Studies, Jobs and Career options in Finland

Dear friend,
I came accross your site and found it to be very helpful for Nepalese students like me who are planning to study in Finland. I personally have been searching information like in your site from many days. I have applies in following collages:

1. Turku UAS, Turku, International Business Degree Programme in International Business
2. Metropolia UAS, Technology Espoo Degree Programme in Information Technology
3. Arcada Degree Programme in International Business
4. Vaasa UAS, Technology, IT Degree Programme in Information Technology

Even if i have applied for IT i am planning to study International Business.
So please tell me (if you know) what sorts of questions are asked in the
entrance examination of International Business and from which level course do we have to
prepare. Does the collage provide us syllabus to prepeare if asked for?

I am not sure which level have you applied to. But, after reading your mail, I felt you are talking about Bachelor level. I got confused about the level since some of those colleges also offer Master's degree in both IT and International Business.

First thing, if you prefer to study International Business, why did you apply to Information Technology? Anyway, you can change them later however some colleges do not allow the change, so let's hope the college in which you will be accepted would allow to change it later. But remember, the change would occur only after completion of some minimal credits on the same course in which you are accepted. It means, you need to come on IT itself and study for some period and then only you would be eligible to change the program. However, during that study period as well, you might be able to study courses that are relevant and useful for International Business as well though it totally depends upon the college itself whether they have such flexible course structure or not.

About the entrance question structure, don't get afraid. Its bit easier as I had mentioned on one of my previous blog. College may provide you a set of sample questions if you ask. But, some colleges does not provide them. The better solution might be, you go and consult with Finnish Embassy in Bishal Nagar, they would certainly help something on this matter.

And regarding Job few days back a guy I met told me to take Italian cook training so that it will be easy to get job in europe (currently he is in Denmark).

Definitely some sort of trainings would be positive point to stand in front while searching for jobs. But, I don't think the Italian cook training is really useful in case of Finland. The only training I would recommend you to have is Finnish Language Training. If you know Finnish, that is really a great advantage for you. In addition to that, any kind of training might be useful. In case of cook trainings, Finnish people and restaurants give preference to the one which have cook degree rather than just a training.

Are people frequently rejected by Finnish Embassy?

We hardly hear rejections from Finnish Embassy. Mostly, Tourist visas are rejected. I have heard only two cases of student visa rejection yet. And, both of them due to the services obtained from Consultancy. As I wrote on some earlier blog, Finnish government is giving you an opportunity to study Free of Cost and they really hate those who pays more than a lakh amount to consultancy for doing nothing. So, visas are rejected if they come to know that you are taking help from a consultancy by paying them a large amount. That is why, even consultancy people use convince their students that not to say that they applied through consultancy during interview.

Which of the above place is best for nepali student?

It depends upon your need. If study is your priority and you have enough funds to finance your studies, you can come to any place of your choice. But, if you need to have job during your studies even for your survival cost, only Helsinki is undoubtedly good. Other cities are really poor in terms of job opportunities. You need to think twice before coming to other cities if job is necessary for you. If I need to sort out your list of colleges, let's pray to god for admission in Espoo since Espoo is a part of greater Helsinki. Other than that, Turku might be bit good, but again; think twice before deciding.

What is the scope of International Business?

Ya, its good. But, working in Business field actively requires adaptation to Finnish Language, Culture and Civilization structure. So, you need to work hard and give optimum input to studies, if you want to search for a career in Finland for this field. But, I do not mean to scare you. Education in Finland is comparatively easier than Nepal but Finnish Education demands your work and genuine studies. So, if you really want to study, its easy. If you want to get it passed, its really difficult.

Do we get credit transfers to other Universities of Finland and other countries from there?

It depends. If you come to scholarship, no transfer would be available. You need to complete same course on the same college. If you come to normal admission, you might be able to transfer to other colleges but the transfer process is not much easier. Since your list of colleges contain only polytechnics, you might not be able to transfer to universities in between your degree however you degree is equally equivalent to Bachelor's Degree if you complete it.

What are the things that we need to take care of while preparing
for Visa?

First, you concentrate admission. If you get admission, it means you are almost in Finland now. Visa documents require your Bank statement showing that you have enough balance on your bank account at least equivalent to 6000 Euro, your acceptance letter from college, your recent academic certificates, health insurance (almost every life insurance company of Nepal offers this insurance), passport, photos and filled visa application form. Finnish visa document does NOT require Property Valuation, Income Statement or any kind of such other documents.

Does time gap matters?

