Navigating the Finnish Job Market: The Journey of Mengzhen Zhang
Mengzhen Zhang, a recent Ph.D. graduate from University of Helsinki, shared her journey navigating Finland’s job market and her transition to entrepreneurship in a candid interview we had during summer of 2024.
“No matter how hard it will be, there is hope in this magic land", Mengzhen Zhang, CEO of Nordic Insights Oy
Body
After moving to Finland to pursue her Ph.D. in the Agriculture e-commerce marketing sector and falling in love with Finns’ connection to nature, peace, and their love of respecting individual diversities, she was determined to make Finland her second home. Upon graduation, she found herself navigating a complex job market that didn’t fully recognize her skills and expertise, leading her to face significant challenges in securing a job that matched her qualifications. This experience is not uncommon among many international graduates in Finland who usually face similar difficulties in finding employment in their field of expertise.
The importance of targeted support services for international talents
Mengzhen then realized the importance of accessing targeted support services for international talents and she started engaging with various services providers at different events aimed at supporting graduates and job seekers. She participated in the pitching competition of the TalentMatch Fair 2023 organized by Talent Vantaa in collaboration with Talent Espoo in which she was voted as the winner of the pitching competition.
She still remembers her experience of getting ready for the pitching competition as being transformative for her as she used the opportunity not only to sharpen her pitching and presentation skills but also to realize the beauty in her personal story in understanding her strength and the value she could bring to potential employers. This especially helped her sustain her mental well-being in her long job search journey.
Mengzhen´s transition to entrepreneur
Even though winning the competition was a significant achievement, and it gave Mengzhen the courage to create valuable connections at recruitment fairs, she still struggled to find a job matching her qualifications. This is why she started to rethink her plan and ultimately motivated her to start her own company Nordic Insights Oy.
Nordic Insights Oy focuses on leveraging Mengzhen’s expertise in market analysis and her vast knowledge of both markets and aims to bridge the e-commerce gap between Finland and China, focusing on sustainable agricultural products and healthcare products. She has been assisting Finnish companies who are keen to export unique and Finnish-featured products to China, a market that values the high quality and trustworthiness of Finnish products. By connecting Finnish producers with Chinese consumers, Mengzhen hopes to promote Finnish products abroad while also enhancing local businesses’ reach. At the same time, she plans to bring valuable e- commerce practices from cities like Shangai and Shenzhen to enhance the Finnish digital market landscape.
Very luckily, Mengzhen´s pofessional skillsets in international business development and partnership collaboration have led to fruitful outcomes in 6 months after launching her company: she reached consultancy agreements with three leading companies, including one Finnish well-known company in the pharmaceutical industry, for whom she will assist to set up online business and build brand awareness via the most renowned e-commerce platforms, Alibaba Tmall, JD.com, etc.
The need to improve employers´ receptiveness of international talents
Mengzhen´s journey reflects the broader challenges faced by many highly educated international graduates in Finland. Despite valuable initiatives to provide support for internationals through various workshops, recruitment fairs and pitching events, etc, there remains a gap in integrating international talents into the Finnish labour market. And their transition is far from being smooth.
She calls for greater efforts to educate employers on the skills and potential of international graduates and invest in improving their readiness and receptiveness of international talents. She appreciated the commitment shown by public officials, such as Tommo Koivusalo, Director of Business Vantaa, who acknowledged the struggle faced by many internationals and the value of integrating this group fully into the Finnish labour market in his speech at the opening of the TalentMatch Fair which she credits the moment that made her feel seen and valued.
"Stay resilient and recognize your worth"
By sharing her story, Mengzhen hopes to show fellow graduates and job seekers that the journey is difficult even for a Ph.D. holder like herself and encourages everyone to stay resilient, recognize their worth and to explore alternative paths to employment. Looking ahead, she plans to focus on growing her business over the next year. Despite current achievements in her entrepreneurial journey, she is well aware of future unexpected challenges and frustrations along the way. But, for now, she is committed to making the most of her opportunities in Finland. “No matter how hard it will be, there is hope in this magic land”, she commented.
Read more about international and immigrant talents´ journey to Finnish working life
This blog is the second of a series of blogs that will be published every Thursday til December 2024. We are happy to share personal experiences of international talents and others with immigrant background about how they have found their way to Finnish working life. Stay tuned!