Finding an internship can be challenging—especially in a new country. In this UNICOM+ podcast series episode, we explore internships for students studying at research universities in Turku (the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University) and offer real experiences to help you navigate the process.
The episode is hosted by Lotta Metsärinne, a Career Counsellor and Project Planner at the Career Services of the University of Turku. Lotta speaks with Dilukshi Soysa, a Master’s student in Public Mental Health at the University of Turku, about their internship experiences.
Topics covered:
- The significance of internships for a student’s career development in Finland
- Practical advice on how to search for internships and what to do to increase the chances of securing one
- The internship subsidy available to companies hiring interns from research universities
Find more information:
- Information for the students of the University of Turku (intranet requires login): https://intranet.utu.fi/index/internshipfinland/Pages/default.aspx
- Information for the students of Åbo Akademi University (intranet requires login): https://abofi.sharepoint.com/sites/intra-en-study/SitePages/Internships.aspx
- If you are a university of applied sciences student, see this episode.
The UNICOM+ podcast series is designed to help international talents residing in Finland navigate their transition to Finland and, later on, to the Finnish job market. The podcast series is produced in collaboration with the University of Turku, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Åbo Akademi University. UNICOM+ project (2025–2027) is co-funded by the European Union.
UNICOM+ podcast series is produced by Junaid Raza.
Length of the episode is 32 minutes.
You can listen also on:
Text alternative for the episode:
Lotta: Hello and welcome to follow the UNICOM+ podcast which is a collaboration between the University of Turku, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Åbo Academy University. Today we're going to be talking about internships specifically from the academic university's perspective and in the future there will also be an episode on internships related to university for applied sciences. My name is Lotta and I'm a career counsellor and with me today I have Dilukshi Soysa. Welcome. Nice to have you here.
Dilukshi: Thank you!
Lotta: You're a student here at the university and you have, I have found out recently, done an internship. Would you like to tell me a bit about like who you are, what you're studying or when you started your studies?
Dilukshi: Yes, I'm a second year master students. I'm studying public mental health. I came to Finland in 2024. I have been living in Turku around 1 and a half years. My background is health promotion. I am originally from Sri Lanka. I completed my bachelor studies in health promotion in Sri Lanka. Then I worked as a research assistant and also worked as a university teaching assistant. Later I joined a US-based international project. I worked there as a monitoring evaluation and learning officer. After that I applied to my master's, and I came here in 2024. I recently finished my internship and actually today is the last day of my internship.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yes, I'm a second-year master's student. I'm studying public mental health. I came to Finland in 2024 and have been living in Turku for about a year and a half. My background is in health promotion, and I'm originally from Sri Lanka, where I completed my bachelor's studies in health promotion. I then worked as a research assistant and as a university teaching assistant, before joining a US-based international project as a monitoring, evaluation and learning officer. After that, I applied for my master's and came here in 2024. I recently finished my internship, today is actually the last day of it.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: So, where I did it? It is in Turku University of Applied Sciences, mental health research team. There was a project called Melodic. It is about mental health promoting to the young adults who are facing cancer.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So, where did I do it? It was with the mental health research team at Turku University of Applied Sciences, on a project called Melodic, which is about promoting mental health among young adults facing cancer.
Lotta: All right. And before that you have also had quite a lot of experience from other countries right so.
Dilukshi: Yes, in my country I worked with several international organization like world food program and also with the different project with WHO, so several international organizations.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yes, in my country I worked with several international organizations, like the World Food Programme, and also on different projects with WHO — so several international organizations.
Lotta: Okay, I mean it's always interesting to hear how people have developed their career and maybe also ended up here. Was Finland your first choice for the masters?
