Career Prospects

 

Hometown heights were not high enough

 

 

Gulsana comes from Kyrgyzstan, a country in Central Asia. However, the mountainous country was not enough for her and she decided to reach new highs. Gulsana lived in Texas, USA during the years 2002-2003 as an exchange student in high school. She also lived in South Carolina, USA in 2007 in a Work and Travel program and finally came to Finland to study her Master’s Degree in 2008. The Nordic country attracted her very much and after completing her internship in a company called Floobs, she is now working as the Marketing Manager of Spotdealers Oy. “I am responsible for sales, the recruitment of partners, assisting our sales network and marketing. My responsibility area is CIS countries but I work with clients and partners from all over the world. Our company has just started its operation so our staff is quite small. I like that I can speak up and my voice will be heard. I like that I can make important decisions. I like that we value each other’s opinions and learn from each other.” In her free time, she practices her hobbies, which are skiing, jewelry design, reading and collecting books and fashion.

“The education system in Finland is very different than what I was used to. I went to a typical American style university where the deadlines were oftentimes your biggest motivation and you couldn’t skip classes. Also you had only two chances to pass the course, otherwise you would be expelled. I learned to motivate myself about school and be more self-disciplined.” Her favorite courses in the University were quantitative research methods and Foreign reporting. Her favorite teachers were Erja Kolari, Hannu Nieminen and Eddy Hawkins. “They are simply great and I enjoyed their courses.”

Gulsana agrees that finding an internship in Finland was challenging, mostly because everywhere employers demand Finnish skills, and in some cases even Swedish. “The ads about the internships/vacancies come to my email from various mailing lists.  I also use mol.fi, Linkedin, job ad sections in the newspapers and various websites. Or just type in Google 'jobs in Finland'. Also I told my friends and acquaintances to tell me if they hear about interesting vacancies.

Tips for finding internship place

“Do not write a boring cover letter. Use simple words and short and structured sentences. Get to the point right from the start. Don’t write a novel (some people have many achievements and they want to tell all about it). Prioritize and focus on the most important achievements and make it relevant to the particular job ad.” Know your strength and use them. Never stop learning.”

Gulsana also thinks that interpersonal skills combined with some specific skills can get you far, but no matter how brilliant you are, if you can’t sell your idea it is worthless. “Know when to be brave and speak up about your worth. I actually got my current job because I was straightforward, honest and brave. I have noticed that people were reluctant to hire me because I am young and oftentimes they thought I am not so experienced. I had to step up and tell them my life’s story. Tell them that I am from a tiny town where most people never get out. So me being here is already a proof of that I have done something right. Your life is your strength, your experiences are your strength, and your vision of the future is your strength so make sure they know what your strength is.”

Interview by Mily Vazquez Harkivi