Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
Moving to Finland to work, study, or start a business means entering a high-performing job market that is highly connected and often opaque for newcomers. A large portion of positions never appear on job boards: they circulate through referrals, co-optation, and informal discussions. For an expatriate arriving without former high school classmates, shared military service, or an extended family on the ground, the reality is simple: without a network, access to opportunities is severely limited.
This article provides a concrete action plan for expatriates, based on data, studies, and Finnish culture, to build a solid professional network from scratch.
Understanding the Finnish context: a small country, tight networks
To grasp why networking matters so much, you first need to understand the structure of the labor market and Finnish society. The country has about 5.5 million inhabitants, a significant portion of whom are concentrated in a few major urban areas like the Helsinki region, Espoo, Tampere, or Turku. In a country this size, personal and professional spheres overlap easily: classmates, army buddies, student project colleagues, neighbors… many Finns cross paths at multiple points in their lives.
Between 70% and 75% of jobs are filled through informal channels, forming the hidden job market.
For foreigners, the difficulty is twofold: their skills acquired abroad are not always recognized at their true value, and they simply lack that foundation of local relationships cultivated since childhood. Studies show that 40% of international professionals have, at some point, considered leaving Finland due to these obstacles, and nearly half of international students plan to leave after their studies.
Under these circumstances, considering networking as “a plus” would be a mistake: in Finland, it is a structural element of your career, on par with your degree or experience.
Networking culture in Finland: less small talk, a lot of substance
The way networking is done in Finland differs markedly from the more expansive models of some countries. Here, the focus is on quality connections and long-term trust, rather than on collecting business cards. Communication is direct, concise, sometimes blunt to a foreign eye, and silence isn’t an awkward void to fill but a respected moment of reflection.
It’s essential to view networking as a patient process of building mutually beneficial relationships, rather than a hunt for contacts. Avoid asking for a favor immediately, cold-contacting aggressively, or turning every exchange into a sales pitch, as these approaches risk closing doors.
The philosophy guiding most professional interactions can be summed up as: clarity, reliability, modesty. Reputation is built over time, and the slightest inconsistency between what you say and what you do is quickly noticed in a country where everyone knows someone who knows someone.
Why networking is vital for an expatriate in Finland
For an expatriate, entering the Finnish labor market often means starting without local social capital. Recruiters can’t call a former professor or a common boss, colleagues have never heard of you, and no one knows how to interpret your background from a different educational or economic system. In this information vacuum, doubts multiply: are your skills transferable? Do you understand local codes? Will you stay long-term?
To reduce the distance to decision-makers, it’s useful to multiply quality interactions with people already integrated into the professional sphere. Each successful encounter decreases the number of intermediaries between you and a key recruiter, increasing your chances of being recommended, similar to the ‘Bacon number’ principle in social networks.
Another element reinforces the importance of networking: skills recognition and the importance of soft skills. Testimonials from international professionals show that personal qualities—reliability, initiative, communication, teamwork—can count as much as technical certifications. In an environment where trust and consistency are paramount, someone recommended by a respected contact starts with a significant advantage.
Mastering Finnish professional culture to network better
Developing your network in Finland involves adapting to a number of codes, otherwise you risk unintentionally sending negative signals.
Communication: direct, factual, unemotional
Professional conversation is typically short, fact-oriented, and not prone to digressions. Finns may express disagreement without verbal softening, without it being personal hostility. Interrupting someone is frowned upon, talking a lot can breed mistrust, while silence, sometimes lengthy, simply means someone is thinking.
For an expatriate, it’s necessary to adapt by getting straight to the point during a first contact, preparing clear questions, avoiding filling silences with small talk, accepting response times after a presentation, and not perceiving a lack of compliments as rejection.
Time, trust, punctuality
Meetings start on time and end on time. Arriving late without warning immediately undermines your credibility. Similarly, promising a document or a response by a certain date and not delivering damages trust for a long time—a crucial asset in this country where one’s word is still seen as a strong commitment.
Trust cannot be decreed; it is earned through repeated actions: preparing your meetings carefully, keeping your commitments, clearly admitting when you don’t know and coming back later with a documented answer, respecting the confidentiality of exchanges. It is by accumulating this type of signal that you gradually become someone who can be recommended without risk.
Advice for earning professional trust
The work/life boundary
Finland strongly values work-life balance. Overtime is not glorified, professional messages in the evening are rare, and even coffee breaks are seen as genuine breathing space. When it comes to networking, this means respecting these boundaries: avoid sending late-night requests, prioritize meetings during or right after the workday, and don’t force personal exchanges if the other person remains reserved.