Dilukshi: Um, actually no because I wanted to continue my studies to PhD. So, I looked for different countries like Canada, Australia and also different European countries too. While I'm searching, I saw there was a course quite related to my field. Because my bachelor study was related to mental health so I saw there is a course called public mental health and when I read about the criteria and everything it's really similar to my field,
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Um, actually no, because I wanted to continue on to a PhD. So I looked at different countries like Canada, Australia, and also various European countries. While I was searching, I saw there was a course quite related to my field. Since my bachelor's studies were related to mental health, I found a course called Public Mental Health, and when I read about the criteria and everything, it was really similar to my field.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: That's why I applied here.
Lotta: And it's a quite new program
Dilukshi: Yeah.
Lotta: I've understood correctly, yeah. Okay so you came to Finland you started your studies and then now you have completed internship how did you find I mean because finding an internship is very hard,
Dilukshi: Yes.
Lotta: And especially at the moment and there's a lot of pressure and responsibility also for like each student personally to find the internships but how did you manage to find an internship?
Dilukshi: Well, it's really true because as an international student especially finding an internship which is related to our study, our field it's really really hard and the today job market is really competitive and especially the course like public mental health it is really newly introduced to the this university and entire of Finland. So still job market is hidden sometime departments are also seeking what kind of the companies are available in two area and in entire country so it's really hard but I tried to apply to the internship around last spring because I didn't try it in autumn that mean my first semester because I didn't know anything about it before applying I want some background I want to know about how to how to apply it and how to make a CV. I didn't know about the word culture. I didn't know about the Finnish culture. So first what I did I leurely studied it. I did some small research and I found what kind of the companies available in Turku city to apply to my internship and I attended the several CV sessions conducted by the career service by you and then I identified what are my weaknesses in CV how I include everything into the one or two pages because the CV, an application later, it's very different. It depends on country to country and it depends on field to field. So, it's very different.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Well, it's really true, because as an international student, especially finding an internship related to our field of study, it's really hard, and today's job market is very competitive, especially for a course like Public Mental Health, which is very newly introduced at this university and in Finland as a whole. So the job market is still somewhat hidden; even departments are still finding out what kinds of companies are available in the area and across the country. So it's really hard. I tried applying for internships around last spring, because I didn't try in autumn, my first semester, since I didn't know anything about it yet. Before applying, I wanted some background; I wanted to know how to apply and how to make a CV. I didn't know about work culture. I didn't know about Finnish culture. So the first thing I did was study it carefully. I did some small research and found out what kinds of companies were available in Turku to apply to for my internship, and I attended several CV sessions run by the career service. From there I identified my weaknesses in my CV, how to fit everything into one or two pages, because a CV and an application letter are very different from country to country and from field to field. So it's very different.
Lotta: Yeah, that's really important to understand as well.
Dilukshi: Yeah, first I studied on that and I worked on that then I try to network with people. I did voluntary work before I got this.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, first I studied that and worked on it, then I tried to network with people. I did voluntary work before I got this internship.
Lotta: Where did you do voluntary work?
Dilukshi: I did voluntary with "Mieli: Turku Crisis Center" because it's really really similar tasks to my study.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): I volunteered with "Mieli: Turku Crisis Center" because the tasks were really similar to my field of study.
Lotta: Yeah. So "Mieli" means mental, so mental health.
Dilukshi: So, Mieli: Turku Crisis Center and so I did the voluntary work, why I did? I wanted to learn about the culture, Finnish work culture.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So, Mieli: Turku Crisis Center and the reason I did that voluntary work was that I wanted to learn about the culture, Finnish work culture.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: So, then I did networking with the Finnish friends because if we need to know about the culture we should have a cultural thing. So at least we have a friend we can know about what kind of the things are going.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So then I networked with Finnish friends, because to learn about the culture, we need that cultural connection. At least with a friend, we can find out what kind of things are going on.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: So then after I try to apply and around from spring season, I applied to the - I wrote for the companies and sometimes I saw the vacancies in there and I directly applied via the vacancies or the advertisements and also I checked the LinkedIn profile every time and this internship I found from the LinkedIn.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So then I started applying, and from around spring, I applied to companies — I wrote to them directly, and sometimes I saw vacancies and applied directly through those vacancies or advertisements. I also checked LinkedIn regularly, and I actually found this internship through LinkedIn.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: Yeah. This is the way I apply to the internship. Before I apply, I did lot of things.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, this is how I applied for the internship. Before applying, I did a lot of preparation.
