Unlocking hidden potential: reimagining support for international talents in Finland

As an immigrant to Finland myself (now a naturalized Finn), I know first-hand how demotivating it can feel as a foreign talent searching for work. When I first arrived in Finland in 2003, there were very few services for foreign job seekers, making unemployment even more challenging. I felt alone with my struggles.

Thankfully, communities like Herizon mean foreign talents today don’t have to feel as isolated as I once did.

Meanwhile, the employment services – both government and community-based – have also improved. The programs of today place heavy focus on technical skill-building, language training, making countless versions of your CV, and building your presence on LinkedIn. Which are all undoubtedly valuable measures for tackling the Finnish job market.

However, as a transformational coach working with Herizon, I’ve noticed some critical gaps –particularly in how these services address the individual as a whole.

Who are you beyond your technical skills?

For many foreign job seekers, technical skill-building and CV reviews meet only their basic needs. I often hear them asking deeper questions: “What are my unique strengths that set me apart?” “How do I show I’m more than just my skills?” and “How can I rebuild my confidence after countless rejections or career transitions?”

From what I’ve seen, there’s not a lot of support for them to explore those questions with a professional sparring partner. Instead, they’re presented with various short-term skills programs, such as workshops and free courses.

These programs–both through official and unofficial channels–provide structure and can improve an applicant’s adaptability. But their long-term impact is unclear.

One study from Turkey found that while training programs for the unemployed had a positive influence on employment, the results had no statistical significance. Correlation is not causation! The same study also noted that while these programs positively influenced employment in the first year, their effects faded after three years (Hirshleifer et al., 2014).

Other studies reveal re-skilling programs can be successful, but there’s a big caveat – mentoring. In the Polish tech industry, for example, mentoring improved the chances of an applicant landing a job within four months from 29% to 42% (Athey and Palikot, 2024). But it wasn’t the re-skilling alone – it was the individualized support from a mentor that made those figures possible.

My worry is that there’s an excessive focus on reskilling foreign talents. For some individuals, it may be a necessary course of action – not just an imposed expectation. But for many others, the skills and education they already have are largely in demand.

I’ve seen the effects of this focus on reskilling– it can also dilute your career focus. It leads to a dizzying amount of options for the job seeker.

All this extra “noise” makes it even harder to craft a compelling, professional narrative for potential employers. I would argue that it can also induce pressure to apply for as many jobs as possible without a clear sense of direction or alignment with one’s strengths. Thus leading to even more rejections and disappointment.

Instead, I advocate for a more balanced approach – one that helps job seekers build on their core strengths and passions. This improves confidence and makes for more compelling and authentic messaging in applications, LinkedIn profiles, and interviews.

The missing piece: understanding strengths and potential

Short-term training also does little to address pro-social skills, which are key character strengths such as empathy, adaptability, and creativity. Research shows these skills are stronger predictors of long-term success and performance than technical skills alone. Adam Grant’s book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things, highlights the importance of these pro-social skills. They’re the overlooked backbone of personal and professional success.

Employment services do often include personality tests and strengths assessments to reveal these pro-social skills. But without guidance or coaching, these tools just give you data – not empowering and actionable insights. Job seekers might learn about their strengths from these tools, but struggle to market them effectively, or creatively adapt them to new scenarios.

For example, someone might discover that “prudence” is one of their top strengths. But without deeper reflection, they might perceive this trait as overly cautious – negative, even. In other words, they only see how they use that strength in an unbalanced way. With coaching, prudence can be positively reframed as strategic advantage, with professional examples as to back it!

Arriving at this insight can completely transform how a jobseeker presents themselves in applications or interviews. But it’s not always easy to connect these dots alone. We’re often our own worst critics, focusing on when our strengths hinder us rather than how they help us. Coaching provides the needed space for reflection to start translating strengths into meaningful professional language.

The Bigger Picture

A narrow focus on building technical skills also overlooks the critical role of personal strengths in career success. As a matter of fact, the World Economic Forum’s top skills for 2025 include “soft skills” like analytical thinking, social influence, complex problem-solving and creativity alongside technical abilities.

By helping job seekers recognize and harness their unique strengths, we can unlock hidden potential that technical training alone cannot achieve.

And it’s not enough to just list these strengths in your CV or LinkedIn profile. You need to seek out the evidence that you have them. This requires finding the success stories that back your strengths. These stories are not only important proof for future employers, but for yourself. Because when you believe in yourself, your confidence starts to grow. Your resilience blooms.

That said, even the most confident and skilled professionals may face structural obstacles such as bias in the hiring processes or limited professional networks. That’s why community-based efforts–like those of Herizon–are crucial.

In my coaching sessions with Herizoners, I listen to their challenges, and reply with powerful questions to help them explore their topics of concern. Often, the question of strengths arises. We discover ways to talk about them creatively together. Every Herizoner I’ve met already possesses the inner tools for success. But many seek out support for creating a personalized strategy to showcase their value with confidence and consistency.

Coaching as a complement

What if employment services incorporated more coaching into their frameworks? Not just career coaching focused on employability, but transformational coaching that treats individuals as whole people with unique stories, challenges, and aspirations. More access to such coaching could help job seekers:

● Gain clarity on their strengths and how to use them creatively.

● Build resilience and adaptability in the face of setbacks.

● Develop confidence through a deeper understanding of their value.

● Craft a professional identity aligned with their authentic selves.

These aren’t just job-seeking skills. They’re life skills that drive long-term success and personal fulfillment.

My experience with Herizon

In 2024, I partnered with over 20 individuals in the Herizon community, totaling nearly 50 hours of coaching. While I can’t completely dismantle the systemic issues that foreign job seekers face (such as unconscious bias, employer hesitancy, and credentialing barriers), I can support them in areas they can control. Some of my thinking partners get what they need after only one session, others use up to three 1-hour sessions to tackle a new goal in each session.

Each person’s journey is unique, but the common thread is their resilience and determination to thrive here in Finland, despite the challenges they face.

Their stories and experiences are rich and multi-faceted. And their potential? It’s much deeper than the tools they know and the technical skills they bring to the table.

This article was authored by Sagan Rossi, a professional coach, marketing leader and philantropist, donating their time in the form of free coaching to Herizon community members since 2024.

References

1. Hirshleifer S., McKenzie D., Almeida R., and Ridao-Cano C. 2014. “The Impact of Vocational Training for the Unemployed: Experimental Evidence from Turkey” in IZA DPNo. 8059. Accessed from the web January 2, 2025 at: https://docs.iza.org/dp8059.pdf

2. Athey, S. and Palikot, E. 2024.“Effective and scalable programs to facilitate labor market transitions for women in technology.” Accessed from the web February 17, 2025 at: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.09968

3. Grant, Adam. 2023. Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. WH Allen, Penguin Random House. London, UK.

4. World Economic Forum. 2020. Infographics from “The Future of Jobs Report 2020.”Accessed from the web January 2, 2025 at: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2020/in-full/infographics-e4e69e4de7/