Career Club Jyväskylä

Career Club Jyväskylä is a programme that focuses on the specific needs and questions of highly educated international job seekers in Finland. For 8 weeks you will

• learn and practise fundamental career development skills,
• receive relevant information and
• interact with other professionals to support your career development.

Various tools with theoretical underpinnings are taught and applied to make your career wishes into concrete plans and actions. The tools that you learn are also applicable to developing any area of your life. 

Career Club Jyväskylä programme is based on the Career Club model created at the City of Espoo, Competence Centre for Highly Educated Immigrants. The “mother” of the Career Club, coordinator Grace Ondo describes the Career Club as “a place where you can take action for yourself”.  Groups have been arranged in Espoo since autumn 2021. The participants’ feedback has been very positive, they all would recommend Career Club to a friend. “The Career Club helped me to find another way see my professional path and how to approach my career in the Finnish labour market”, told one participant. This is the aim of the Career Club Jyväskylä, too.  

Your Career Club Jyväskylä programme is facilitated by Tirre Hentinen, who by her career advisor work in the Expertise Centre and background is familiar with job searching as highly educated professional. Tirre has university degrees and work experience both in natural and humanistic fields.

”This process will require commitment and time, but it will create action towards the goals you set for yourself”, Tirre promises. Our learning approach highlights your agency, self-determination and responsibility in planning and reaching your career goals. The programme combines self-reflective and interactional learning processes, that, if you invest in them, give you tools to develop your career in a goal- and action-directed way. The programme is free of charge.

What Career Club Jyväskylä is not?

This group is not for writing your cv or job applications. However, you will develop skills that enable you to finalize those documents better. Please, check the other activities of the Expertise Centre for support in actual job searching: activities in English or with some support in English, in Finnish or in Russian.

Also, this is not a language course, neither for learning English nor Finnish. The working language of the group is English, so the discussions and assignments will be in English, but you will not receive any feedback from your language skills.

Career Club Jyväskylä has been running since autumn 2022. The feedback from the groups has been positive, with some good suggestions for developing the program.

• All the respondents found the contents as well as the atmosphere and communication in the sessions to be either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.
• 88 % had become ‘greatly’ or 'some' more intentional with their career development.
• 94 % would recommend this group to other unemployed immigrants, 6 % maybe.

This is what the previous participants have said:

“The main thing I gained out of this club was the importance of connections and what are some concrete steps to take to build, develop and expand one’s connections. … It was great also to learn about the Finnish working culture and job prospects. In short, an incredibly rewarding experience!!”

“I think it is a very good idea to gather people looking for employment in one room and tell them how the Finnish job market works and how they could benefit, and also how each participant could help others.”  

“The main advantage of studying in the Club is the opportunity to build a career strategy, expand own skills and understand what steps we need to take in order to improve our career opportunities, or to set new career goals.”  

"Qualified and very friendly organizers, interesting guests and lively discussions - all this makes classes at the Club very productive and useful for further career growth."

"Tirre and Sara, as well as all the invited guests, are true professionals in their field who will become valuable assistants in your career and personal development."

“I recommend this to the people who are really interested to build their career.”  

“Everything I learned I am now applying it to my whole life, not only my professional/working life.”

The Career Club Jyväskylä programme consists of group meetings and home assignments. In addition, you may have individual guidance sessions with our career advisors, or you can participate in suitable “extra-curricular” activities. 

8 group meetings 

• One meeting each week. The meetings are usually 3 hours, one meeting is a longer full-day session. See the details below at Timetable. 
• These meetings form a linear learning and working process both for you and the group. Being absent disturbs that, so you are expected to participate in all the meetings. 
• The meetings take place in person. It is not possible to participate online. 
• Often, we have external guests from various backgrounds visiting our sessions. This can help you gain perspectives on how your competencies relate to the context of employment in Central Finland.  

Home assignments 

• The assignments include self-reflection and concrete actions towards your goals. Completing them will take between 10 minutes and 2 hours each week depending on the assignments and your interests. 
• The assignments are planned as part of the learning and working process, so missing them will decrease what you benefit from the programme. 

Individual guidance 

• If you wish, you can meet the career advisor for individual guidance during the programme or after it. 

Extra-curricular activities 

• Besides the Career Club meetings, you are recommended to join the Expertise Centre’s other activities and events. The career advisors will inform you of these. 
• In addition, there may be other activities/events available supporting the programme’s aims. 