Lotta: Yeah. How would you say that internships in Finland differ from internships in Sri Lanka for example?
Dilukshi: It's like a same sometimes department help or a school help to find the internship and sometimes students individually find the places. It's not a big harder thing than here. The problem or the first thing is the language.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): It's similar in some ways — sometimes the department or school helps find the internship, and sometimes students find places individually. It's not much harder there than here. The main issue, or the first thing, is the language.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: Yeah. It's our native language and we can use our native language and also in the most of the companies, working language is English. So it's a little bit easier than here.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, it's our native language, so we can use our native language, and in most companies the working language is English. So it's a little bit easier than here.
Lotta: Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah. So, your strategy when looking for the internship in Finland was that you sent emails directly and then also found vacant positions.
Dilukshi: Yeah, both. I used several methods. I use the vacancies available in their companies and LinkedIn or any kind of job sites or also I personally sent an email to them and also if I don't get the response from them I just follow up and also once they responded to me saying "Sorry we don't have the opportunity for you". I asked from them "Can you please give the feedback on my application process?"
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, both. I used several methods. I used the vacancies posted by companies, LinkedIn, or other job sites, and I also personally emailed them. If I didn't get a response, I would follow up. When they responded saying, "Sorry, we don't have an opportunity for you," I would ask them, "Can you please give feedback on my application?"
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: I think it's it was really helpful to me because then I can understand what kind of the weaknesses are in my application.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): I think that was really helpful to me, because then I could understand what the weaknesses in my application were.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: So sometimes they told "Yes, your qualification is good but your Finnish language requirement is not enough".
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So sometimes they'd say, "Yes, your qualifications are good, but your Finnish language level isn't enough."
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: So then I try to learn Finnish. Also sometimes they told "At the moment we don't have funds, At the moment we don't have opportunities for you maybe you can see in next semester, next autumn" likewise maybe then I understood that we should have a proper time to apply. So likewise, I emailed to them and I follow up and I ask the feedback from them and search the LinkedIn. So, I use different methods and different. Yeah.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So then I tried to learn Finnish. Other times they'd say, "At the moment we don't have funding," or "At the moment we don't have opportunities for you — maybe check again next semester, next autumn." From that, I understood there's a proper time to apply. So, in the same way, I emailed them, followed up, asked for feedback, and searched LinkedIn. So I used different methods. Yeah.
Lotta: Yeah. As broad as possible maybe in a way.
Dilukshi: And also networking is also important because I attend to some job fair some internship training programs held by, led by the university. It's not related to my field but I just went and just listen and I listen what kind of the qualities you need to have and what kind of the tasks normally in internship in Finland they are seeking and they are doing.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Networking is also important. I attended some job fairs and internship training programs held by the university. They weren't related to my field, but I went anyway, just to listen, to learn what qualities you need to have and what kinds of tasks are typically expected in internships in Finland.
Lotta: Yeah. Did you apply for many positions like 5, 15, 50?
Dilukshi: Yeah, I think I wrote lot of emails to sometime because my interest was mainly focused on research related tasks. So, I wrote to the different research institutes and supervisors like professors and lecturers and sometimes I wrote to the different NGOs and voluntary organizations also. Yeah.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, I think I wrote a lot of emails at times, because my interest was mainly in research-related tasks. So I wrote to different research institutes and supervisors, like professors and lecturers, and sometimes to different NGOs and voluntary organizations too. Yeah.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: It's around I cannot exactly remember the number but generally I wrote around 20 maybe 20.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): I can't remember the exact number, but I'd say I wrote to around 20, maybe 20.
