In spring 2024, students and recent graduates of the humanities and computer science implemented a cross-disciplinary development service addressing the digital and international skills of North Karelian companies. The piloted development service was also a platform for collaboration between local businesses and international students wishing to find employment in North Karelia.
Five companies from different sectors were involved: Arbonaut, Botania, Lietsu Boutique Aparthotel, Vaki Games and Youpret. The service evaluated, among other things, the companies’ digital skills, ability to recruit and manage international experts, and communicate with customers in different languages. Based on the evaluations, individual development plans were created for each company.
“In our final meeting, it became clear that the key contribution of the development service was networking and a better mutual understanding of the collaboration opportunities and of the potential and needs for expertise in North Karelian companies,” Project Manager Anna Logrén notes.
According to her, the companies intend to leverage the findings in their activities.
“The companies can utilise the findings to examine, for example, how consistently inductions are conducted, how recruitment can be expanded, and how employees can be encouraged to develop companies’ ERP systems in a more user-friendly direction.”
Valuable insight into the Finnish workplace culture
For the companies, participation in the pilot was also a way to deepen ties with the university and to obtain current information about collaboration opportunities, such as training and events aimed at companies, which can lead to direct contact with possible new recruits and interns.
Open and active collaboration between companies and educational institutions plays a crucial role in supporting students’ employment.
“Opening our doors to students helps them to gain concrete insight into the work offered by the company, which makes it easier to apply for internships or jobs,” says Heikki Vepsäläinen, CEO of the Youpret interpreting service.
According to the students, the pilot provided them with new information about both the companies and regional job opportunities. Thanks to close collaboration, future contacts with the companies will also be easier.
“Over the course of the spring, our students gained an understanding of what they could offer to the companies in terms of internationalisation and digitalisation, which platforms the companies are active on, and where and how to contact them,” Logrén explains.
According to the international students involved in the pilot, they now have a better understanding of the Finnish workplace culture, and how they can be supported in integrating into the workplace community.
“For me, the most valuable lesson from the meetings with the companies were employees’ career stories and experiences. It was particularly interesting to hear how international experts working in the companies had landed their jobs,” says Reza Saberi, an international student.
Originally from Iran, Saberi is currently completing his second Master’s degree in the Linguistic Data Sciences programme. His first Master’s degree is in general linguistics.
For the international students, the business life of North Karelia seemed quite interesting, and the companies were seen as having a lot of untapped potential to appeal to an international audience.
CUDIS continues to bring companies and students together also in the future
The development service pilot was implemented by the ESF+ funded CUDIS project, and the service also made use of the digital and internationalisation tools developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and Business Finland. Collaboration between companies operating in the region and the university will continue.
“We will implement another development service in spring 2025, and we encourage North Karelian companies to participate. International students involved in the service are able to examine companies from a completely new perspective,” Logrén says.
The CUDIS project also offers other opportunities for collaboration. Companies can sign up to be excursion destinations for next autumn’s CUDIS on the Road tour to showcase their operations and get acquainted with future experts. The goal of the tour is to raise awareness of North Karelia’s diverse and innovative businesses among Finnish and international university students.
CUDIS project website: https://blogs.uef.fi/cudis/?lang=fi