Of course, for the admission, the time matters. The university really tries to find the answers from your document how are you managing your times. If you are applying for Bachelor degree and have a long time gap, it might be a negative point for you however you can fill that gap by any kind of job involvement. If you are applying for Master's degree and you have a long time gap, you must be able to justify how this gap utilized. And, if you show the job during that period, show it related to the studies or the subject which you are applying for. It really makes a difference and they would be happy to see that you are a working professional on the same field. It would be a good positive impression over them.

What is the total cost till we reach there excluding 6000 Euros that we need to take there?

It might be a most difficult question. It all depends upon how much luxurious you are. Except 6000 Euro draft, count 50000 NRS for shopping, another 60000 NRS for Plane ticket and average 1500 Euro of backup amount, if you do not wish to expense from that 6000 Euro draft. So, if you are taking 6000 Euro for expending here completely or partially, you can exclude that backup amount. But, if you wish to return completely that amount back, I would recommend you walk out with minimum 1500 Euro of backup amount if you are coming to Helsinki and minimum 2500 Euro backup if you are coming to other cities except Helsinki. In average, you can survive here with 300 Euro per month. So, this 1500 would make you about 4 months of expense and 300 extra for starting settlement amount including various payable subjects on colleges.

Do not hesitate to write me on nepalfinland@gmail.com if you have any further queries.

Confusion in application process

Dear friend,

I have been reading your previous blogs and one point stuck me , On your earlier blogs you had written that:-

"The process of applying may differ college by college. In general, you will apply online. Then, they send you PDF of your filled form that you filled during applying online on your mail. So, you print that PDF file, sign it and post it to college by mail along with the photocopies of transcript of your +2, character certificate and passport."

What is a PDF file? Do I need to print it out and send it along with my attested documents?

Yes, in most of the case, when you fill your form, they will mail you back one document on email containing all the informations that you filled during filling online application. So, if they send you an attachment file immediately after you fill online application, it means, you are suppose to print it, sign it and sent them by postal mail or courier along with your attested documents. However it might not imply to all of the colleges. Some colleges process only with the help of filled online application. You need not to sent them printed copy. So, you need to read the application page of the their college website or consult with international office of the college by email to confirm whether the particular one college which you applied need printed copies or not.

PDF file is a file format designed for viewing or reading purpose and have extension of .pdf. It opens with Acrobat Reader application.

Entrance Exam for Bachelor Level in Finland

I have applied for Information Technology but I heard the entrance exam for IT and engineering are pretty tough and very different from Nepali course, is it so? Moreover, i have also heard that one needs to score around 75-80 to even stand a chance of being accepted in major cities and only some nepalese do make it pass through the entrance exam. Are these things really true?

It is very normal to hear such hoax when you are applying for Finland. And, it is also true that when you are applying you think that everything you heard might be true. But, don't be afraid, don't scare from Entrance test. Just work hard during preparation and do your best on exam.

Entrance for Information Technology and Engineering is really easy if you are good on mathematics and science. You just focus on courses of +2 or I. Sc. They are definitely tough for you if have not studied properly during your +2 or I. Sc. and want to escape out of Nepal just to avoid tough studies. But, if you are at least average student during your Intermediate degree, Entrance exam is not a big deal for you.

It is true that only few Nepalese have succeeded to get admission on major city like Helsinki on Computer Science and Engineering compared to other International students like Chinese and Indians. But I don't think, it is because of less score in Entrance exam. Remember, you are competing worldwide with all those Chinese, Indians and German to get admission. So, it is natural that the number of acceptance is not high as other countries. But, it does not mean that only lucky or exceptional students make it success. There are a large number of Nepalese living in Helsinki that proves that the acceptance is not as scary as you had mentioned on your mail.

The number of acceptance looks less in Finland it is because, you are being familiar with large numbers of acceptance in Australia, UK, USA and Canada. When we hear that there are thousands of Nepalese in USA and Australia and hear that there are hundreds of Nepalese in Finland, definitely the number sounds less. But, remember one major fact, Finland is inviting you to study on the price of Finland Government. Education is free, it means government is funding for your studies. But, when you go to USA and Australia, they are evaluating you whether you can pay their fee or not. You need to prove yourself that you are able to pay them fee in Dollars. Education is business for them while it is investment for Finnish. So, don't aspect to get acceptance easily as you get from USA, Australia and UK. But, it is not hard to get admission if you are hard working and loyal student.

Jobs and Tax in Finland

Thanx for that handy information. So if we can go to Helsinki what is min-max /hr salary even if we get a job, also could you mention if any tax imposed on it? Also does our chances of getting a job improve if we have some formal Finnish language under our belt?