Lotta: Yeah, okay that's still a good number. I usually say when people ask how many like I have sent 100 applications and I haven't got any response then I think it's really a good thing to, as you have done, ask for feedback back like what kind of things could you maybe improve or are you focusing on the wrong or the right things in applications.
Dilukshi: I think that is the reason because what I have observed many people telling they are sending 150 applications but they are not asking any feedback. Maybe I felt I ask some feedback and I try to recorrect my CV. I attended the CV counselling sessions and I asked from the expert what kind of the things I want to improve, how I correctly need to write the application letter, if I have so many things, so many experience, how I incorporate everything into my CV. So, I think just sending application is not enough. We need to improve.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): I think that's the reason, because from what I've observed, many people say they're sending 150 applications but not asking for any feedback. I felt it was important to ask for feedback and correct my CV. I attended CV counselling sessions and asked the expert what I needed to improve, how to correctly write an application letter, and if I have so much experience, how to fit everything into my CV. So I think just sending applications isn't enough; we need to keep improving.
Lotta: Yeah, we need to be working on it as well. Yeah. So, and the TurkU University of Applied Sciences they hired you. Was it through LinkedIn?
Dilukshi: Yeah, they advertised on the LinkedIn and also then after they sent the advertisement via our all the public mental health student emails also because that means our common email our study coordinator also informed that there is an available vacancy here. You also can apply everybody can apply but the LinkedIn is the first. Yeah.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, they advertised it on LinkedIn, and afterwards they also sent the advertisement to all the public mental health students' emails, our study coordinator informed us through our common mailing list that there was an available vacancy, and that anyone could apply. But LinkedIn was first. Yeah.
Lotta: Okay. And then they chose to have an intern interview with you. How was the interview?
Dilukshi: Oh, actually I just wanted to submit the application letter and the motivation letter and my CV only. I didn't want to face any interview because the supervisor who hired me, she already was a teacher former department head of our department. So, she already knew about the students skills and everything. So, we didn't, me and another student we both got the opportunity from our batch. So, I think she knows about our skills and our background. So, we didn't want to face any interview.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Oh, actually, I only had to submit the application letter, motivation letter, and CV. There wasn't an interview, because the supervisor who hired me was already a teacher and former head of our department, so she already knew about the students' skills and everything. Another student from our batch and I both got the opportunity. So I think, since she already knew our skills and background, we didn't need to go through an interview.
Lotta: Okay. So, there was no interview you just,
Dilukshi: Just applied and then they emailed to me you got this opportunity and then you can, the next process is like this.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Just applied, and then they emailed me saying I got the opportunity, and explained what the next steps were.
Lotta: Okay. Okay. I think that's a bit untypical. So typically there would probably be some kind of kind of interview but good for you that you also already had the possibility to kind of show who you are and what did you work with? like what were the tasks like?
Dilukshi: Okay, so it is generally I would say it is really related to the research based and project based task.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Okay, so generally I would say it was really related to research-based and project-based tasks.
Lotta: Okay
Dilukshi: And it's really close to the my public mental health related studies and also the previous work experience what I have. It is a EU project working with the six European countries.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): And it was really close to my public mental health studies, as well as my previous work experience. It's an EU project working with six European countries.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: There were different tasks. One task was we need to assist to the research activities like data collection and literature review, article writing, documentation likewise work and during these four months I was able to publish two articles.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): There were different tasks. One task was assisting with research activities, like data collection, literature review, article writing, and documentation-related work, and during these four months I was able to publish two articles.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: Yeah. It's in talk journal in Tuku University of Apply Sciences. It is a main journal. So, we get the opportunity to publish two articles related to that project. It is one main task. Another task is supported to the project communication and dissemination activity. Because one of the main responsibility was social media handling.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, it's in the Talk journal at Turku University of Applied Sciences, it's a main journal there. So we got the opportunity to publish two articles related to that project; that was one main task. Another task was supporting the project's communication and dissemination activities, because one of the main responsibilities was handling social media.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: LinkedIn and the website. So, I have to prepare different project related blog post and social media post and website post for the dissemination task. So, it is one main task I did.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): LinkedIn and the website. So I had to prepare various project-related blog posts, social media posts, and website posts for the dissemination task. That was one of the main tasks I did.
