Alumni activities
Educational institutions’ alumni activities offer graduates a variety of services. The services depend on the educational institution, but professional further education, alumni meetings, and cooperation with working life are common forms of alumni activities. Alumni can also participate in institutions’ activities after graduation, for example, by mentoring students or inviting student groups to workplace visits.
Benefits of alumni activities
– Development of professional competence through continuous learning, further studies and continuing education
– Strengthening working life networks both among alumni and between students and representatives of working life
– Opportunity to participate in the development of education as a working life partner
Join alumni activities
You can register as an alumnus or with a separate form upon graduation. Check out the alumni activities of your educational institution and join us!
Karelia UAS alumni(at)karelia.fi
Riveria https://www.riveria.fi/riveria/alumnitoiminta/
SAKKY https://sakky.fi/fi/koulutukset/alumnitoiminta-maahanmuuttaneille juhani.lantto(at)sakky.fi
Savonia UAS https://www.savonia.fi/en/savonia-uas/explore-savonia/join-the-alumni-network/ alumni(at)savonia.fi
UEF https://www.uef.fi/en/uef-alumni alumni(at)uef.fi
Future Talents Team
Future Talents Team bridges the gap between academia and industry by fostering collaboration between companies and students. The team meets with local employers and presents degree programmes and the competencies of international students. The aim is to achieve many kinds of cooperation: theses, internships, project and part-time work, as well as small case examples for courses.
Collaboration offers the employer
- new, fresh development ideas
- recruiting possibilities
- an opportunity to increase the linguistic and cultural competence of the work community
- an easy way to collaborate with educational institutions
- engagement with higher education, research and innovation
- positive employer visibility
- possibility to implement social responsibility at the local level
Benefits for the students
- network with other students and local employers – a chance to gain more employment opportunities
- get to know Finnish working life, culture and language
- participate in sales and marketing trainings held by an expert
- develop their skills in problem solving, sales and negotiation, project and teamwork
- possibility to gain study credits
Service process
- The student teams can visit or be invited to local companies
- During the visits, the teams and employers discuss cooperation opportunities and agree on the next steps
- The partnership continues, and the student teams monitor the progress as agreed
For more information:
Sanna Jeskanen, sanna.jeskanen@karelia.fi, +358 50 462 2478
Johanna Taavitsainen, johanna.taavitsainen@savonia.fi, +358 44 785 6142
Marko Pietilä, marko.pietila@uef.fi, +358 40 355 3039
Sami Tanskanen, sami.tanskanen@uef.fi, +358 50 355 8857
Cluster cooperation
The regions’ smart specialisation industries have formed several industry clusters. In addition, other well-established consortia in Eastern Finland focus on the needs of different sectors and are often coordinated by regional development companies. Industry clusters create a strong foundation for developing effective cooperation models between companies, public organisations, vocational colleges and higher education institutions. The services offered to the clusters can be tailored to each sector, communications can be targeted, and operations can be directed to the right customer group. This makes the collaboration more impactful and customer-oriented.
The objectives of cluster cooperation are to
- improve recruitment skills in working life
- produce targeted training information for companies
- help students of different levels of education and employers working within the same field to meet each other
Benefits for the customer
Companies and organisations in clusters and industry consortia receive up-to-date and reliable information about international students and their skills. In addition, the degree programmes and fields of study of educational institutions will become better known to the representatives of working life involved in the clusters.
The aim is that the benefits brought by international students become concrete for companies and thus lower the threshold for recruiting international experts. In addition, we produce content related to international experts for cluster- and industry-specific events.
Service process
The services available to employers and the benefits of international experts are highlighted, for example, through case studies in meetings organised by clusters and divisions as well as other events. After this, further measures are planned together, which may affect all or only some of the companies in the sector.
Additional information
Sari Väänänen, sari.vaananen@sakky.fi, +358 44 785 4025
Pauliina Korhonen, pauliina.korhonen@sakky.fi, +358 44 785 3403
Group mentoring programme
The group mentoring programme brings together employers, experts from different fields, and international students (actors). An independent expert or an employer organisation with one or more experts can act as a mentor in the programme. The main role of mentors is to challenge and guide actors to develop their working life and networking skills. The mentoring language is English.
The themes of mentoring meetings can be, for example:
- Professional growth and career development
- Identification and marketing of one’s competence
- Job search skills
- Networking
- Finnish culture and working life
- Getting to know the organisation and industry
- Entrepreneurship and (research) funding
- Well-being at work and time management
Mentoring provides mentors and employer organisations with the following:
- Positive employer visibility and an opportunity to implement social responsibility at the local level
- A chance to get acquainted with the skills of international students and an opportunity to recruit
- New perspectives and innovative ideas
- Up-to-date information on fields of education and the future workforce
- A chance to network and get to know different cultures
- An opportunity to develop coaching, interaction and language skills
As students taking part in the mentoring programme, you will improve your skills in
- job search and getting to know different career options and paths
- developing professional expertise and finding your strengths
- communication and interaction with others
- building professional networks
- developing self-confidence and self-knowledge
Stages of the mentoring programme (November-May)
- Online mentoring (2 h)
- Programme launch event and first online meeting of groups (2 h)
- Meetings with the group (4-5 times recommended)
- Networking event (3 h)
- Programme closing event (3 h)
The key stages of the mentoring process are 2nd and 3rd. The program lasts approximately 20 hours per mentor. Mentoring is not tied to the locality but can be done online. Students choose a suitable mentoring group based on a mentor profile written by the mentor/employer organisation themselves. The mentoring groups agree on the method of conducting the meetings (remote and/or face-to-face meetings). The dates and application periods for the next mentoring programme (November 2025-May 2026) will be published during spring 2025.