Choosing the right playing fields for networking in Finland
With these points in mind, the key question remains: where to meet the right people? In Finland, networking happens as much in explicitly professional settings as in more informal spaces—associations, hobbies, volunteering, cultural events.
To get a clearer picture, it’s helpful to distinguish several main types of venues and mechanisms.
Professional events and communities
Finland, and especially the Helsinki region, hosts an impressive number of conferences, trade shows, forums, and sector-specific communities. Some events have become global benchmarks in their fields.
A quick overview of some major events and key structures illustrates the landscape:
| Event / hub | Type | Value for an expatriate |
|---|---|---|
| Slush | Major startup and investor event in Helsinki | Massive access to tech ecosystem, matchmaking tools, meetings with founders and investors |
| Nordic Business Forum | High-level business conference | Leadership network, highly structured networking platform, leadership and strategy content |
| DEI Nordics Forum | Forum on diversity, equity, inclusion | Identify employers sensitive to inclusion issues, address diversity in the workplace |
| Maria 01 | Startup campus in Helsinki | Access to growing startups, regular events, international community |
| The Shortcut | Non-profit organization for international talent | Free workshops, career coaching, networking events, highly targeted at “newcomers” |
| Hive Helsinki | Collaborative coding school | International tech community, tech talk events, meetings with IT recruiters |
For an expatriate, these spaces play several simultaneous roles: discovering market players, learning industry codes, gaining personal visibility, and sometimes accessing the hidden market if you know how to seize opportunities.
At events like Slush, organizers facilitate professional meetings through dedicated tools, making access to decision-makers less intimidating.
Specific tools allow you to schedule meetings with other participants directly within the event framework.
The structured setting makes contacting profiles like CEOs or investors less intimidating.
Expatriate and international networks
Alongside purely economic events, networks specifically geared toward expatriates play a crucial bridging role. They combine practical mutual aid, socialization, and sometimes links to the professional world.
| Network / community | Focus | Networking value |
|---|---|---|
| InterNations (Helsinki community) | Global expatriate network | Social gatherings, first local contacts, exchange of advice |
| InterProFinland | Association for international professionals | Webinars, workshops on the labor market, mentoring, diploma recognition guide |
| Moniheli | Network of over 100 immigrant associations | Link with specific communities, association projects, local visibility |
| International Women Community, International Working Women of Finland | International women’s communities | Support among women, exchange of information on jobs and careers |
These structures do not replace strictly professional networks, but they constitute valuable springboards for breaking out of isolation, understanding integration challenges, and often discovering other initiatives (mentoring programs, professional clubs, training) through word of mouth.
Professional associations and unions: an underestimated lever
In Finnish professional life, unions and trade associations play a very influential role: negotiating collective agreements, providing legal advice, continuing education, and—a key point for the expatriate—networking activities.
The landscape is dense: engineers, architects, doctors, marketing professionals, environmental experts, agronomists, social workers… nearly every profession has its dedicated structure. Many accept as members people trained abroad, as long as they are practicing or intend to practice in the field.
For an expatriate, joining the association corresponding to your profile can offer several concrete advantages: access to member-only events, sector-specific discussion groups, targeted mailing lists, and career services (CV review, interview preparation). It’s also a way to be symbolically recognized as part of the profession in Finland.
The logic can be summarized as follows:
| Advantage of associations/unions | Effect on network |
|---|---|
| Events, seminars, afterworks | Peer meetings, recruiter contacts |
| Thematic or regional groups | Connection with players in your specialty in a given area |
| Career services | CVs tailored to local expectations, better presentation of your profile |
| Professional legitimacy | Positive signal to employers and colleagues, a mark of seriousness |
Membership is generally voluntary. Some organizations even advise joining a union as early as during studies, which also applies to international students in Finland.
Sector-specific, tech, and startup networks
Finland has built a global reputation in digital technology, video games, and green technologies. Several specialized communities bring together developers, designers, data specialists, digital marketing professionals, and cybersecurity experts.
Participating in these groups, whether through physical meetups, hackathons, or online forums, allows you to quickly enter the heart of the ecosystem, especially in professions where English is already the dominant working language.
LinkedIn: your digital business card in Finland
From a purely practical standpoint, LinkedIn is the pivotal tool for professional networking in Finland. Available statistics show very high penetration of the platform: about one-third of the total population, or nearly half of those aged 15–65, has an account, and recruiters use it extensively to identify candidates and verify backgrounds.
For an expatriate, LinkedIn serves at least three functions: professional showcase, prospecting tool, and network extension. Without a complete, optimized, and active profile, you become largely invisible to Finnish recruiters, especially in technology or service sectors.