Lotta: A kind of science communication in a way.
Dilukshi: Yeah. And other tasks were kind of the support to the project's events and h contributed to the visibility and determination like in that project there are different meetings and also different conferences like because there are six countries working together. So, they have the work packages once the work package started and in the middle of the time they gather to one place in one country and they are doing a big conference. So I have to attend that and I had to present our progress and everything.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah. And the other tasks involved supporting the project's events and contributing to its visibility and dissemination. Since there were six countries working together, there were different meetings and conferences — with different work packages, and partway through each one, everyone would gather in one country for a big conference. I had to attend those and present our progress.
Lotta: Okay.
Dilukshi: So yeah, this kind of the main tasks I have to do in my internship.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): So yeah, those were the main tasks I had to do during my internship.
Lotta: A big project with six countries.
Dilukshi: Yeah, it is. Yeah, a big project, six countries, very very great experts and it was a really really great opportunity in my life because working with such a kind of the great experts and listen to their opinions and their emails and things. It was really great experience.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, it is — a big project, six countries, very great experts, and it was a really great opportunity in my life, because working with such great experts and listening to their opinions, their emails, and so on was a really great experience.
Lotta: Yeah. What did you learn about working in Finland but also working like multinationally? Probably you have some experience from that also from before, but what did you learn during this internship about like how to work?
Dilukshi: Yeah it's, I want to say this project that melodic project it is really really, it was for me it was really convenient to work with them because they were really nice group. Even though they are expert they respect to our ideas and all of our ideas. Sometimes the work culture little bit different than Finland. Time is different. Sometimes when we face some challenges meeting the deadlines because sometimes as an example in Ireland they need more time for the ethical application. So likewise, there were some challenges but generally all the European countries follow the same format.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, I want to say that the Melodic project was really convenient for me to work on, because they were a really nice group. Even though they were experts, they respected our ideas, all of them. Sometimes the work culture was a little different than in Finland; the sense of time is different. We sometimes faced challenges meeting deadlines for example, in Ireland, they need more time for ethical approval applications. So there were some challenges like that, but generally all the European countries follow the same format.
Lotta: Yeah, I can I can imagine. Yeah. What else did you learn during your internship?
Dilukshi: Yeah, well apart from the improving skills and my knowledge, we got the opportunity to present ourselves and it is kind of the good networking because to us through university of applied sciences mental health research team and department of nursing they welcome warmly us they treated us very nicely I really like their healthy workplace because in every gatherings they invited us. I never felt any kind of the feeling like I am international; I am an intern student like I never felt it because that workplace is really healthy. I learn about that Finnish work culture.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, well, apart from improving my skills and knowledge, we got the opportunity to present ourselves, and it was good networking, because the mental health research team and the Department of Nursing at the university of applied sciences welcomed us warmly and treated us very well. I really liked their healthy workplace, because they invited us to every gathering. I never felt like I was "international" or "just an intern student" I never felt that way, because that workplace is really healthy. I learned about Finnish work culture from that.
Lotta: Okay,
Dilukshi: Healthy Finnish work culture. I would say it's really nice and quality of life, the quality of work life I learn because the person who came from the Asian country we are little bit overwork and sometimes in, I remember, in my back country sometimes we are working we are missing our meals and we are working too much but in here what I learn is every time my supervisor ask every time I'm sending all the documents and tasks I assigned, before the deadline and she always telling don't hurry you don't want to take stress you can freely work so what I learned is the quality of life once the person has the good quality of balance in life the work will be perfect and also the person also will be healthy another thing is be honest and genuinely work If we lie or something I think it's not work because we need to present our capacity, what kind of the capacity honestly we have so it works well.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Healthy Finnish work culture I'd say it's really nice, and I learned about quality of work-life balance, because as someone coming from an Asian country, we tend to overwork a bit. I remember that back home we would sometimes skip meals and work too much. But here, what I learned is that even though I always sent my documents and assigned tasks in before the deadline, my supervisor would always tell me, "Don't hurry, don't stress, you can work freely." So what I learned is that once a person has a good work-life balance, the work will turn out well, and the person will also be healthy. Another thing is being honest and genuinely working if we lie or exaggerate, I don't think it works, because we need to honestly present our real capacity. That way, things work well.
