ThinkAfrica
“Lessons Learned” 2,5 years of mentoring foreigners for the Finnish job market.

If you want to go fast, go alone – if you want to get there, go with someone who knows the way. A spin-off from the old African proverb “if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together” that fits perfectly with the essence of Think Africa’s career mentorship programme. 

Rebranded as Think Career in 2023, the career mentorship programme for foreigners has become a vital bridge for skilled foreigners seeking employment and career growth in their areas of interest. 

In this post, we reflect on the past two and half years of Think Career, delve into its impact and share lessons learned over the years.

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Over the past two and half years, we received 284 unique mentee applications with applicants representing 55 countries across the globe. With the majority residing in the bigger cities across Finland, with Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, and Vaasa among the top five.  

That has helped us to grow a community of people who believe in guidance, networks, knowledge exchange, and peer support as a key to the Finnish complex labour market. 

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It has been reported by Yle, that only about 25% of highly educated foreigners in Finland secure positions matching their qualifications within one year of graduation, compared to 63% of Finnish graduates. Thus, we found it important to support this group. Over 93% of our mentee applicants hold at least a bachelor's degree, and 53% have a Master’s degree.  

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We have been moved by the willingness of mentors to share their expertise, experiences and networks, with a total of 191 mentor applicants representing 71 countries. Over half of the mentees had less than five years of work experience in their field, while more than half of the mentors had over a decade of expertise - revealing the programme’s strength in pairing aspiring professionals with seasoned guides. 

Mentee - Mentor Matches

From all the applications we receive, the programme coordinators do intensive work to best match a mentor with a mentee whose needs and profiles best align. Each mentee is matched with a mentor in their field, someone who works in Finland and who has walked that path before them. So far (2023-2025), 197 mentee and mentor pairs have participated in the programme. 

The most represented fields were:

  • STEM, 
  • Business, 
  • Social Sciences.

Less represented fields are: 

  • Healthcare, 
  • Medicine, 
  • Law, 
  • Public Service 

Think Career’s approach combines one on one mentoring with expert-led and peer facilitated group sessions. These sessions support the mentees to meet their needs which range from; CV and cover letter writing, Networking and job search strategies, Understanding the Finnish labor market, to Gaining confidence in pitching to employers. 

One of the key achievements is that mentees gain insights into what is valued in their field and how to pitch and align their portfolio, CVs or LinkedIn profile accordingly. Among the mentees who have completed the programme (2023-2024), 91% report improved professional networks, ranging from 3 all the way to 100 contacts. 70% of mentees at the programme also report that they are prepared to pitch themselves – a useful skill for interviews and networking events.

Think Career puts a big emphasis on peer support and mental well-being. We understand the stress that comes with job seeking, and the mental toll rejections can have. Often the biggest benefit mentees share they receive from us is that the mentor has helped gain confidence in their skills and feel useful/able to contribute in Finland. At least 70% of mentees at the programme (2023-2024) report that the programme had improved their wellbeing.

https://www.thinkafrica.fi/from-guidance-to-growth-a-mentees-journey-through-the-think-career-mentorship-programme/

Lessons learned

Lesson 1. Consider broader regional workshops and outreach for Think Career. 

The analysis of mentees’ background data shows that they are both well-educated and geographically diverse, with strong representation across many Finnish cities. 

Lesson 2. Consider different forms of support. 

Not all mentees begin their journey from the same starting point. Some are recent graduates new to the labour market overall, some are experienced professionals unfamiliar with the Finnish job market, and some are facing unique challenges in transitioning into their desired fields. The challenges of limited local networks, unfamiliarity with Finnish hiring practices, or language barriers require different forms of support, which will be looked into by the Think Career team.

Lesson 3. Impact of external factors. 

Recent Finnish immigration policy changes seem to have impacted mentees’ commitment throughout the first five month round of the 2025 programme. If you have found solutions to this, please do connect with us.

Lesson 4. Demand for mentorship is high.

Broadly, we observe an increased need for mentorship, not only in career development but also in entrepreneurship. Round after round, we see an increase in the number of mentee and mentor applications with mentees far outweighing the mentors, indicating demand for mentorship and a potential for expansion for the Think Career programme. 

Contributors:

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To partner or participate in Think Career, contact us by sending an email to all the addresses below (CC):