Finns like to tell people who come here what kind of country Finland is. The self-image is strong, but not everyone thinks it’s completely true.
When Polina Kopylova came to Finland twenty years ago, at first he thought he had come to Finland.
Over the past year, I’ve talked to dozens of people who moved here for work about what kind of country they came to. Kopylova’s description was the most memorable.
Finland is a country that is talked about in brochures, integration courses and well-intentioned coffee table discussions, Kopylova said.
It is a country inhabited by introverted, meticulous and hard-working people who plan everything six months in advance and are hopeless in small talk. Their advancement in working life depends on their own performance. And as long as the foreigner follows the same path, loves work just as passionately and learns the language, he too will get work just the same.
From Kopylova, Finland sounded machine-like but reliable.
Slowly Kopylova realized that she came to Finland instead of Finland.
Finland is a country where even important things can happen quickly and unexpectedly. People and things are late. Working life is a flexible adjustment. There is little planning, as many things are based on trust, which enables improvisation.
Let’s call someone we know, and voila, things will work out.
And Finland is not a country of lonely introverts, but a very communal one. Many things do not depend on people themselves, but on the community around them. Finlandia and Finland are united by not leaving a friend behind.
“
Konemainen Finland is indeed a Finnish village.
And, in Kopylova’s opinion, most Finns in Finland don’t get jobs by doing things regularly, but by networking, knowing key people and being in the right place at the right time.
And unlike in Finland, in Finland small talk it really works. How many things in Finland are handled by fighting during meeting breaks!
It is particularly important to make yourself known, to tell about your own background. After that, the conversation becomes relaxed and fun. Konemainen Finland is indeed a Finnish village.
Kopylova learned to navigate the Finnish working life and created his own career.
Over the years, he has gotten to know many job applications that came from abroad.
Among them, he often recognizes that jobs are being sought in Finland. Finland is not familiar yet.
The author is the head of HS’s economics and politics department.
#Column #Finland #ended #Finland
