My internship is taking place in the department of International Affairs, which is structurally related to the city Development department. I graduated from Seinajoki University of Applied Science and have a master’s degree in international business management, so the internship place is suitable to me well. My work experience in Ukraine was related to government agencies only from the consumer’s side of city services, so this is a new professional field for me – be inside the city system!
The internship place located in the center of the city, recently almost all city departments moved to this building, so most of the departments and services involved in the functioning and development of the city located in one place.
Also, next to my internship’s location are the main attractions of the Seinäjoki city, which make it recognizable. It is very exciting and pleasant to see it every day and get an esthetic pleasure!
The internship began with arranging my workplace: setting up access to equipment and other programs/systems necessary for my activities.
New Finnish words and terms previously unfamiliar to me were already actively used around me at this stage, allowing me to immediately begin to practically apply my language skills.
Jaana, my supervisor, was very kind and made a short tour of the city administration’s main building for me. I saw where the main departments of the city administration are located, where meetings and other important events for managing the city are held. I was also introduced to the staff.
At the next stage of my internship, in addition to performing my practical work tasks, I also attended weekly meetings of the Development department, where everyone reported their current project and strategic development issues. It was very interesting and useful to listen this information both for the practical use of specialized Finnish vocabulary and from a professional point of view.
In conclusion, I would like to say that to achieve the best results during your job search, you need to constantly improve yourself, improve your language and professional skills – it will increase your competitiveness as a job seeker! Look for a job and look for an internship at the same time!
It helps you:
- get to know working life in Finland better
- to learn the language in a working environment
- to integrate into Finnish society
When you are not in your home country, it is very important to understand and feel your capabilities, you need to combine your experience, goals and ambitions with the current situation. It is significant to find a state of comfort in a new environment!
Katja S., Trainee