Building a profile suited to the Finnish market
The first step is to polish the basics: a professional photo, a clean banner, an eye-catching but sober headline, and a summary (“About”) that tells your story and your added value in a concrete way. Visual and editorial understatement is appreciated: there’s no need to overdo superlatives; it’s better to highlight a few measurable achievements and key skills.
A few points are particularly important in the Finnish context.
– Make your contact information easily accessible, to avoid any barriers to initial contact.
– Incorporate keywords from your sector, especially sought-after technical or methodological skills (programming languages, tools, certifications). Recruiters search heavily via keywords.
– Develop the “Experience” and “Projects” sections to show how your accomplishments abroad translate into concrete value for a Finnish employer.
– Ask for short, targeted recommendations from former colleagues or supervisors—third-party reviews carry weight in an environment where trust is paramount.
Moving from profile to interaction
A profile, no matter how complete, isn’t enough to create a network. It’s activity on the platform that will make the difference: commenting on posts from people in your sector, sharing relevant analyses or feedback, congratulating contacts on a new role, participating in discussions in specialized groups.
Statistics show that most users, including in Finland, read more than they post. To stand out without seeming excessive, it’s recommended to be active intelligently, staying factual and respectful in your posts.
Sending personalized invitations is another essential practice. A brief message explaining why you want to connect—interest in the sector, appreciation for an article, having attended the same event—will be much better received than an anonymous invitation.
Mentoring: a networking accelerator for expatriates
One of the most effective ways to quickly bridge the network gap between expatriates and locals is mentoring. Several Finnish programs explicitly target international talent, foreign students, or skilled newcomers. They pair an experienced professional (often Finnish or already well-integrated) with a mentee seeking to find their way in the Finnish market.
Here are some notable examples:
| Program | Target audience | Duration / frequency | Main objective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vieraasta Veljeksi (Miessakit ry) | Educated male immigrants | 6 months, regular meetings | Support for professional and cultural integration, access to mentor’s network |
| Suomen Mentorit (international version) | Students nearing graduation and graduates seeking a career in Finland | 6 to 12 months, 8–10 meetings | Clarify career plan, understand market codes, expand network |
| Think Career | Unemployed or underemployed international professionals | 5 months, monthly meetings and events | Return to work in one’s field, create a supportive community |
| University mentoring programs (e.g., UEF & partners) | International students and talents linked to a region | Approx. 6 months, monthly group meetings | Discover local market, connect with employers, develop skills |
| FIKA (Luckan) | Newcomers in the capital region | 6 months, 3 monthly meetings | Meet an established person, cultural exchange, sometimes career support |
| Womento | Highly skilled migrant women | ~8 months, monthly meetings | Employment commensurate with qualifications, improve professional Finnish |
Beyond the statistics, these programs all share the same idea: putting a face, a story, and concrete feedback behind a market that otherwise remains very abstract and intimidating. A mentor can explain, for example, how to read a Finnish job ad, which words really matter, how far to push an application if your Finnish isn’t perfect, and which companies are more open to international profiles.
Feedback from participants illustrates the direct effectiveness of these programs: many mentees land a job or an internship. This success is due to various factors such as a direct recommendation, facilitated introductions by the mentor, or an improvement in their job search strategy.
To get the most out of it, it’s essential to adopt an active attitude: prepare for each meeting, propose discussion topics, test advice in the field between sessions, and then come back with more specific questions.
Networking and language: using Finnish as a bridge, not a barrier
The language question inevitably comes up when discussing networking in Finland. Finnish is notoriously difficult, and language proficiency is often presented as an absolute condition for “integration.” The reality is more nuanced.
Some industries—technology, video games, international startups—already operate very largely in English. Globally known companies have stated they do not require Finnish so as not to exclude talent. In these circles, an English-speaking expatriate can build a dynamic network without speaking Finnish, provided they have a strong command of professional English.
In the healthcare, education, public services, retail, social work, and legal sectors, proficiency in Finnish or Swedish is essential for reasons of safety, comprehension, and legal obligations. A network of contacts cannot compensate for an insufficient language level in these fields.
Rather than seeing language as a barrier, it’s useful to view it as a progressive investment to be combined with your network:
In the short term, your network can help you find an internship, a first job, or a volunteer assignment to practice Finnish in a supportive environment. In the medium term, regularly interacting with Finnish colleagues or mentors accelerates learning dramatically, far beyond classes alone. In the long term, a good level of Finnish expands your network to circles like civic associations, local unions, or small businesses that communicate little in English.
Public resources exist for learning the language, from intensive university courses to language cafes, as well as MOOCs and sector-specific materials. The key for an expatriate building a network is not to wait for a hypothetical “perfect level” before starting interactions. Even basic vocabulary, used with humility and humor, is often appreciated.