Additional information
Marko Pietilä, marko.pietila@uef.fi, +358 40 355 3039
Minna Tarvainen, minna.tarvainen@savonia.fi, +358 44 785 6981
Sanna Jeskanen, sanna.jeskanen@karelia.fi, +358 50 462 2478
Course: Towards Working Life in Eastern Finland
The online course Towards Working Life in Eastern Finland supports international students and recent graduates in becoming more familiar with the trends and practices of working life in Eastern Finland. The course contains self-study materials and resources that students can use to learn more about the local way of working, for example, when preparing for their internship. The course also contains materials and tasks that help identify students’ strengths and competencies concerning the local labour market. The course materials are available in both English and Finnish. The course can be accessed at any time and place using the online DigiCampus platform: https://digicampus.fi/course/view.php?id=5044 Key: MOOC.
What the course has to offer
The course is a MOOC (massively open online course) that aims to build competence, confidence, and comfort (the 3 Cs) in international students living, studying, and working in eastern Finland.
After completing the course, students can:
- Understand some basic concepts of working life in Finland
- Recognise some frameworks involved in Finnish society and culture
- Describe their expertise and strengths concerning working life
- Process and search for information related to the labour market and services that support international students
Some course topics include:
- Working life and welfare society in Finland
- Key features of workplace culture
- Rights and responsibilities of employees and employers
- Generic and transferable skills in modern working life
- The application and recruitment process
- Competence recognition
- Networking
During the course
After registering to the e-learning platform on DigiCampus, students can directly access all modules and course materials. Students can flexibly use the course materials, taking course modules in any order depending on individual needs and interests. Students can also use self-assessment tools, learning tasks and a learning portfolio to explore the themes of working life and identify their strengths and skills. Coursework and learning tasks are not evaluated or accredited at this time.
More information
Sami Tanskanen, sami.tanskanen@uef.fi, +358 50 355 8857
Soile Ruotsalainen, soile.ruotsalainen@uef.fi, +358 50 476 5668
Demonstration of competence: skills passport
Skills passports are made for different fields of study to support and strengthen students’ competence demonstration. The skills passport is a straightforward document that jobseekers use to describe themselves and their skills. This makes it easier for the employer to understand the skills and work experience of the job applicant when applying for a job. In addition to the jobseeker’s assessment, the competence passport includes feedback from vocational teachers and working life.
Competence passports are made for upper secondary-level students, such as care assistants, practical nurses, facility managers, bakers, chefs, waiters, and sheet metal welders. Draft competence passports have also been prepared for university students specialising in expert positions and chemistry.
Benefits for the customer
When looking for a job, immigrants often face challenges due to their lack of language skills. This makes it more difficult to showcase one’s skills and find employment.
Students can use the skills passport
- as an attachment in a job application
- in a job interview
- for replacing CV and job application
- when drafting a CV and job application
The skills passport brings concrete results to the presentation of skills when applying for a job. It also helps the employer find the right person for each job.
Service process
Skills passports are created for different fields together with teachers and representatives of working life. At the final stage of graduation, students fill in a competence passport in their field, in which they evaluate their working life, professional, and language skills with the teacher and write a motivation letter about themselves.
Additional information
Sari Väänänen, sari.vaananen@sakky.fi, +358 44 785 4025
Pauliina Korhonen, pauliina.korhonen@sakky.fi, +358 44 785 3403
Solution-oriented study counselling (ROPO)
The service seeks the best and most efficient way for people from different educational and competence backgrounds to progress and find employment. The persons involved in counselling work at educational institutions in the ROPO team work together to develop measures that would best enable graduating and newly graduated international students to find employment. The counselling uses the study offerings of the student’s educational institution and partner institutions involved in the project. It also cooperates with employers and operators in the employment area.
Solution-oriented study counselling (ROPO) serves international students and employers.
Solution-oriented study counselling offers
- knowledge and skills for a successful job search
- personal guidance also for graduated students
- information about study opportunities from other educational institutions in the project
- contacts and meetings with companies at different types of events
- International job seekers for companies
- opportunities for cooperation for companies with different fields of education and counsellors
Solution-oriented study counselling (ROPO) includes:
- Mapping the personal situation with the educational institution’s supervisor
- Familiarisation with the study offerings of different educational institutions and guidance to postgraduate studies
- Job search workshops and, for example, MOOCs in different fields of education of educational institutions
- Alumni activities of graduating students
- Various recruitment and training events guiding and supporting individual students
- Guidance assistance to students and alumni as the service process progresses
Educational institution students are admitted to the service at the end of their studies. Alumni activities allow students to receive support after graduation. The aim is to make cooperation with companies continuous, flexible, and beneficial for all parties.
