When the time for making summer/permanent job applications again (january-march) I kind of expected to get a little more luck than the previous year. Especially since now I had work experience in a large well-known Finnish company.
My approach was similar as the previous year, that is to begin with Finland's largest companies. My favorites, in no particular order, are:
Ericsson, Metso, Outokumpu,Teliasonera, Wärtsilä, Accenture, Capgemeni, Kone, Nice Solutions, Stora Enso, UPM-Kymmene, Elcoteq, Cerion, Nokia, Ernst & Young, Nordea, amongst others.
In total, I am up to 56 applications for jobs positions this year. As anyone who has done this before can imagine: this is a lot of work. If you want them to really read your application and cover letter, then it should be unique and tailored to each job position.
In 2010 I have had a total of 3 company interviews. I will shortly tell about each one to share my experience with future foreign job seekers. Here they are in chronological order and by position:
1. Thesis writing internship in an insurance company (Turku)
This was not actually a job interview per se. I was recommended by one of my university teachers for this position and the employers had already decided to give me the position. I am only telling about this to show the importance of making a good impressions to the teachers and use that as networking possibilities as well.
2. Job in a large multinational insurance underwriter (Helsinki)
This was an interesting story. I applied to an ad in Uranus.fi and got a call from a recruiter company who was handling the resourcing. I had one short phone interview during the first call when I was on a bus! I tried to reschedule but the recruiter said it would only be a couple of minutes, that turned into 25. Later he contacted me for a scheduled phone interview.
The typical questions were asked: motivation for the job, why you are the right person, qualifications, etc. The interview went quite well and I was later invited for a face to face interview with the hiring manager.
Note: trains in wintertime are unexpectedly delayed.
The final interview lasted almost 90 minutes. I received a detailed explanation about the company's organizational structure and about the job itself. It was very clear that they were interested in employing me. But, since this job was not such a great career move for me, I had decided to ask for a very high salary (3.5k) with respect to the job position. Eventhough the interview ended well, it was very strange how they never came back to me, not even to tell me no. Not even the recruiter.
Note: make sure your asking salary is not so high that you scare them away.
3. Position in a large bank (Helsinki)
This was been a very long process (or at least if felt like it). From when I heard i was being considered until when I landed the job, it took almost three months. Perhaps the most unsettling was the amount of interactions with the company.
It begun with a phone interview (since I am in Turku and the position was in Helsinki). This was a typical first interview. I was asked to give a summary of my experience and education, my motivation for the position, mention 3 strengths and salary expectations.
The next interview was in person. Wearing a suit and tie I discussed for about 30 minutes the similar questions from the previous phone interview. This time there was a focus on my different capabilities and how I handle different situations.
Another week after the last interview I was invited to take some tests. They made me reserve a whole day in my agenda for the 6-8 hours of assessments. The tests included 3 speed tests (numeric sequence, logic sequence and text comprehension). Additionally various questionnaires about strengths, self-assessments of character, motivations, professional orientation and one very long test about how I define myself using questions that I identified in several categories (beliefs, trust in people, anger control, self trust/confidence, public reactions, leadership traits). It was a very tiring session that ended with an interview from an independent HR consultant. I received a formal evaluation which was very interesting.
The last interview included the hiring manager and and internal HR person to discuss further the results from the test. Other things discussed included: what type of boss I like, how do I deal with success and failure. After this interview it still took a few more days to receive the answer.
Note: you will be asked to take a drug test for getting jobs in certain companies
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