“I’m not as scared as before” - Raffaele

The integration process in Finland is an individual journey for everyone, and personal development is just as vital as professional. Raffaele moved to Finland with his wife and their children in 2019. Although Raffaelle was at his previous position in Italy for over ten years, he knew that this experience would not automatically offer him a new role with a Finnish company. One of the biggest barriers for Raffaele was, unsurprisingly, the Finnish language. ”Even though English is basically a second language here, you have to interact with people in sales in Finnish”, he mentioned. Additionally,”it’s more polite to learn the language of the country”.

Raffaele and his wife decided to move to Finland for two reasons: not only was it his wife’s home country and therefore easier for her to develop her own career, but it was the best environment for their own children to grow up. Raffaele had visited Finland before and was impressed with the safety and the quality of the education. For Raffaele’s own wellbeing and personal development, the KOSKE programme has been invaluable. Raffaele had heard of KOSKE through acquaintances, and he became a client of the Career Club in August 2021. KOSKE has helped him “...to grow my network, both with other participants and with companies partnering with KOSKE - for instance, I’m now involved in the Digipool programme, where I can be in touch weekly with Finnish startups”.

Raffaele’s perception of the Finnish job market also highlighted to him the necessity of developing his technical skills: ”In Italy, recruiters used to select candidates based on a mix of hard and soft skills, whereas in Finland, they tend to focus on hard skills”. Raffaele decided that in order to make himself a more competitive candidate, he would need to attend online courses. This was difficult for him because he was also taking care of his youngest child at the same time. Although he considers himself lucky to have been able to be a full-time father, something that would not have been possible for him in Italy, it still meant that he was unable to dedicate a lot of time to his job search.

KOSKE has given Raffaele many tools to increase his self-awareness and career prospectives: ”I am in touch with (many) more people than before, I learned how to better advertise myself and be more appealing in (the) job market, I am developing more awareness and self-confidence and know where to fix my weaknesses.” Raffaele’s advice for newcomers? ”Do not hesitate to join the KOSKE programme…not only to find the right path or to get a job in the Finnish market, but a way to see yourself that you’re not alone. I’m not as scared as before”.