Career Day, taking place on 4 November from 13.00 to 16.00 at City Hall, provides an opportunity for jobseekers to network with others, meet different employers and get support for their job search. The event will be held in Swedish and English.
“Career Day is a great opportunity to network, improve your job search and get valuable advice. You can get practical help at the CV workshop, for example,” said Jens-Peter Cavonius from Helsinki Employment Services.
Career Day was first organised by the Swedish Adult Education Centre (Arbis), in 2022. Since then, Helsinki Employment Services and the Swedish Adult Education Centre have shared responsibility for coordinating the event. The event is now organised by the Swedish Adult Education Centre, Luckan Integration, Prakticum Vocational College, Arcada University of Applied Sciences and Helsinki Employment Services. Since Career Day was first held, the organisers have worked to make it more welcoming and create more opportunities for jobseekers, employers and organisations supporting integration and employment to meet.
This year, the programme includes a CV workshop that offers professional feedback on CVs, an elevator pitch workshop, a possibility to take CV photos, and advice for those interested in starting their own business. New this year is the Swedish Week language café, featuring a live guitar performance by the artist Yunjia Liu.
Integration in Swedish can open doors to employment
Career Day highlights the value of speaking more than one language in working life and creates opportunities for people to connect across language barriers.
“Swedish and Finnish language learners who speak several languages have immense potential. Amidst these challenging economic times, more employers should recognise the promise of people who are multilingual. I hope Career Day can help make that happen,” said Cavonius.
In Helsinki, people who have recently arrived in Finland can choose to integrate in either Finnish or Swedish. Those who choose Swedish have access to integration training, guidance and services in the Swedish language, as well as support to help them progress to further studies or employment.
The integration pathway in Swedish relies on cooperation between several education providers, organisations, employers and city services. The Swedish Adult Education Centre, Luckan Integration, Prakticum Vocational College, Arcada University of Applied Sciences and Helsinki Employment Services are among the organisations working to improve opportunities for people to integrate and build their careers in Swedish.
For many participants, building connections with employers is an important part of the integration process. This is why Career Day is held: it brings the city's employment services, education providers and integration organisations together to create opportunities for jobseekers and employers to meet.
More people should have the opportunity to integrate in Swedish
The Helsinki City Strategy 2025–2029: 'A Helsinki we can be proud of' makes integration in Swedish a priority. According to the strategy, the city aims to create an integration pathway and structures that will enable significantly more people than today to integrate in Swedish.
Integration in Swedish is also a national goal supported by the government. The Government Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s cabinet states that integration into Finnish society must be possible in both national languages. Authorities should provide clearer information about the option of integrating in Swedish, and new arrivals to the country should be able to choose in which language they would like to conduct their integration. The aim is for around 5–10 per cent of people who are integrating into Finnish society to do so in Swedish.
“Swedish is Finland’s second national language, but it is often overlooked in integration services. That is why the statements in the Helsinki City Strategy and the Government Programme are so important. There are integration services available in Swedish, and for some new arrivals, integrating in Swedish may be a natural choice,” says Cavonius.
Cavonius welcomes the fact that the event coincides with Swedish Week, as it highlights the important role Swedish plays as a language of integration and education in bilingual Helsinki.
All interested parties are welcome to round off the day at an after-party that evening, from 17.30 to 20.00. The event 'Open Living Room goes Svenska dagen' at Luckan (Yrjönkatu 27) offers a chance to mingle in Swedish, activities for children, great tips on Finland-Swedish culture and alcohol-free sparkling wine and snacks.
Career Day
Time: 4 November 13.00–16.00
Location: Helsinki City Hall, Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13
Languages: Swedish and English
Participation: free of charge
Join us to build new connections and improve your job search.