Don't put all your eggs in one basket in job searching

Interview with a career coach Kseniia van Nilftrik

You currently work for Integrify. Are they helping international job seekers?

Integrify provides tuition-free training for people in Finland who are passionate about full-stack development or data science and machine learning. After completing the training, we match our students with partner companies. It's a win-win situation: students receive free education and secure a job, while companies save money on recruitment by acquiring top talent. In our program, we accept only the top 5% of candidates out of thousands of applications.

How can one stand out to get into the top 5%?

You need to genuinely be passionate about coding, and you can prove it. This means that for at least a year or a year and a half, you have been actively coding in your free time and have some personal projects or hobby projects that demonstrate your passion. Additionally, our students should be ready to commit to full-time, five-month studies.

Btw I enjoy working at Integrify. The thoughts and ideas I'll share during the interview are solely my own and do not represent the official position or views of my current company or any projects I'm involved in.

You also have a LinkedIn course for job seekers. What would be one piece of advice you would give about LinkedIn?

If I had to offer one piece of advice about LinkedIn, it would be to first understand what you are offering and identify your core competence. You don't need to be an expert, but you should have some competence that you are confident in or passionate about.

“LinkedIn is a social media platform, and they want users to spend time there for monetization”

— Kseniia

Here are some practical tips: LinkedIn is a social media platform, and they want users to spend time there for monetization. Contribute to the LinkedIn community, and the algorithms will make your profile more visible, resulting in more views and messages.

How do you do this? Analyze the keywords used in your industry, and incorporate them into your profile. This increases the chances of being contacted by recruiters. Use these keywords in your skills section and take advantage of the opportunity LinkedIn added this year to include skills in your 'About You' section in your work experience.

Another thing is your headline. When recruiters are looking for people, they can, of course, open your profile and scroll through it. But usually, what they see is a small part of your profile: your photo, your name, last name, and your headline. So, the headline should be catchy, making me as a recruiter interested enough to click on it and actually look through the profile.

Are there any cultural differences you noticed between Finland and Russia?

On average, what I can observe is that in Finland, people definitely care about personal well-being much more and at a higher level than in Russia.

Lidiia's note: This doesn't mean that Russians don't experience burnout; they do, but they often don't take a leave.

How to network as a shy person?

It's a bit of a challenging question for me because I'm not a shy person. I'm not sure how people overcome their shyness. I believe it's easier to start networking with someone with whom you share experiences, like being in the same circle of students or having people from your country around. At the beginning, I recommend trying to connect with people who have some shared experiences with you. Then, slowly but surely, your circle will grow, and you will become more confident in your networking skills.

I firmly believe that networking requires action. Overcoming shyness is something that can be changed. You can still be a great professional who openly shares their expertise, for example, on LinkedIn. If you don't feel comfortable with social media, just go to job fairs and talk to people there.

Stepping out of your comfort zone will help you and significantly increase your chances of being employed in Finland. Start with small steps.

I'm not getting higher; is it because Finland is racist?

It's definitely not the most pleasant question, and I was actually thinking of not answering it. In the current culture, even as a career coach, I have fears of sharing my opinion. But I will go into my fear now.

“I recommend focusing on factors that you are able to impact and that can significantly increase your chances of being employed.”

— Kseniia

Many factors impact your chances of employment. Although there are proven cases of discrimination for various reasons, not only in Finland but worldwide, as a career coach, I recommend focusing on factors that you can impact and that can significantly increase your chances of being employed.

Trying to explain your unsuccessful job search solely by one reason, such as racism or a poor economic situation or some other external factor, is a trap. It doesn't help you get closer to your goal because it's mentally very exhausting. It makes it harder to land a job when you have the mentality that you will be rejected because of some reason. Instead of focusing on external factors that you can't affect, focus on factors that you can impact.

First, let’s make it clear — The job market is a market, so we have demand from companies and supply from individuals. an exchange where individuals contribute their knowledge, potential, and skills in return for financial compensation or valuable experience. It is essential to understand.

When we are talking about a career change, three factors make it very challenging.

Changing the country, so entering the new market. For example, I relocated from Russia to Finland.
Changing the industry, let’s say that someone has been working in construction and then decided to start a career in IT.
Changing the job title. For example, from Career Advisor to FullStack Developer.

Does the initial application screening happen automatically?

Note from Lidiia: What is meant here is when you send your CV and cover letter to a company, is it a person looking through it, or is it like some software?

There are different companies and different methods. In some companies, they use automatic software that compares the job description keywords with your CV. In some companies, it is still a recruiter who checks and does initial screening manually. So, it depends on the company.

To ensure that your papers match the job posted, you can use the extension called Jobalytics. It is a resume analyzer designed to help you get your resume past applicant tracking systems (ATS’s) that review your resume before recruiters see them.

CV and Cover letter review of a marketing manager

Kseniia also reviewed the CV and Cover letter for a position of a marketing manager. To see the review, check the video above.

How to take care of your mental health while looking for a job?