Depending on where you are at in life, you can apply for studies, internship, work or volunteer work abroad. If you are 30 years old or younger, you can also apply for youth exchanges. By working or studying abroad you improve your language skills and receive valuable experience, which will definitely benefit you in the future. From this website you can find information on the different options.
You can study abroad in different stages of your life. The length of your study period can be just a few weeks or even several years.
If you are studying in Finland, you can apply for student exchange abroad. There you will do a part of the studies of your Finnish degree. You can receive information on student exchange from the International Affairs Manager in your educational institution.
It is also possible to do an entire degree abroad. The studies will take several years, the exact time depending on the degree.
Interning abroad is closely linked to studies and is primarily possible for students and newly graduates. The internship supports:
If you are studying in a vocational institution, you can apply for a workplace learning spot through your educational institution.
If you are a higher education student, you can find available internships abroad through e.g.
If you are a fresh graduate or an unemployed young person, you can apply for:
18-35-year-olds recently graduated from preparatory vocational education can apply for an Erasmus+ supported internship through the Allianssi Youth Exchange Ready for Life project. The higher education newly graduates can apply for EDUFI internships through the Finnish National Agency for Education. When the internship starts no more than one year can be passed since graduation.
More i formation on the different opportunities to internationalise can be found from the Finnish National Agency for Education´s Maailmalle.net service (in Finnish) and their advisory services.
The Finnish employment and economic development administration is also a part of the European Employment Service Network EURES. EURES facilitates the movement of jobseekers on the common labour market in the European Economic Area.
As a Finnish citizen, you have the same work-related rights and responsibilities in another EEA member state as the citizens of the country in question. You can find more information on
If you want to work outside the EEA, you will usually need a work permit that has been issued by the country’s immigration authority. As a jobseeker, you will be personally required to find out the necessary requirements and procedures related to the work permit. For more information, you can contact the embassies of the countries that you are interested in.
TE Services do not actively advertise jobs from outside the EU and EEA countries because those countries do not have an agreement on the free movement of labour.
However, TE Services often provide information on possibilities of completing an internship or working outside the EU and EEA countries. Even if the job details can be found on the TE Services' website, you should find out the terms of employment in detail.
Before you begin applying for work abroad, evaluate your language skills, expertise and the employment situation of your field in your destination country. Living and working in another country require an ability to adapt to a different culture. In addition, you need to find out how tax and social security systems work in your target country.
The best way to prepare is to gather a solid base of information about the country in which you intend to work. You can find useful information on pages
Jobseeker’s services - questions and answers
The European Union´s Youth in Action
The programme includes several different youth projects and actions from group meetings to the European Voluntary Service.
International work camps are a good way to get to know the culture of the target country. At the same time, you are doing voluntary work in a multicultural group for the benefit of a non-profit institution.
The camps usually last 2 to 3 weeks. They are held all over the world, generally during summertime. The participants usually are between 18 and 30 years of age, but there is no maximum age limit. You are not paid for the work you do, but you will receive food and free accommodation as a compensation.
You can apply for international work camps through the Service Civil International´s Finnish branch (KVT) and the Finnish Youth Cooperation Allianssi.
Long term voluntary work is a good option for a person who is having a year off, for example. Generally, there are some expenses from the voluntary work period that you have to cover by yourself. The European Voluntary Service (EVS) does, however, offer an opportunity for an EU supported long term voluntary work for young European´s aged between 17 and 30 years: