Job search requires determination and empathy now

Topics

• Job seeking
• Unemployment

There is no point in beating around the bush: finding employment has been really challenging for some time now. My networks include a huge number of professionals who, just a couple of years ago, during the economic boom, would have been sought after for jobs. Now, some of them have ended up being classified as long-term unemployed. Many have changed fields or sought jobs outside their own field while waiting for better times.

We at YTK are also seeing prolonged unemployment among our members. Fortunately, however, according to our statistics, layoffs last only about three months on average.

Despite the challenging situation, our goal is that none of our members should remain unemployed simply because they lack job search skills or cannot find suitable job opportunities. Our services aimed at accelerating employment, which have been available since last summer, came at just the right time for our members.

In the current market situation, however, finding employment is not a matter of having an interesting CV or writing a motivational letter for your application, peppered with examples of your work experience. You have probably already turned over a frustrating number of stones in your search for employment, updated your CV countless times, tried artificial intelligence, networked, etc. According to a recent summary by YLE, there are clearly fewer job vacancies than last year. On the other hand, KEHA-keskus has reported the opposite.

Securing livelihoods and supporting job searching

Every day, we receive feedback from our members about how smoothly we handle the payment of earnings-related unemployment benefits. We are proud to be able to secure our members’ livelihoods as smoothly as possible. When your own finances are secure, you have peace of mind and energy to focus on finding a new job.

As we wait for the economic upturn to bring an increase in the number of job vacancies, we hope that our members who are looking for work will try out our services to see if they can help them find employment. These services are based on extensive piloting and information gathered from our members about the kind of support they need in their job search.

Our services are designed to help you and speed up your employment. That is why we have both job vacancies and tools and training to help you prepare your job search skills. Our selection also includes job personality assessments and aptitude tests that are typically only used in recruitment situations. These are not available to everyone anywhere. The service package is called Spark. You can find all Spark services by logging in to our online service, OmaYTK. We would love to hear about your experiences and wishes regarding the Spark selection, for example, through messages on OmaYTK.

With determination and perseverance towards a new job

In the midst of all this, it is good to remember that in the current situation, it is no surprise that unemployment can be prolonged for anyone, regardless of their background and circumstances. Coping with the situation and getting through it is certainly challenging. However, we are on your side now, even during your job search. I wish you, who are persistently looking for work, compassion for yourself and sparks of determination to continue until you find what you are looking for.

Mirva Puranen

Service manager, YTK Unemployment fund

I work at our unemployment fund developing Spark services that speed up employment. We don’t do this work alone, but build our services by listening to our members and collaborating with other actors in the field of employment. I strongly believe that the best results are achieved together. My mission is to encourage people to take the next step in their career – in a solution-oriented and gentle way.