Recruitment services at Laurea prepare students for working life

At Laurea students are taking part in career planning studies. They cover wide range of topics, for example how to study efficiently, how to take care of yourself (stress level, overall well-being), how to create portfolio and also how to apply for jobs, how recognize their competencies and describe those competencies, write a CV. The students learn about preparing for a job interview or video interview, and other job seeking tools. They work in groups and they also do exercises online with their own tutor teacher, who is responsible for the course. 

If a student needs help and support in issues related to his own career he can turn to career counselling. This is a service developed and run by Sanna Eronen, Planning Officer at Career and Recruitment Services. Her aim is to develop career services, which are available for all Laurea’s students and would support and develop students career planning and employability skills. She used to work in HR and has a long experience in recruiting.

“I offer meetings, either individual or in small groups and we focus on working life and on finding one’s own career path. I can help answering questions such as: I don’t know, what I want to do after studies, is this field right for me, what kind of skills I would need for this or that job, etc. Also I can give tips related to CV or job interview or other work related questions”, says Sanna Eronen. She has four hours a week for such consultations and students can book the time online.

At Laurea there is a recruiting portal available for students where they can search for jobs and internships. There are two language versions and the job offers are divided between those that require Finnish language skills and those for English speakers.

“We put an effort in carefully choosing the job and internship advertisements, so that non-Finnish speaking students don’t get frustrated, when they see an interesting ad and in the last sentence they read “fluent Finnish skills”. We do our best to avoid this”, says Eronen.

Workshops and recruitment events

Career and Recruitment Services organize workshops for students in both Finnish and English. Topics of the workshops may vary based on students’ needs and hopes. There have been for example CV workshops, LinkedIn profile workshops or video interview workshops.

“Last autumn many students told me they hope to get some support how recognize their strengths so this spring we will have new workshop called how to recognize your competences”, says Sanna.

Important part of the recruitment services at Laurea are recruitment events. The biggest one is Network to Get Work, this year it is taking place on 5th of February at Leppävaara campus. It is mainly planned for the IT, Business, Restaurant Entrepreneurship, Risk and Security Management as well as Cosmetic Care students.

“This year’s event will be slightly different, because we arrange for example hairdressers and photographers to emphasize the importance of your professional appearance and a good quality photo in your LinkedIn profile and CV”, says Sanna Eronen.

There will be also workshops such as CV Clinic and LinkedIn profile, and of course recruiting companies. All 27 companies taking part in the event have open jobs and internships for students, they offer part-time, full-time or summer jobs.

Because of the challenge with getting a job if you don’t speak Finnish, this year all the companies were asked beforehand if they provide jobs or internships for non-Finnish speakers.

“Although I always recommend to approach also those companies, in which you know Finnish is required, because if you present yourself as an enthusiastic and motivated person, maybe in a future you will create a demand, the company start to think, maybe we need this person”, advices Sanna Eronen. 

Learn more about Network to Get Work and sign up for the event.