The main contents of the programme 

• Fundamental career development skills of self-reflection, environment mapping and goal setting. 
• Task-focused job applications and job interview skills. 

To qualify as a participant for the Career Club Jyväskylä, you must  

• have studied at least 3 years in higher education (university or university of applied sciences) in Finland or elsewhere  
• be a resident in Jyväskylä region (priority) or in Central-Finland
• know English well enough to participate in the discussions, read the materials and write the assignments.  

In addition, we will consider the following aspects in the selection process:  

• your employment status
• your availability for the meetings  
• your goals and motivation  
• order of application.  
   

Application process  

1. Familiarize yourself with all the information on this web page. If you need further advice, please, contact:
   Tirre Hentinen tel./WhatsApp 050 576 4769 or email tirre.hentinen[at]jyvaskyla.fi (until 19.12.2023)
   Tiina Kurittu tel./WhatsApp 050 5771640 or email tiina.kurittu[at]jyvaskyla.fi 20.12.2023 – 7.1.2024)
   Sara Robinson-Moncada email sara.robinson-moncada[at]jyvaskyla.fi (8.1.-15.1.2024)
2. Fill in the application form online via the link here. The application form is available only during the application period. 
   Apply to the Career Club Jyväskylä (Round 5) 31.1. - 3.4.2024
3. You may receive a phone call from us during or after the application period if we need further information from you.
4. You will receive an answer via e-mail. For round 5, we will notify the applicants at the latest 22.1.2024. 

The meetings take place on Wednesdays at 12 am - 3 pm, except on 20.3. at 9.30 am – 4.30 pm. 

Locations for the sessions are in the centre of Jyväskylä at Asemakatu 4 or Kilpisenkatu 1 D. 

• 31.1.2024
• 7.2.2024
• 14.2.2024
• 21.2.2024
• Week 9 no session – Winter holiday
• 6.3.2024
• 13.3.2024
• 20.3.2024 (9.30-16.30)
• 27.3.2024
• 3.4.2024 

Career Club Jyväskylä has had three rounds between autumn 2022 and spring 2023. 
 

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Facilitators Tirre and Sara with some participants from Round 1 and a visitor.

“Career Club Jyväskylä joins together interesting people from various fields and with multiple competences”, says Tirre Hentinen, the group facilitator. Therefore, the programme focuses on topics relevant to all highly educated jobseekers, no matter their background. “For instance, every round has a full day when we give tips for job interviews and practise them”, Tirre notes. One of the Round 2 participants commented on this day: "The clinic experience was amazing and rich in knowledge and practice. Kiitos."

In addition, Career Club includes visits and visitors. For instance, the Round 2 group visited the Regional Council of Central Finland to network and to learn about the present and the future of Central Finland. The visitors have also enjoyed the Career Club: all of them would recommend others to become our guests!

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"Career clubbers" from the Round 2 at the Regional Council of Central Finland. Photo: Antti Siukola.

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Round 3 group visited, among others, the Crazy Town co-working community.

They also participated on 30.3.2023 in a workshop titled 'International talents for economic growth'. It was organized by JCI Jyväskylä International Talent project. The participants pitched themselves and told about the Career Club. See a video of the event from Youtube: International Talent 3rd Workshop | JCI Jyväskylä.

Adwoa, who participated in the workshop, also wrote us a blog post about the topic. Read it here: Local employer, will you help get the fish into water? Besides addressing the employers, she also gives some tips for international job seekers in the post. In addition to those, she warmly recommeds joining our Career Club:

• I am a beneficiary of this Club's 8 session journey, and I can describe it as one of the best any international job seeker can undertake. Career Club Jyvaskyla does not only embrace international job seekers, but walks them through settling in. Having an inside person give you tips, insights and going the extra mile to take you to organizations and recruitment agencies in the city is a huge way to begin your career development in Jyvaskyla, Finland. For you the international job seeker, all hope is not lost! Seekers never lack, and you can certainly begin your beautiful journey with the Jyvaskyla Expertise Centre for Immigrants.

Two other Career Club participants, Priya and Shashank, wrote about their experiences and tips as international job seekers. Read their stories from our blog:

• Three keys to land a job in Finland: Finnish language, internships and networks
• The job hunting odyssey in Finland