Additional information
Juhani Lantto, juhani.lantto@sakky.fi, +358 44 785 3355
Hanna Reinikainen, hanna.reinikainen@uef.fi, +358 44 016 2643
Mervi Keinänen, mervi.keinanen@riveria.fi, +358 50 331 5823
Talent Pool database
We collect information about our international students, including their fields of expertise, previous education, and work experience. This information helps us find talent suitable for employers’ needs as trainees or employees. The information is compiled based on systematically repeated student surveys. Based on the students’ responses, an expanding Talent Pool database has already been formed. The Talent Pool enables targeted meetings between international students and employers.
Utilising the database in practice
The employer can notify the Talent Hub Eastern Finland network of their need for additional resources. Based on the request for information, the Talent Pool database is searched for students with the desired profile. With the students’ consent, they are presented to the employer, who then decides on further actions. If a suitable expert is found among the students, they get the internship, thesis or job they want, and the employer gets a new employee in their work community. Our experts are available throughout the process.
Additional information
Johanna Taavitsainen, johanna.taavitsainen@savonia.fi, +358 44 785 6142
Eini Puhakka, eini.puhakka@savonia.fi, +358 44 785 6825
Marko Pietilä, marko.pietila@uef.fi, +358 40 355 3039
Service model for employers
The service model for employers offers a comprehensive set of services aimed at responding to companies’ recruitment needs and improving the vitality of Eastern Finland. Employers receive information about graduating students and experts applying for internships, theses and project work through the service. The service model will be developed in cooperation with the education, employment and economic development services of counties and municipalities, and it will be targeted especially at small and medium-sized employers.
The service model for employers offers many benefits to employers:
- A well-functioning cooperation network that brings together companies, educational institutions and other service providers in the area
- Up-to-date and reliable information on the international workforce and its utilisation possibilities
- Practical tools and training that facilitate training, recruitment and attachment to the work community
- A better understanding of degree programmes, fields of study and the experts they offer
The employer’s service path often begins with situations where the company has:
- Shortage of labour
- The need to recruit international talent, but this may be hindered by, for example, perceived difficulties in paperwork, language skills problems or occupational safety issues
- A desire to develop export operations or expand operations internationally
The service process proceeds according to an individual service path, where the employer’s needs are first mapped. After that, solutions are built that connect job seekers and employers.
Additional information
Sari Väänänen, sari.vaananen@sakky.fi, +358 044 785 4025
Pauliina Korhonen, pauliina.korhonen@sakky.fi, +358 044 785 3403
Entrepreneurship path for international students
The entrepreneurship path for international students provides comprehensive support for students who want to develop their business idea and start as entrepreneurs. The service includes the following areas:
- Course: The aim of the course is to help students develop realistic and feasible business ideas. In higher education institutions, the course is called Realistic Business Idea in English, and in vocational schools, it is called Realistinen liikeidea selkeällä suomella.
- Personal coaching: Students receive support in developing their business ideas in individual and group coaching.
- Business idea evaluation and development: Students work on the business idea independently and with the support of coaching meetings.
- Creating a contact network: The course coaches support students in growing their contacts and advancing their business ideas.
- Digital community: The goal is to develop a digital community for international budding entrepreneurs. The community provides peer support and networking opportunities.
The course is aimed at those planning to start a business. The digital community is also intended for international students and graduates who have already started their business.
Benefits for students
- Business idea development: The student receives support and guidance in developing the business idea.
- Learning the language of business administration and entrepreneurship: Students learn to use business concepts that facilitate collaboration with business advisors and financiers.
- Networking and strengthening of social capital: The student creates contacts with other entrepreneurs, experts and potential partners.
Service path from the student’s perspective
Course
- Initial interview and orientation: Students attend a kick-off session where they get an overview of the program and objectives.
- Independent work on a business idea: Students work on their own business idea independently and receive guidance and sparring at this stage.
- Coaching meetings: In coaching meetings, students receive feedback and guidance on how to develop their business idea.
- Final examination: Students present their business ideas and demonstrate their competence.
- Letter of recommendation: Successful students receive a letter of recommendation, which can be used, for example, in funding applications.
Digital community
An international student or entrepreneur can join the digital community supported by the project. This gives them opportunities to make online and face-to-face contacts and promote networking with their operating environment and other entrepreneurs.
Additional information
Daniel Bågeberg, daniel.bageberg@karelia.fi, +358 50 324 0290
Riku Jalonen, riku.jalonen@sakky.fi, +358 44 785 8360
Heidi Wilska, heidi.wilska@riveria.fi, +358 50 577 7852