Thanks for reading the blog.

If you go to Helsinki during summer, you can work as much as you can. About, how much you can earn per hour, it depends upon the job. If you get a good job like in office, Posti ( Finnish Postal Service) or Nokia or some corporate houses, you will get very good amount ranging from 800 to 1200 Euro at the beginning as student status and once you complete your degree the starting salary might be 1500 to 2500 Euro per month. However, don't think that its hard and fast salary range, depending upon the company rule, your negotiation skills and the kind of job, the salary might be less or more than the above one. Of course, you also need to pay taxes as well. The tax differs in each individual city. So, make a perception that you will be paying average 20% income tax on your income. However, you may need to pay only 15% or maximum 35% depending upon various scenarios.

Some south asian students also prefer to work on cash. It means the employer will pay them on cash rather than bank transfer. They prefer to do so to avoid tax. Some students search for cash jobs to work illegally. Illegal, since they are permitted to work only for 25 hours, but they want to work more. So, they search for cash jobs rather than official jobs since it hides them from the Finland Authorities. They work and get paid on cash, it means there won't be involvement of any Bank Transaction which could assist and prove them working illegally. So, working cash is a short cut way for them. But, they are illegal. If you work this way and get caught, you will loose your student status and might also be deported back to Nepal.

If you learn Finnish language, that is really a great advantage to get jobs in Finland. If you learn Finnish, the probability of getting job doubles. So, I recommend everyone coming to Finland to get fluency in Finnish before coming here.

Application Process for Bachelor Level education in Finland

Dearest Friend,
Thank you for your information whatever you gave in your website. I got more advantage by that site.
I am also planning to come there for study in Information Technology, especially computer science or software engineer or graphic designer. I tried to find the easy informations and application process for autumn streem.
Dear Friend, I hope you will present as more as informations along with necessary requirements for the bachelor level.
I will be grateful to read your new blog.

My dearest friend, thank you very much for writing to me. I am really happy to know that my blog helped you a lot. I started this blog with the same objective, since I know that, how much I struggled when I was searching for information related to Finland when I applied.

First of all I would like to make you clear that Finland follows only one Academic Calender during a year. It means, there will be one intake per year only. There is no Autumn or Spring or Fall intake. Finland opens the application in December, Application period ends on first week of February, there will be entrance exam for Bachelor Level in April, the result of Admission will be announced in Jun-Jul and study begins at the end of August. Some colleges or polytechniqes also open application for January sessions, but they are focused mostly to exchange students. Degree seeking means who want to come here for Bachelor or master levels and want to complete the entire level on same college. Exchange students come only for one semester and return back to complete their study on the same college from which they come from.

Some colleges or polytechniqes take new degree seeking students on January intake as well, but the number intake are very few. So, its always safe to apply for August intake.

If you are coming for Bachelor Level, Finland encourages you to attend on a Entrance exam to be held during April each year in Kathmandu. If you are applying for Bachelor Level, I would suggest you following simple steps:

1. Collect your Trancript of +2 and make Passport. You need passport to apply to college. So, you must have made it by the end of December to January.

2. Search colleges and program of your interest from college sites. The list of entire colleges available in Finland are available on my previous blogs http://www.nepalfinland.com/2007/10/polytechnics-in-finland.html and http://www.nepalfinland.com/2007/10/universities-in-finland.html. The website of CIMO contains another very simple and handy tool to search for colleges and program of your interest in http://finland.cimo.fi/studying/international_study_programmes.html

3. Finlalize where you want to apply, sort the list by the mid of January.

4. There is joint application system for Bachelor level. You can visit https://www.admissions.fi/ to apply for maximum of four colleges at a time with a single document. So, it might be the best way to apply for your colleges you sort out on second step. If you are applying for more than four colleges, apply topmost four colleges of your interest by this combined application system and apply individually to rest of the colleges.

5. The process of applying may differ college by college. In general, you will apply online. Then, they send you PDF of your filled form that you filled during applying online on your mail. So, you print that PDF file, sign it and post it to college by mail along with the photocopics of transcript of your +2, character certificate and passport. Some college may also want you to send some additional documents as well. You need to visit college website to confirm what additional they required.

6. You can send the documents as Normal Mail from Nepal Post Office, Sundhara. It will cost about 250 NRS. You can also send it as EMS from Post Office. It will cost around NRS 900. If want to sent through courier, Linkex or Skynet might be the cheapest one. They cost around 1300-1400.

