International Business
“Moving to a new country is never an easy step to take, especially when you are a fresh high school graduate, who just turned 18 years old”, Aleksandr Dzharatov admits. It is exactly how his own journey in Finland started.
Aleksandr Dzharatov is originally from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. As a teenager, he was passionate about entrepreneurship and business administration, so the choice of the study programme was easy – International Business (IB). Dzharatov applied to Jamk University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland. "I chose Finland based on several factors: relatively affordable education, a well-being state, high standard of living and a shorter residence time needed for applying for a citizenship, compared to some other countries", Dzharatov remembers. When receiving a letter of acceptance form Jamk, he felt that something big was about to happen - a new chapter in life.
Tackling the Culture Shock
After an extensive paperwork and receiving his residence permit, Dzharatov moved alone to Finland, knowing no-one. Nevertheless, Dzharatov approached the situation with a positive mindset. He met a lot of people during the orientation week and received support and assistance from teachers and IB coordinators. This made integration process much easier.
Dzharatov experienced certain cultural shock because of the drastic differences in culture, language, and climate. Dzharatov grew up in a hot climate of Central Asia, and it was not easy to handle his first Finnish winter with its freezing temperatures and lots of snow. To deal with this, Dzharatov put the focus on studies, but also took time to other activities and spending time with friends. Dzharatov enjoyed the first year in Jamk.
Thesis as a Challenge
The second academic year was more challenging, since the group proceeded to academic track and specialization. As an academic track, Dzharatov chose Economics of Internationalization and Competitiveness.
Writing bachelor's thesis about Competitiveness level of higher education system in Finland in comparison to the United States was somewhat challenging as well. “As many fellow students may relate, thesis writing process is not easy at all” Dzharatov admits. However, it was worth it, as it developed academic skills, such as data analysis, research, and academic writing.
Dzharatov chose a short-term exchange period, a summer school in the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Due to Covid-19, delivery mode was changed to online. Nevertheless, a chance to study in a different educational institution, experience other teaching methods and course implementation was a good experience.
Career in Hospitality Industry
From the second year of studies, Dzharatov started working part-time in a restaurant and also completed practical training there. Dzharatov was involved in supply chain management and marketing, followed stock and inventory, participated in the procurement, and updated seasonal campaigns and offers.
After graduation in the end of 2020, Dzharatov was excited to start working in the field of business administration. Within six months, he applied to 65 positions, but got invited to only 2 interviews that did not lead to employment. It was a frustrating experience. However, in July, Dzharatov applied for a position at a restaurant and the positive decision came almost immediately. The employer was the biggest in the Jyväskylä area, Osuuskauppa Keskimaa (also known as S-group).
This was Dzharatov's first Finnish speaking job, and it was out of his comfort zone. "Even with B1-level Finnish skills, working in Finnish was not easy, since spoken language differs noticeably from written and restaurant slang was also used frequently" Dzharatov describes.
In Keskimaa, Dzharatov learned many new aspects of hospitality industry. He also got a chef education. Dzharatov was able to raise his Finnish proficiency level to B2-C1.
Talent Boost and Tips for Employment in Finland
In May 2022, Dzharatov started working as a trainee at Jamk Talent Boost alongside his other hob.. This internship expand networks and deepened Dzharatov's understanding of current needs of international talents. Dzharatov was glad to be able to share his knowledge and experience with students.
"The Finnish labor market has grown and developed a lot during past five years" Dzharatov notices. Employers are more open to international talents and aware of the importance of diversity - in Central Finland as well. For instance, restaurant and hotel businesses have lowered their requirements to Finnish skills.
According to Aleksandr Dzharatov the key factors to getting a job are strong network, adaptivity to Finnish work culture and Finnish language skills. "When you master these, you get much higher chances to get invited to a job interview and get hired in the end."
Therefore, his recommendation to fellow international students would be to stay active and build strong network, simultaneously learning Finnish and practicing it whenever possible!
