Disclaimer. I had to split this into two parts, so this part has no crying. Just so you know, because this is not a ploy to get you to read more or click to read more so I can rake in the big bucks 😀 

Finns are usually a traditional bunch, who (would) much prefer to have things done as they were done when their grandparents had a say in matters of business and leisure. But once in a while a young buck comes alone – fresh from an extended stay in Silicon Valley – and changes things up. Which is why we now don’t have job seekers in this country, we have . . .   . . . Talent! A term, which I assume was created to jazz things up, to make them more trendy, sexy (seems to be an IT sector favorite) and is meant to ring in a new era for job seekers by making them stand out. We still have no distinction between expats and immigrants, and ask anyone seeking this (not so elusive) talent what a Third Culture or Cross Cultural Kid is and you will be met with a blank stare and matching expression by your interlocutor in too many cases (anecdotal evidence suggests 9.5 cases out of 10). Though some people in these organizations have been known to use the term “internationals” so hope may be worth having. 

Enter the cattle market today. In order to preserve privacy I will of course not be naming the event, suffice it to say it was an extension of a similar event last month and was run by the same dictators, I mean organizers. Using a bullhorn to communicate instructions is not a wise move, and locking the doors after telling people they cannot go to the bathroom during presentations is not even an admissible tactic in the lower years of elementary school. It didn’t give me a good vibe, though we did make some cool friends we are still speaking to today (of course I had to pull someone into my shenanigans, ‘tis me after all 😀). So naturally I didn’t have the best feeling going into this today.

And initially my feelings were completely and utterly justified. 

First off, these cattle markets organized by the city of _______ always look for the same openings: something in IT, front end, back end, and some marketing thrown in for good measure. Then cue the usual representatives of Organizations Purporting to Help, whose only function seems to be that they were sent there to be visible, usually with the proper optics of one or more token foreigner(s) who look(s)  like they could be from the target culture (to the organization’s eyes, so take this with a huge grain of salt) and – more recently – the obligatory Older Person i.e. a few years before retirement. It is never quite clear what their function is (at least to me), as they just seem to be there. Ok, I’m lying. They are information points for those who don’t know any better and whose journey is straightforward: seeking IT job from relevant country, willing to work for significantly less pay than a local (some people in that field mentioned something about many colleagues making half of what a local took home). Anything outside of that scope, which is not in their script, and they are at a loss for words. 

For those who don’t know me (that well), I’m not trying to be difficult for sport. It’s just that I really want answers, and I’d like them to go beyond the tried and tested script that’s always adhered to. And from what I’ve heard it’s the same in a lot of other places, but my present expertise comes from Finland. 

I’m still holding out hope that there might be that one organization in Finland that will help me make my idea happen and is open to a true dialogue where they listen to both sides of the story i.e. the foreigner and the Finn. I want to help people, I really do. I want to do this by bringing people together and helping them understand each other. I want to achieve this through a series of workshops, a safe space, where people can openly talk about their fears and trepidations. This will then open up a dialogue and we can take away people’s fears. I think it’s a beautiful idea, and I’m super passionate about it, because I’ve been there in Germany, in the US, in France, in Hungary, in Britain and of course in Finland. And I wasn’t always at the receiving end as an adult but definitely so in my childhood. 

Of the three info booths I spoke to, one offered me a sales position that “is not a sales position, as you would also coordinate and do a bit of HR” (so a three-for-one job type situation). Though to give him credit he did try to use the proper words. Expats are not immigrants and it’s important to know this, because – to name just one point – needs differ with each group. An expat is more likely to move on, whereas an immigrant really wants to make this place they are in, home. Where they come from matters as little as the color of their skin. 

Info point No. 2 was where I scared the poor lady by asking her too many questions. I’ve been told several times that I scare people, and I’ve personally witnessed it in an extreme case once, where the person literally ran away from me and looked at me with an expression that cleary screamed, stay away from me, Devil’s Chid! Stay away!. So I mentioned this to the lady, saying that I didn’t mean to attack her, I was just asking to get information as no one seems to be able to tell me who the go-to person in their company may be. She tried to find an organization for me, and to be fair, she wasn’t from Helsinki, so more power to her. I thanked her and meant it, and headed for booth No. 3

They of course had “exactly what you’re talking about.” So I pried into it and lo and behold, what they call “an info session / workshop / class for everyone” is just another of the very many info sessions / workshops / classes in which the non-Finns are told how to integrate, look for jobs, how to ask and present the interview questions and so on and so forth. Except the onus is always on the foreigner with no regard or acknowledgment given towards the real issue at hand, that Finns do not easily hire foreigners and it is notoriously hard, if not impossible, to break into because Finns are just really reluctant to hire non-Finns. It can be done, I’ve been there myself, but for the most part those jobs are few and far between and all too often the token foreigner gets paraded around as an example with the usual narrative associated with the token representative of any cause. The formula they give us is broken, because it just doesn’t work.

The Finn and the token foreigner in this one assured me they were doing jus that, and in a very well rehearsed move, the floor was handed over to the token non-Finn-but-Finn-when-we-need-the-optics to explain that they do have mentoring programs, so they do do what I say they don’t do. The Finn looked interested enough when I explained my idea, so I told her that if I saw they would implement my idea without calling me in, or giving me credit, I would call them out. So I’ll be keeping my eyes open, as I would in any country, because I’ve had this happen to me before, not just once.

To end this on a bright note, I did end up meeting two lovely ladies who were very interested in what I proposed. This was another subject, somehow related but not quite, because diversify FTW. The one who suggested that we talk hasn’t accepted my LinkedIn connection request yet, so it might – yet again – be all smoke you know where. LinkedIn is the Holy Grail in Finland to the point that you will have your unemployment benefits cut if you don’t create a LinkedIn profile.

A few weeks ago I decided that I was sick and tired of the soulsucking and utterly draining hypocrisy of shiny happy people there, so I started saying what’s really on my mind, calling people out on their bullshit, but still providing solutions i.e. Finland has a problem with xenophobia. Here’s what you can do – as a Finn – to put your money where your mouth is and alleviate it. I’m actually enjoying my time there now, and am slowly introducing Germany to the mix and Poland will enter the ring after that. I’m actually enjoying this because while Finns will continue to Finn, I’ve actually received quite a lot of feedback from other foreigners in Finland who are glad someone is speaking out, and some of us are planning a whole group thing to think up ways on how to show the true image of Finland, beyond the PR that makes it look like a place very few foreigners living here would ever recognize, because while PR is trying to sell – and pass the country off as – Disneyland, we get an abandoned playground on a landfill (that may or may not be cursed) with broken attractions.