7. Wait for response from college during March. If you are selected on first phase, they will mail you to appear on Entrance test. If you are not getting any invitations to appear for Entrance, it means, unfortunately, you are not selected.

8. If you are invited to appear for Entrance Test, consult with Finnish Embassy in Bishal Nagar, http://finland.org.np/public/default.aspx?culture=en-US&contentlan=2 about date, place and model questions for entrance test.

9. Appear for Test. Do your best. Exams are bit easier. They ask you average level questions. It won't be hard for you if you work little bit before entrance exam.

10. Wait for Response for Admission. You might hear the good news of admission acceptance during end of May, June and July.


I strongly recommend you NEVER to go to consultancy.
What they can do for you is just to post your document from Nepal, which you can do it yourself with very minumum cost as I wrote above.
So there is no point for paying them such a large amount of more than a lakh just to send the application. Some consultant may also tell you that they have very close contact or agreement with the university or college for your admission process. But, they are not true. They are just making you fool. They can not do anything during admission process.

Best of Luck for your Admission !!

some questions about job in Finland

Thanx for the information, your info was very helpful. I was not aware of that jobs were that hard to get in finland.

I filled in the online application and I have applied for the following:-

1>HAMK UAS, Hameenlinna, Visamaki

Degree programme in Construction Engineering

2>TURKU UAS, Turku, Information Technology

Degree programme in Information Technology

3>VAASA UAS, Technology, IT

Degree programme in Information Technology

4>SAVONIA UAS, Kuopio, Technology

Degree programme in Information Technology

Can I get any kind of jobs in these cities if I am admitted to any of these UAS?In my condition job is mandatory for my survival.

Hey can't we go Helsinki or abroad like Denmark during the vacations for jobs?

I would be grateful if u could help me by answering these questions.

Thank you for visiting http://www.nepalfinland.com and dropping a mail to me. I would be really happy to help Nepalese friends for knowing Finland in realistic manner.

Before coming to your queries, I would like you to consider few of the things about Jobs in Finland on student status.

1. Getting jobs in entire Finland is really hard. Jobs are get as luck in most of the cases, with exception of Helsinki. Obviously Helsinki have more job opportunities. If you can get the job, the most common jobs might be newspaper and postal delivary in Posti (Posti is postal service of Finland). Other jobs might be, cleaning and chopping vegetables and meat on restaurants. You can also get jobs in Boat Cruise as well if you come to costal cities. If you are coming there for Bachelor level, you just stop thinking to get jobs related to your interest.

2. The good thing is that, whatever job you get, it would be more relief for your living costs. If you get any kind of job, that would more or less cover your living costs, if you live by sharing apartments with other Nepalese or other partners. Living cost is high if you want to spend by the money you brought from Nepal. But, its average, not so expensive if you start earning in Euro. Average monthly 300-400 will cover every of your expense, including room rent, foods and some transport. If you share your room with another one partner, this cost will be reduced to 200-250. If you get it shared with three, you can also manage in 150-200. However, it might not be true in Helsinki, since it have bit higher living cost as well as having higher probability of getting job.


Now, coming your queries, if you want to suggest you among your list of colleges, I would suggest you to come to Turku. Visamaki is also nearer to Turku so, coming to Hamk UAS and Turku UAS might be better then rest of two colleges. if you get admission on Vaasa UAS in Vaasa and Savonia UAS in Kupio; you need to think twice whether you want to come or not. I did not mean you won't get jobs at all. If you are lucky enough, you might get jobs within a month. If you are not lucky enough, you might not get even within a year. So, it all depends upon the luck.

If you come to Turku, the job opportunities are bit higher. If you come to any of the Hamk or Turku UAS, it would be a wise decision than last two colleges. But, again, I did not mean, you will so easily get jobs in Turku. But, the chances of getting job in Turku is higher in other cities you have applied.

Now, coming to your last queries, of course, you can go to other cities or countries for work during vacations. Most of the Asians including Nepalese does the same. They go to Helsinki or other countries for work during holidays. But, I don't know about Denmark, since I have never heard it before someone going to Denmark for work during holidays. Most of the Nepalese go to Helsinki for work during holidays. Some also go to Germany or Sweden or some other nearer countries as well. But, in most of the cases, Nepalese find the job in Helsinki only. There will be two holiday periods in Finland. First during end of december for 21-30 days depending upon your college schedule. Second during Summer, by the mid of June to end of August for about 3 months. These are the times when Nepalese work and gather living amount for entire year. During these periods, you can also get very good jobs in larger organizations as well like Nokia, Siemens, Microsoft for a temporary period of 2-3 months.