IMIB Network connected international talents with meaningful career opportunities in Finland

Finding employment in Finland can be challenging for international talents even though there is a high demand for their skills. This challenge was addressed by the Immigrants as Business Mentors project, which aimed to facilitate the employment of international talents. In the project, IMIB network was developed to support the employment of international talents by bringing them together with Finnish companies as well as strengthening the participants’ entrepreneurial competences.

Connecting international talents and Finnish companies

The Business Mentoring model, which was developed in the project, brought together international talents and companies from the Uusimaa region. In the model, companies provided assignments for the project, which international talents carried out in small teams. During the project, 37 organizations from Uusimaa and 125 international talents participated, most of whom were students from the participating universities.

This provided international talents with an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with Finnish companies and working life, while companies gained experience of how the perspectives and expertise of international talents could benefit their operations. The collaboration has led, for example, to employment with the commissioning company, internships, or thesis opportunities.

Participation in the project also strengthened the working-life skills of international talents. As a part of the Business Mentoring model, the IMIB Network career coaches offered the participants personal career coaching, which received positive feedback. In addition, workshops were organized to provide further tools to support career planning.

Creative workshops developed entrepreneurial competences

Entrepreneurship among international talents was supported through creative and interactive workshops. The workshops aimed at helping the participants recognize their own skills and providing them with the competences and tools to start developing their own business ideas. In addition, entrepreneurship stories from entrepreneurs with immigrant backgrounds offered inspiration and information about entrepreneurship in Finland. During the project, over 50 international talents, 10 entrepreneurs and 4 NGOs participated in the entrepreneurship workshops.

Laurea was responsible for the planning and implementation of the entrepreneurship workshops in the project.

“Entrepreneurship is a significant form of employment for international talents in Finland, therefore supporting their entrepreneurial competences is essential for higher education institutions. Based on the feedback we received, former participants have continued developing their business ideas while some have started their own business sometime after the workshops”, said Berenice Rivera-Macias, project manager of the Laurea team.

Supporting international talents continues

Although the Immigrants as Business Mentors project ends in May 2026, promoting the employment of international talents will continue. Currently, a 3AMK course aimed at international students is being planned based on the experiences and lessons learned in the project. The aim is that the course will continue and further develop the work initiated by the IMIB network to facilitate the employment of international students.

The project, which started in 2024 and was co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF+), will conclude at the end of May 2026. The project was coordinated by Haaga-Helia UAS with Laurea UAS and Metropolia UAS acting as project partners.