For many expats in Oulu the year has started off with a major New Year’s resolution, namely to do everything possible to find a job!

The question is of course; how do you find a job if the understanding of Finnish is limited and you just learned to say “kiitos” to the chap behind the counter, who looks at you curiously as he returns your ID card when you pay for your groceries?

It’s overcast and the darkness has set in on January 13, when a group of 17 job seekers and people interested in the topic, pop in at the premises at Sepänkatu to discuss recruitment problems and possibilities in Oulu. The meeting is organised by The Seven, a spokes group on foreigner issues, the Red Cross and Oulu Expat City. “We hope for creative ideas,” says Dasse Bohui from Ivory Coast softly. “We´d like to increase the chances of finding work ads Miriam Attias from the Finnish Red Cross.

People from different nationalities, between the age of 25-53, men, women, white, black, noisy and quiet, tall and small with different languages and different concepts of time enter the room somewhere between 15.45 and 16.15. At first sight, it seems, they´ve nothing in common. However, after a cup of coffee and an introduction round it becomes clear there are commonalities. All have at least a university degree and all are committed to improving the employment possibilities for foreigners in Oulu.

Some of them, like Joe from the US have had jobs now and then or there´s people like Andy, who lost their job during the lay-off wave that started with the economical recession sometime ago. Others, mainly foreign exchange and degrees students are looking for a part time work to be able to pay their bills or just to save money for the flight back home during the holidays.

A staggering 8.7% unemployment for Finland compared to Holland 3.7%, Austria 4.7 % or Slovenia 6.2% in 2009 according to data from the European Union Website. At the other end of the spectrum countries like Spain 19.3% and Latvia 20.9% have the highest unemployment rate in Europe. The latest numbers from the EU website forecasts that the unemployment rate in Finland will rise to 10.9% this year.

Prospects for the employment in the Oulu region are not optimistic. I call Mrs Parhainkangas from the Regional Employment Centre and ask for local statistics. The latest numbers for the unemployment rate in “Pohjois Pohjanmaa” are 12%, she says.

“For foreigners in the City of Oulu the numbers are higher, somewhere around 37%” says Dr. Mannan from Bangladesh “In the region are about 1300 foreigners looking for work.”

“The problem with these numbers is always, that they are a bit skewed,” says Emmanuel, a Pakistani software developer, when we discuss the unemployment rate. In Finland, for instance, people who go to courses organised by the regional employment centre aren’t counted as unemployed. “But they aren´t employed either.”

“Were you aware of the high unemployment rate before you arrived?” I ask, remembering my own optimistic thoughts about finding work when I came to Finland. There’s an unanimous NO in the room. “I never looked it up,” says dark-haired social worker Dila stirring her coffee. “I wish I had.”

“What services do you need to assist you with finding work?” is one of the questions prepared by “the Seven.” A group of five persons sit apart to discuss the options. The University should offer career services or at least point you in the right direction for part time work,” they claim. “It would be great if the city would advertise summer jobs in English on their website” they add.

Another group discusses how and by whom the employment of foreigners should be promoted.  “Efficient coordination!” they write in red fat letters on a poster. “We think city authorities should coordinate and employ foreigners to take care of the promotion of employment says French Elise shyly after she´s been encouraged to share her thoughts with the rest.

“The Finnish language is a huge barrier towards getting a job,” says Muhammad, a Pakistani graphic designer while he looks around for approval. “It’s good that you understand the necessity to learn some Finnish” comments Marguerite from France.

“Becoming fluent in Finnish doesn´t help one bit,” replies Brent an American event manager, reluctantly.

The discussion becomes lively with personal stories and experiences.

“I applied for a job at the International school but they told me they only take English native speakers,” says qualified Nigerian schoolteacher Lucia during the meeting.

“I’m desperately in need of a part time job for my stay in Finland. I have a financial crisis in my hands right now,” writes an expat from Africa.

“I was hoping for a cleaning job with a well-known local outfit, in Technology Park” states British software engineer Andy. “Why? Chance to do a bit of networking. See a bloke struggling with a spectrum analyzer, I drop my mop and bucket and explain how to do it. Gets noticed…”he dreams on.

Being jobless is one thing but being a jobless expat can be daunting and the frustrations are clear as I realize listening to the stories. I know from my own experience how unemployment can eat away your self-esteem. Lack of language skills, networks and knowledge about local, administrative issues become big issues in a foreign country.

Sometimes, I meet newcomers who think they can make a quick score on the local job market. After a while they tell me, with frustration that Finnish is a big hurdle and that doors stay closed if you don´t speak it. “And tiny free-lance jobs are non-existent,” they complain. For those newcomers who think you can compare Oulu with some other European cities where at least you can make money by cleaning, baby sitting, dish washing, or mail delivery jobs, the stay in Oulu becomes an unexpected financial nightmare, I know.

Two hours later we round the meeting up with a better understanding of the needs, a new network and the agreement to stay in touch and work together on a decent plan to increase the employment possibilities for foreigners.

After the meeting I go back to my office and read the posters. “Lacking information, no network or practical support and the lack of experience of Finnish employers in working with foreigners are typical recruitment problems”, I read.

I stick it to the wall in my office and read another poster: Help from Recruitment agencies, an online service in English and a job fair, it says in firm handwriting.

I look at the posters, try to prioritize the points and think of possible solutions for the 1300 unemployed foreigners in “Pohjois Pohjanmaa”. Start with something simple and controllable I say to myself. The only benefit of being unemployed is that it gives you time to build a network. I decide to put “networking” on top of the list before I move on to the next item.