Get to know our international talent Amalia

Thanks to attending the SIMHE – path Project at Metropolia, I now have my Communications Masters’ recognised by a Finnish competent authority. My name is Amalia, I am a new Communications Intern at Business Vantaa and I’m pioneering the 1st English speaking work programme implemented within the Business Development Services of the City of Vantaa.

City of Vantaa is proving to be an early adopter of international talent recruitment, so now I’m developing the Communications and Marketing plan for Talent Boost Vantaa as my main task. Besides market research & analysis relevant to the Talent Boost Project, I also help create marketing materials and content for various social media platforms.

My main objective is to enhance creativity and improve collaboration within the team by bringing a fresh perspective to the communication process. Regarding the project I’m part of, our teams’ mission is to help Finnish companies find the best talent suitable for their business. Therefore, we help closing the gap between them and highly educated international talent.

This traineeship has been a very useful and insightful experience for me but quite a challenge in the same time. The online team meetings seem like a never-ending ‘ kuuntele testi’… and the computers’ system is all in Finnish. No, I’m not keeping up with a whole conversation, yet, (and that can be frustrating sometimes), but I’m expanding my vocabulary every day, and this gives me hope. I’m sure anyone who has ever been through a steep learning curve can relate. As they say, Rome hasn’t been built in a day…

While exploring the different opportunities available in the Communications field, I have also discovered what the famous Nordic work-life balance looks like. I now have first-hand experience of the Finnish work culture.

The best part of this traineeship is having around me open-minded, interesting people, who are genuinely passionate about what they are doing. I feel I add value to the team by using my expertise and past international experience and the brainstorming sessions make it worthwhile being here.

Besides the professional contribution, on a more personal level, I consider myself and the team to be significant change agents as we help create a more inclusive and diverse place for all of us.

How to recruit an International Talent via SIMHE services?

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences offers SIMHE services (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland) for highly educated immigrants to recognize their competences and for guiding them to suitable educational and career paths. The main motto behind the service is encapsulated with a phrase “international talents need local references”.

For an employer recruiting a talent, SIMHE offers personalized service from a career guidance expert. The employer provides SIMHE service with individualized wishes about the competence of the trainee / employee. SIMHE’S expert makes pre-screening for possible candidates based on employer’s needs. After that, employer can proceed to job interviews. The service is free-of-charge for participants and Metropolia’s SIMHE team provides support throughout the process.

For more information, please contact:
Lotta Björn, project manager at Talent Boost Vantaa, lotta.bjorn@vantaa.fi
Emilia Deseille, Career coach at SIMHE Metropolia team, emilia.deseille@metropolia.fi

Talent Vantaa