's notice any time for any reason, there's often no written job contracts and people just leave and never go back to their work place. That was a bit too black and white, but hopefully you got my point. I think the application process in Finland is very formal, probably like applying to government jobs in the U.S.

I think the biggest problem for my husband was that he has only very basic Finnish skills and that's probably why he wasn't called to be interviewed. They told him flat out at the Employment Agency that he has to first study Finnish to find work, and they were probably right. I think my husband got lucky that he found a job where Finnish was not required. There probably are thousands of IT jobs that are as flexible. Other areas of employment usually require Finnish skills.

Anyways, I'm superhappy my husband got offered the job, and not only because of financial reasons ;) I'm so glad he has the chance to show what he knows, increase his knowledge of the field and start building a career. He deserves all that. I might be bit biased when I say that company couldn't have gotten a better employee!

Time to celebrate :)

edit. I just noticed this related article on yle: Study: Language and support key to immigrant employment and I quote "Foreigners are on average able to find work in Finland just as well -- or even better -- than native Finns, according to a study published by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy (MEE) on Tuesday." Well, maybe it just takes the 100 applications to find a job;)