Lotta: Yeah. Maybe also related to honesty is the fact of like highlighting if there's any trouble or a problem or if you haven't understood what needs to be done. So being honest about like needing more guidelines for example.
Dilukshi: Yes, of course. Because what I understood is that if I can't do anything, in Finnish work culture directly saying "sorry I don't have that experience I can't do this work" but in my country we are a little bit ashame or we are a little bit afraid to say that I can't do this maybe I will try it like that but in here if the person doesn't know about well, he can exactly tell I can't do this.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yes, of course. What I understood is that if I can't do something, in Finnish work culture you can directly say, "Sorry, I don't have that experience, I can't do this task." But in my country, we're a bit ashamed, or a bit afraid, to say that we'd rather say "I'll try" instead. But here, if a person doesn't know how to do something, they can simply say, "I can't do this."
Lotta: Or maybe say like I need some help.
Dilukshi: I need some help. I need assistant because I can't do it. I don't know about it. So, but that is very good that honest opinions I learn. If I don't know anything, I have a that mean I should have a strength to tell it. Sorry, I don't know it. Yeah. I want assistance like that.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): I need some help, I need assistance, because I can't do it, I don't know about it. But that's very good those honest opinions are something I learned. If I don't know something, I need to have the strength to say, "Sorry, I don't know it, I need assistance," like that.
Lotta: And maybe also the trust that no one's going to judge you or like feel that you're not enough only because you don't.
Dilukshi: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If if we tell like this they will not harm us that mean.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, yeah, yeah. If we tell them, they won't harm us that's what I mean.
Lotta: Yeah. Yeah. No one will harm you.
Dilukshi: If we tell if we tell to them sorry I can't do this because I don't have the background knowledge about that. Okay. Well, we will help you. That is the nice thing.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): If we tell them, "Sorry, I can't do this because I don't have the background knowledge," they'll say, "Okay, we'll help you." That's the nice thing.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: Yeah.
Lotta: Well, yeah. And that's kind of also why it's important as an intern to have like the supervisor there to support you in in those kind of situations because even though as an intern you are a part of the work community also as you said like you're not treated necessarily any different.
Dilukshi: Yes.
Lotta: But of course you still need some more. You are still a student and you're not expected to do everything as like the experts do it. So you will have or you should have the supervision during the internship. Okay. So, you did this internship at the Turku University of Applied Sciences. Was it paid? Was the internship paid? This is also something that we highly encourage.
Dilukshi: Yes, it is paid because as a person I wanted to once I apply or once I finding any kind of the internship in my mind it was there I want to find paid internship because when you are doing tasks and when you are learning paid it's important so I my internship was paid and I applied for the university subsidy also.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yes, it was paid, because from the moment I started applying or looking for an internship, I had it in mind that I wanted a paid one because when you're doing tasks and learning, being paid is important. So my internship was paid, and I also applied for the university subsidy.
