How welcome international students are to build careers in the countries they study in can be a deciding factor of where to apply in the first place. Jonna Söderholm is the Head of External Relations, including Corporate Relations and Career Services, at Aalto University School of Business and explores how foreign students build careers in Finland: 

When transitioning from higher education to full-time employment, international students bring different perspectives, cultures, and experiences to the table. Research shows that hiring these individuals sharpens a company’s competitive edge and boosts its success, both in foreign markets and increasingly cosmopolitan domestic ones.

At Aalto University School of Business, we put a great deal of effort into encouraging international graduates to stay on and start their careers in Finland. Efforts to grow the national economy are hindered by an ageing population, low levels of immigration, and a shrinking talent pool. We need more experts in areas like the tech sector, and international students could be an important part of the solution.

“Our programmes receive a large number of talented students from around the world every year. As an internationally visible high-quality business school, we have a special opportunity to attract future experts to Finland and thus also support Finnish society,” says Timo Korkeamäki, the Dean of Aalto University School of Business.

The total number of applications to the School of Business’s two English-language Bachelor’s programmes (Economics and International Business) rose by 20 percent this year. Of all the students currently on our Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, around 10 percent come from abroad to study here. Our aim is to increase our intake of both Finnish and international students alike, in line with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s objectives.

Of course, attracting people to come and study in Finland is one thing, and retaining them after they graduate is another. As a country, we have much to offer young professionals: Finland ranks first in the 2023 World Happiness Report and second in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Index.

However, international graduates can run into hurdles when it comes to finding work and building a life after their studies. One obstacle is the language barrier; a second is the legal restrictions placed on the limited working hours for foreign, non-EU degree students.

Both factors are identified by Wen-Hui Tu, who works as an App Store Optimisation Specialist at Netflix. Originally from Taiwan, Wen-Hui started a Master’s in Management and International Business programme at Aalto University School of Business in 2015. More than five years later, she still works in Helsinki, just 16 kilometres from Espoo, where the Aalto campus is located.

“Luckily, Aalto University provided plenty of channels for us for job searching. I started my first part-time job as a project coordinator in Arena Center for researching the sports industry and understanding the potential market in China, to which I was able to apply the theoretical models I had learnt in School to practical cases,” she says.

“At the end of my studies, through my contacts, I got to know a Finnish company called Alshain Oy, which offers engineering support services for high-tech industry. I utilised the ‘Foreign Degree Student’s Internship Support Program for Internships in Finland’ to grab the chance to apply and work for this company as a summer trainee.”

The School of Business has been working with large companies for a long time, but there is still a massive untapped potential for small and medium-sized firms to start hiring international students. We are currently collaborating with, for example, the Finnish Business School Graduates, a central organisation comprised of 25 regional associations and 15 student societies, to help international students get a foot in the door at Finnish companies as interns.

Norbert Juhász studied on the MSc in International Business and CEMS MIM programmes at Aalto University School of Business between 2010-2013. In addition to his current occupation as a Senior Manager, KAM Analytics and Controlling, at Finnish engineering company KONE, he keeps close ties to the School of Business as a member of the Alumni Advisory Board.

“I am very happy that my background was seen valuable for the purpose to contribute to the development of the School of Business this way. Being an alumnus means being part of a community and being part of a shared history with that community. It is a relation that connects to the base definition of who I am and how I have become that person,” he says.

Despite the greater opportunities available to native Finnish students, he believes that the CEMS Business Project provided him with practical skills that laid the groundwork for him to become a trainee at KONE, where he stayed for four and a half years. After that, he moved on to work as a Business Intelligence Manager at Fiskars Group, one of the oldest businesses still operating in Finland. A couple of years ago he returned to work for KONE.

The benefits that hiring international students brings to companies, and the net benefit of keeping young talent in Finland on society, is a compelling argument in and of itself. But SMEs, non-profit organisations, and state organisations can also apply for a subsidy from the School of Business for the salary costs of an international student intern, if needed. In addition to this financial support, the Alumni Advisory Board is looking into what alumni can do to help with the integration of foreign students into Finnish society.  

We thoroughly encourage Finnish businesses to help minimise the obstacles discouraging some international students from continuing to live and work here after completing their studies. It is important to consider, for example, if certain roles can be filled by young professionals with limited knowledge of the language. They bring with them a fresh outlook that will help our firms continue to excel both internationally and at home.