Planning international recruitment

Credits: Markus Pentikäinen / Keksi

You may be eligible for financial support for international recruitment.

It pays off to plan the international recruitment process carefully. This helps to prepare for the different stages of recruitment and the tasks ahead

Planning well is half the job done! Thinking ahead helps you to avoid unnecessary work and make the process as smooth as possible. This page contains a few important things you should take into account when starting to plan international recruitment. See the links at the bottom of the page for more information.

When planning the recruitment, start with the following...

How will the recruitment process proceed?

1
Ensure the recruitment need
Identify why you are recruiting and what you aim to achieve.
2
Prepare an overall budget
A solid budget covers more than just salary.
3
Determine the job description
A clear job description supports recruitment and clarifies expectations.
4
Remember the principles of responsible recruitment
Responsibility builds trust and strengthens employer branding.

1. Ensure the recruitment need

The need for recruitment can arise for various reasons. As an employer, it is essential for you to consider why you want to hire new people right now. Consider the following questions:

What are the benefits of recruiting a new expert? Would subcontracting be a good alternative, or could somebody in-house handle the role?

What is the task or role that the new expert would perform? What skills and strengths does the role require?

It is good to take into account how the new employee would affect the company. A new expert increases the company's resources, and especially international recruitment is likely to bring with it new ways of working and thinking. When recruiting an employee from abroad for the first time, the employer also faces new kinds of obligations.

Credits: Markus Pentikäinen / Keksi

2. Prepare an overall budget

Better safe than sorry! When recruiting international experts, it is worth calculating the total budget for the recruitment. This ensures that

the recruitment will not cost more than expected
the new employee will get the best recruitment experience possible

In addition to the salary and other statutory payments, the employer can offer the employee other benefits and compensation, such as cover relocation expenses, settling-in training, and expenses related to the residency permits of the employee and their family. It makes sense to include all this in the overall budget. With benefit packages, the employer can help the expert in arriving and settling in Finland.

Institutions such as your employment region and ELY Center may provide financial support for international recruitment. Explore the Services.

Credits: Keksi / Work In Finland

Credits: Markus Pentikäinen / Keksi

3. Determine the job description

Recruitment often starts from determining the job description. It is important to consider the following:

What is the person hired expected to do in the organization now? What about in a few years from now?
Is the person wanted for a specific role or is there a possibility for career development?
What kind of a candidate would suit the job best?

Remember that an international employee may bring new ways of working, thinking, and points of view to the organization. This may change the dynamics of the workplace, but could work for the benefit of the organization in ways such as by creating preconditions for innovation.

It is a good idea to describe the company and the work community they would join to the job applicants. It is also important to describe the expectations and wishes related to the job and the employee hired, as well as other related factors, such as salary development International experts may be accustomed to very different practices – they may not be aware of the Finnish employee benefits or what the Finnish workday with its coffee breaks looks like, for example. Keep in mind that the international job advertisement must be in English.

Tips and instructions for preparing a great international job advertisement are available on the Creating a job posting for international recruitment page and on Job Market Finland. You can also take a look at the Kielitietoinen rekrytointi ja työyhteisö guide (in Finnish) by Väestöliitto.

Credits: Mikko Törmänen, Keksi

4. Remember the principles of responsible recruitment

Remember to follow the principles of responsible recruitment throughout the recruitment process. At the planning stage, this includes the following, among others:

An honest and transparent description of the workplace and the job opening
An inclusive job advertisement that avoids gendered language and corporate jargon, for example. Gender-sensitive communication extends from texts to images.
Readiness to conduct job interviews remotely if necessary. Use technology that does not favor or exclude candidates.
An opportunity to provide feedback and comments to improve the smoothness and fairness of the recruitment process. This will increase the candidates’ confidence and sense of involvement in the process.
Responsibility also includes ensuring that the organization has the financial resources for the recruitment in the long term. In some cases, outsourcing or employee leasing may be a better option.

Consider whether you could use anonymous recruitment. Furthermore, plan the work orientation and training in advance, as well as the matters related to the employee’s settling-in period and integration into the work community.

Read more about the principles of responsible recruitment on the Responsible recruitment page.

Key considerations in social and healthcare recruitment

In most cases, you need a license to work in the health and social services sector. Please note that health care and social welfare professionals arriving from outside the EU and EEA member states cannot directly receive a work-based residence permit, but must first obtain the right to practice the profession from Valvira. You can read more about the license granting process on Valvira’s website.

Professions in the health and social services sector are regulated in Finland. Foreign qualifications must be recognized by the Finnish National Agency for Education or another authority if the qualification has been completed outside Finland. Read more on Infofinland.fi.

Learn more about international recruitment in the social and healthcare sector on Work in Finland's website: Recruitment in the social and healthcare sector.

Read more and useful links

Check out our comprehensive International recruitment guide. The guide offers detailed information, instructions, and links for each step of the recruitment process, such as planning.

You can also explore the process description “Ulkomaalaisen erityisasiantuntijan rekrytointi EU:n ulkopuolelta, työsuhteen solmiminen ja asettautuminen Suomeen” (Only in Finnish).

Work in Finland Advice Service for Employers serves all employers nationwide in matters related to international recruitment by phone and email on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

IMAGO Coaching is a free service. It helps companies to understand the importance of the employer brand, diverse recruitment skills, a multicultural and internally strong corporate culture, and the development of the employer image of the business.

When recruiting from within Europe, you could benefit from contacting the EURES services, which provide companies with services such as financial support for recruitment through the Targeted Mobility Scheme.

Check out the reports on the promoting of international recruitment in the health and social services sector on the website of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. Explore the latest survey on the workforce situation in the social and healthcare sector (2024, in Finnish).

Familiarize yourself with the regional guidelines for the use of foreign workforce. These pertain to granting residence permits for workers and assessing the availability of labor.