Job Fair Tampere
What is “Kohtaanto” and why is it important?
I learned an interesting word in Finnish recently that is very important for international jobseekers and companies to be aware of, but it does have some difficulty translating into English. The word is “kohtaanto” and if you were trying to translate it directly, the internet would probably tell you that it means various things, such as “to match”, “point of view”, “to meet”, or “to connect.”
When we use the word kohtaanto at International House Tampere, we tend to use it to describe the skills matching that happens when jobseekers and employers meet. There is also an antonym for kohtaanto, which is “kohtaanto-ongelma” and this means something like “workforce mismatch” (that there is a discrepancy between the skills that are sought by employers and the skills that are possessed by individuals).
Job Fair Tampere: Bridging the Gap
Job Fair Tampere is an excellent platform for kohtaanto to happen face-to-face. According to Max Hurri, who was one of the main organizers of the past events, Job Fair Tampere offers a platform for internationals, companies, and support services to connect, engage, and explore the opportunities available in Tampere and the Pirkanmaa region.
Job Fair Tampere is a bi-annual event that allows jobseekers to connect with potential employers, and allows companies to discover, new, hidden talents. It also offers internationals the chance to learn about the support and services available in Tampere for job seeking and skill development. The main objective of the event is to foster networking and connection.
“It has been really great to hear from the companies that they have been really grateful for the opportunity to actually meet with a lot of people… meet with a lot of talent that they maybe would not have had the chance to meet otherwise,” said Hurri.
“It takes almost half a year for International House Tampere to plan and organize the event,” said Anu Liimola, who was part of the planning team. The busiest time of the organizing process is the month leading up to the event because organizers must keep in touch with the participating companies and make sure everything is aligning smoothly.
Preparing for Success at Job Fair Tampere
Riho Laurisaar, one of the organizers of Job Fair Tampere, said that last autumn the fair had more than 1500 visitors, so this year they had to downscale the marketing to make sure it was more comfortable for everyone to fit inside the venue. In the Spring of 2024 there were 21 companies involved and 11 support service partners attended. They planned for 800-1000 visitors to attend this year, and approximately 800 people were tallied by Tampere-talo.
According to Laurisaar, the idea of the Job Fair is to create a platform of opportunities for the international talents living in Tampere and for the companies to market themselves better to the jobseekers.
Job Fair Tampere organizers also had advice for jobseekers attending the event. Nick Cotton, who is an employment coach at International House Tampere, gave the following advice:
“Be prepared with what we call a calling card. It’s like a business card but expanded. It’s less content than a CV. It focuses on your professional biography, your achievements and your skills. It’s a really effective way to communicate who you are as a professional to someone you’ve got to make that pitch to, and maybe get to the next step, which might be an application, an interview, or whatever it might be.”
There will also be a interesting workshops and networking opportunities for all the attendees, with the hope of addressing “kohtaanto-ongelma” in Pirkanmaa area.
