Vaasa International Talents has been launched

Today, the Vaasa International Talents programme officially started with a kick-off! 23 international talents representing five higher education institutions in Vaasa and seven English degree programmes have been selected to the programme. The aim of the programme, financially supported by the City of Vaasa, is to during the coming months help the participants to develop their skills for Finnish working life and to connect with employers in the region in various ways.

At the kick-off event Mayor Tomas Häyry, City of Vaasa greeted the programme students, stating that as international students in Vaasa they form a great treasure for the region. Therefore, he sees that a programme of this kind plays a very important role. He noted that whilst 120 languages are spoken by the inhabitants of Vaasa, no less than 20 of these are represented at some level amongst the Vaasa International Talents programme participants.

Amongst other things, Häyry brought up the many reasons for choosing Vaasa as a place to live. Finland has again been ranked the happiest country in the world, and Vaasa has the great ambition to become the happiest city in the country – and, as a result, in the whole world. So, what makes our international talents happy in Vaasa? In order to find that out we asked the students to share their thoughts during the session. You see their answers in the picture.

The second guest speaker was Director Paula Erkkilä, Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce, who gave an overview of the business environment in the Vaasa region. She painted an encouraging picture of the possibilities to find a meaningful job in the region, mentioning for example the existing energy cluster of 160 companies and on-going innovative projects such as Wärtsilä’s Smart Technology Hub. She pointed out that the local job market is, however, much more than engineering: it has been shown that one industry workplace creates one workplace in the service sector, so there is work for many kinds of employees.

The presentations were followed by a discussion. Questions and concerns raised by the international talents included Finnish language requirements by the employers, Covid-19, as well as the specific skills that local employers are looking for. To sum up, the message from both Erkkilä and Häyry was that although employers look for specific competencies, what can take you a long way is the right attitude. Show that you are willing and eager to learn, that you can work with different kinds of people, that you are self-going and take initiative.

Vaasa International Talents seeks employers

Employers in the region: we will be in contact with you as we hope that you are interested in providing our international talents with the opportunity to show what kind of employees they could be. They are just waiting for a chance to connect with you through internships, thesis work, mentoring and other possibilities to visit your companies. The selected students represent the following degree programmes:

• Bachelor of Health Care, Nursing (Novia UAS)
• Master’s Degree Program in General Management (Hanken School of Economics)
• Master’s Degree Program in International Business (University of Vaasa)
• Master’s Degree Program in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research (Åbo Akademi University)
• Project Management, Master of Engineering (VAMK UAS)
• Information Technology, Bachelor of Engineering (VAMK UAS)
• International Business, Bachelor of Business Administration (VAMK UAS)

You are also welcome to contact Project Manager Pia Jünger at pia.junger@novia.fi or 050 478 2005