Building connections in daily life: hobbies, volunteering, neighborhood life
Networking isn’t built solely at big conferences or behind a screen. In Finland, many professional connections arise in ostensibly non-professional settings: sports clubs, associations, school parents, cultural workshops. In a country where associational life is highly developed and supported by a clear legal framework, these spaces represent a tremendous source of encounters.
The association system covers an immense variety of fields—sports, culture, environment, mutual aid, social innovation, etc. A significant portion of the population regularly participates in these activities. Foreigners have the legal right to create, join, and even lead associations, just like Finnish citizens.
Getting involved in an association allows you to practice Finnish or English in a relaxed setting, understand local issues, showcase your skills (organization, communication, project management), and expand your professional network by meeting people in various roles within the Finnish economy.
Parents, in particular, can leverage this dimension through their children’s school and extracurricular activities: games, school-organized events, hobby clubs, etc. Sitting next to another parent in the stands, offering a hand at a school fair, can be a simple starting point for conversations and, later, for broaching professional topics as well.
Concrete strategies for turning a contact into a relationship
Once you start meeting people regularly—through a mentoring program, an event, LinkedIn, or an association—a delicate question arises: how do you move from a simple meeting to a real professional relationship, without being manipulative or awkward?
In Finland, a few practical principles can guide this transition.
First, don’t rush things: the first meeting is first and foremost about getting to know each other, presenting your background, and listening to the other person’s. It’s often better not to immediately ask for a recommendation or an introduction, but rather to ask for advice, feedback on a CV, or a review of a cover letter.
Even when you are the one seeking help, it’s important to know how to give something in return. This can take the form of sharing a relevant article, information about an event that might interest your contact, or useful feedback on a topic you know well (like your local market or international trends). The Finnish professional network works on the principle of mutual benefit, which can sometimes be deferred in time.
Finally, cultivate consistency: a thank-you message after a coffee, a brief update a few weeks later to say how you used a piece of advice, an invitation to a relevant event. These small gestures maintain the connection without being intrusive, especially if you stay concise and factual.
Over time, these efforts start to yield very concrete results. An acquaintance tips you off that a position will be opening up in their department before it’s officially posted. A former mentor recommends your profile to a friend looking for help on a project. An association buddy offers you translation or customer support work in their small business, which becomes your first Finnish experience on your CV.
This is the percentage of unadvertised positions, constituting the ‘hidden job market’ in Finland.
For an expatriate, the challenge is therefore not just about responding to visible job ads, but about increasing the probability that you are the one someone remembers at the right moment. Hence the importance of being present, consistently, in different circles—professional, associational, digital, academic—and of maintaining an image of seriousness, curiosity, and coherence within them.
Incorporating the family and personal dimension
Finally, developing a professional network cannot be completely separated from personal life, especially when moving to Finland with family. Expatriate spouses often face specific difficulties: career breaks, isolation, language barriers. Their social and professional integration also influences the overall stability of the expatriation project.
Several programs, clubs, and groups are specifically designed for spouses or international women. They offer social support, practical information, and sometimes employment-related activities. These spaces serve as an integration buffer, allowing you to accumulate contacts, practice Finnish, and learn how things work locally before approaching the job market more directly.
Children, paradoxically, are also vectors of networking: through schools, hobbies, major local events. Meetings organized by municipalities for newcomers and welcome guides in some cities complete this framework.
By taking all of these dimensions into account—professional, associational, family—an expatriate can gradually replace the feeling of starting from scratch with that of belonging to a living fabric, different as it may be, but where time and persistence eventually pay off.
Conclusion: a marathon, not a sprint
Building a professional network in Finland when arriving from abroad is neither immediate nor linear. The numbers confirm it: many internationals struggle to find their place, some consider leaving, and there is no magic shortcut that can replace the combination of skill, patience, and regular presence.
To develop your professional network in Finland, it’s essential to activate several levers specific to the local context. You need to cultivate trust, where your word carries weight, and rely on the dense associational fabric, often open to foreigners. Participating in targeted mentoring programs, actively using platforms like LinkedIn, and attending world-class events that bring together thousands of players are also key strategies. In this society structured around compact networks, maintaining every relationship can lead to concrete opportunities.
For the expatriate, the key is to change perspective: no longer see the network as a quick accumulation of “useful” contacts, but as relational capital to be built patiently, by being reliable, curious, respectful of local codes, and always seeking to bring something to others. It is this attitude, more than any one-off technique, that ultimately transforms a move to Finland into a genuine professional and personal anchor.
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Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
