City of Vaasa investing in internationalisation

Tareque Mahmud, who is studying international business, applied for an internship at the City of Vaasa last spring through a joint, city-sponsored Vaasa International Talents programme coordinated by Novia. The place sounded like a perfect starting point to launch a career towards becoming a future marketing manager. Tareque Mahmud received an invitation to work on a task that has proved far more fruitful than expected.

– I have been able to plan projects and events, do interviews and content production, take photos and record video – everything between heaven and earth. In my job, I get to challenge my abilities to come up with bold ideas and see the results of my work; it is very inspiring. I get immense satisfaction when my supervisor accepts an idea that I designed myself. In addition, I get to know the Finnish work culture more closely, which will be incredibly useful in the future. The guiding star in my work is to describe Vaasa as an internationally-friendly city, just as it is, explains Tareque.

Tareque moved to Finland 12 years ago from Dhaka, Bangladesh and studied for a bachelor’s degree in Lappeenranta. He speaks both Finnish and English and is not afraid to start a conversation in the coffee room in Finnish. Tareque decided to move to Vaasa to study for a master’s degree after living in the Helsinki metropolitan area for four years and working as a taxi driver without getting a job in his field of study. He has had a particularly good time in Vaasa, and this was the only place in Finland where there was an opportunity to gain work experience . He has fallen in love with the easy-going nature in Vaasa and was already inspired on his first day at work by the friendliness and kindness of his colleagues, all the way to the mayor.

– We drank coffee in the same room with the mayor who greeted us with a familiar elbow bump during the pandemic. I have been made to feel truly welcome and even appreciated. My inspiring supervisor, like everyone else, has been truly receptive and open-hearted. Instead of feeling like a trainee, I see myself more as one of the team, as if I have been working here for a long time, Mahmud smiles.

The city leadership has its feet on the ground

Studying in the same line is Tareque’s fellow trainee Hagar Elbarbary, an Egyptian who has become a good friend. In addition to their international background, they are united by a passion for communication and an interest in the Finnish labour market.

– I was completely surprised by the modesty of our mayor and how kind he is to everyone, even us trainees. In my country, mayors and municipal leaders tend to be very conservative and don’t communicate with the employees, Elbarbary says.

Hagar and Tareque were also surprised to discover that they were initially competing for the same internship. Fortunately, both were admitted as trainees when it became too difficult to choose one from the other. We both thought only one of us would get a placement. Although we knew about each other from the International Talents programme, we hadn’t met – in fact, Tareque thought Hagar was actually a man until we met here, they recall laughing.

Elbarbary enjoys the opportunities that her internship brings; the networks are expanding and the doors to working life are opening, while also learning Finnish. No one day in the internship has been like another. Still, flexible working methods and learning environments have kept the work interesting and at a constant tempo. Just like Mahmud, she is particularly grateful to her supervisor, from whom she has received support, understanding, encouragement, and expert guidance at every turn.

– They have made sure that the trainees have a comfortable, healthy, interesting work environment and community. And last but not least, as a hardened caffeine addict, I’m particularly happy about the morning coffee break at ten o´clock. In Egypt, besides lunch, there are no breaks during the day. Instead, the work runs at full tilt, laughs Elbarbary.

Elbarbary has worked in Egypt as a journalist on Japanese-language television and studied at the Vaasa unit of Åbo Akademi University for a master’s degree in peace, mediation and conflict research. She is in love with the nature, parks and the sea in Vaasa. Compared to her hometown of Cairo, Vaasa has many smalltown advantages, such as peace and tranquillity.

Increasing the international workforce

In national comparisons, Vaasa is an international city with almost a tenth of the population speaking foreign languages. Vaasa is one of the 15 most international cities in mainland Finland. In the City of Vaasa vision, internationality has been identified as one of the local strengths as well as one of the strategic priorities.

Minna Hermanson, who is working on the international Talent Coastline Employment project, has been working closely with Hagar and Tareque since mid-August, as helping with the project is also on their agenda.

– Among other things, we have worked together on the Match & Catch event organised with the ELY Centre and the TE Office at the end of September. Working with the people there has been very rewarding and inspiring, because they are really knowledgeable and multi-talented, says Hermanson.

The TCE project aims to find ways to answer the burning question on how to get the international experts already here to stay in our region. There is no quick fix to this, and it will require the input of everyone – municipalities and citizens, educational institutions, public and private service providers, companies and organisations. International trainees are a great help here, as they have exactly the perspective on the topic for which knowledge is needed.

Susanna Slotte-Kock, External Relations Officer at the City of Vaasa, and Ritva Mertaniemi, TCE Project Manager, encourage everyone to boldly acquire international trainees as well. It enriches both the work culture and the community, and cooperation brings a lot of new things to all parties.

– There are tremendous benefits from international interns. Not only because we also practice our own language skills, but we can also evaluate our own ways of working and using new aspects. It has been inspiring and positively challenging to work with international trainees, says Slotte-Kock.

Mertaniemi suggests that international trainees can be found easily, for example, by contacting educational institutions directly.

– We found trainees through the Vaasa International Talents project, which is one good channel. You can always be in direct contact with educational institutions, who are constantly looking for internships for students. I am really glad that the city has also provided internship opportunities for international students, as we all know that an increasing number of future actors will be from abroad. People who come here to study should be kept and nurtured. I am particularly pleased that Tareque and Hagar are trainees in the city. They are a great working couple and nice colleagues, says Mertaniemi enthusiastically.