Background of the project

International talents may face challenges in finding employment in Finland, and on the other hand, skills shortage can slow down the development and growth of companies. The project solved these challenges by facilitating the employment of international talents in Finland. International students and SIMHE customers were the main target group of the project.

Companies operating in Uusimaa also benefited from the project. In the Business Mentoring model, companies met international talents who brought new perspectives into developing the business. Moreover, the project raised awareness about the benefits of recruiting international talents and influenced attitudes affecting the recruiting decisions of companies.

The Immigrants as Business Mentors project was coordinated by Haaga-Helia UAS with Laurea UAS and Metropolia UAS acting as project partners. The project was co-funded by the European social fund (ESF+). In the project, Laurea was responsible for implementing the entrepreneurship path.

The IMIB Network was developed by involving experts and lecturers from the participating UAS, international students and SIMHE customers as well as companies from various sectors operating in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Objectives and measures

The project strengthened the career opportunities of the target group in the following ways:

• In the Business Mentoring model developed by the IMIB network, international students got acquainted with companies operating in Uusimaa. Supported by career coaches from the participating UAS, small teams of international talents worked on assignments defined by the companies. This gave the participants a great opportunity to showcase their skills and competences to the companies and to learn more about the Finnish working life.

• The creative and interactive Entrepreneurship Workshops strengthened the entrepreneurship competences of the participants. Entrepreneurship is an important form of work for international talents, but having an entrepreneurial mindset can boost other career opportunities as well.

• In the Career Coaching workshops, international talents were able to strengthen their job searching skills in Finland and learn more about how to benefit from their international background when searching for work. 

• The International talents, flourishing businesses -workshops provided a great opportunity for companies and international talents to learn and discuss about diversity and internationalization and share good practices.