Digital job search guide for international degree students for Edunation Oy

The thesis was commissioned by Edunation Oy. It is a start-up company operating in Tampere in education field. Their main services include helping international students come to Finland and obtain a degree from a Finnish higher education institution. International talents come to study in Finland, however many report experiencing difficulties finding work. The commissioner wanted to expand their services to include assistance with employment related matters. For this purpose, they requested a digital job search guide to meet the needs of their customers. For the theoretical framework, author familiarized with literature, previous research, journals and articles about international talents’ job search and employment in Finland. Consequently, author used mixed method to gather data for the purpose of the research. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a questionnaire and interviews. The target group for the survey were international degree students and graduates. For the interviews, author chose specialists in the field of international student migration and education in Finland. The research examined how international talents perceive job search in Finland. Specialist interviews supported the research. Information was gathered on job search platforms, work culture differences, difficulties, assisting factors and overall experiences about job search in Finland. The findings indicate that international talents should be educated and assisted more in their job search efforts, for instance due to cultural differences. International talents need to acquire adequate job search skills and familiarize with the requirements and nature of labor market in Finland. When it comes to job search platforms, target group preferred and utilized mostly social media. What is more, it was researched that recruitment culture and practices in Finland influence international talents job search efforts. As a result of the thesis research, author created a digital job search guide for international degree students for the commissioner. The data collected, commissioner’s minimum requirements and authors interpretation were utilized when creating the content of the guide. Due to the changing nature of job markets, the guide needs to be updated frequently to remain accurate and relevant