Career

Studies are part of your career. At the University of Helsinki, all degrees include career planning. The Career Services at the University of Helsinki, in cooperation with degree programmes, supports the growth of your expert identity as part of your studies and with separate services.

From the start of your studies until one year after the completion of your degree, the Career Services supports your career path.

Career Services  

• gives career counselling and job seeking support, 
• arranges info sessions, workshops and events, 
• provides suitable job and traineeship offers for students,
• shares university’s subsidy for traineeships and  
• facilitates group mentoring programmes.

Upon graduation, you are qualified to work in expert, teaching, research and managerial posts in the public sector, NGOs and companies, and as an independent entrepreneur.

Examples of positions available to graduates include:

• Expert in nutrition and food
• Product manager
• Product development manager, development manager
• Director of food services
• Researcher, special researcher
• Planning officer
• Senior inspector
• Teacher or lecturer at a university of applied sciences
• Growth entrepreneur
• Journalist, press officer, content provider

Would you like to build a career in Finland? Do you want to build professional networks during your studies and get valuable insight into Finnish working life? Then you should apply for the HelsinkiUNI International Talent Programme (HITP).  

HITP is a group mentoring programme where Finnish companies and international students are brought together to share ideas and to learn from each other.

What will you gain from HITP? 

• Successful applicants are placed in a group and assigned a mentor from a Finnish company or organization. When applying you can choose which of the participating companies interest you the most. 
• You will receive support in growing your network among both professionals and fellow students. During the programme your group will meet 4–5 times on the company premises. Themes for the meet-ups include a company introduction and an overview on current competency requirements in that specific field.  You will also get to present your own skills to the company.
• When the HITP has been completed, the goal is that cooperation can continue between the student and the company if both parties wish to do so. 

Although it is easy for international students to get by with English in the Helsinki region, learning Finnish will significantly improve your career options after graduation.

The University of Helsinki offers free Finnish language courses for enrolled international degree students. The beginners and intermediate level courses are not only a way to learn the language, but you also learn more about Finnish culture and get to network with other international students across the fields.

As a graduate from the Master’s Programme in Human Nutrition and Food-Related Behaviour, you can apply for doctoral education at the University of Helsinki and at universities within and outside Finland.

Suitable doctoral programmes offered by the University of Helsinki include:

• The Doctoral Programme in Population Health
• The Doctoral Programme in Food Chain and Health
• The Doctoral Programme in Integrative Life Science
• The Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences
• The Doctoral Programme in School, Education, Society and Culture

After graduation, the world is wide open and full of possibilities. How can you venture forward to make the career path you want? What kind of work would you like to do? What kind of life should you lead? The Helsinki alumni community is there to support you as you transition from the University to the world of work.

All previous University of Helsinki degree and exchange students, as well as staff, are our alumni. As a member of the University of Helsinki alumni network, Finland’s largest network of experts, you get valuable support, knowledge and contacts for your working life.