Lotta: So the subsidy is something that that you know very much about because you have used it. But we have we have got some questions about what the subsidy is and how it works. And I'm going to try to briefly go through how the internship subsidy works. So it is a subsidy that the university can pay to an employer for employing you as an intern, as a student intern. It's a lump sum. So once it is paid to the employer after your internship, it is 1,800 euros. At the University of Turku, Åbo Academy University has a bit different numbers, but it's still similar. The system also exists in most of the Finnish academic universities. So, this is something that we do and coordinate also on national level. So, the employer who hires a student for at least three months for an internship can benefit from this subsidy. And the requirements are basically that your internship tasks correspond to your field or to your field of studies or to your own kind of career plans. So there's a motivational part when you apply for the subsidy where you can say how this internship would help you progress in your career. And then as we talked before, you need to have a supervisor or someone to give you guidance in the internship. And then of course the most important criteria is that your internship needs to be paid and the the amount of salary is regulated or agreed on again on a national level. So we do this together with other academic universities in Finland and at the moment the salary request is around uh 1,400 and 1,500 euros. So, it is a yearly changing amount and some but we as a university we communicate this to employers and you can also probably communicate some of the requirements also to your employer. So what you can do when you look for internship you can mention that you have this subsidy it is granted to student once during your studies so now you cannot use it again
Dilukshi: Yes.
Lotta: But I'm happy that you have used it for a good purpose and when you have been selected then for an internship then you need to apply for the subsidy before you start the internship or at least you need to start the application process before you start and you apply this from your faculty at the University of Turku. The application form is electronical. So you fill it in through the intranet and then it goes to your employer. They fill in their information. Who is the supervisor? What is the salary? What are the tasks? And then it goes to your faculty that kind of okays it. It's usually a study advisor or a teacher who approves the subsidy. We're going to be putting links for the internship subsidies at UTU and Åbo Academy University in in the descriptions of this episode. So, you can find them directly there or then you can test your luck and try to find it on the intranet pages. I know the intranet pages have a reputation of being chaotic and not very easy to find but there's a really good search engine function at least at the University of Turku. So, so you can you can use that one. And then one final thing I want to mention about doing internship because you're also not from EU or outside of EU and when you do an internship that you get credits for then it doesn't affect the limitation on working hours that you have in your residence permits for students. So if you get credits for your internships or for your internship that is if the internship is included in your studies then you don't need to be calculating are you working more than 30 hours a week on average or not. That's about the internship subsidy. Is there something that you would like to add?
Dilukshi: Yeah I think when once you mention about the application process that mean I would say it's not really hard because for my subsidy employer that mean of applied sciences send sent the application to me then I sign and it's not a big thing just need to summarize what we are what we need to do what are our tasks what kind of the goals I am expecting do this internship then it goes to the my study coordinator then she once she approve it then it's go to the faculty and this in then it's automatically sent the application the process is really convenient.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, I think regarding the application process, I'd say it's not really hard, because for my subsidy, the employer the university of applied sciences sent the application to me, and then I signed it. It's not a big thing; you just need to summarize what we need to do, what our tasks are, and what goals I'm expecting from the internship. Then it goes to my study coordinator, and once she approves it, it goes to the faculty, and from there it's automatically submitted. The process is really convenient.
Lotta: Yeah. Yeah. And this the filling in of the application form is something that we encourage also if you don't do also if you don't use the subsidy because at the moment we as a university we don't have any other way of knowing where our students do internships. We don't know for example how many international students are doing internships at all. So if you are doing an internship and if you are not using the subsidy, we would still like you to fill in the application form just for us to have some data on because that of course also can help us then promote the internships to the region and to employers in the region because at the moment there's a big pressure on and also an emphasis on supporting international students in getting jobs in getting internships. So having more information about how good or bad the situation looks is something that we would be we would be thankful about. Finally, last question. What kind of advice would you give to a person who is now thinking about doing an internship in the future?
Dilukshi: First thing I want to say don't be hurry. Okay, that mean you need to find the internship. It is but don't be hurry. First of all, I have seen so many student from the beginning of the first semester, they are in a hurry to find you need to find internship, you need to find internship. But without any background especially if you are an international student first take a small time and do some research about what kind of the companies you are available in Turku or any kind of the regions you want to work and what kind of the first make a background first identify the Finnish culture. I believe when you applying for the internship at least you should have a sense of culture. I think companies also expecting it once you just arrive to Finland and once you apply for the company companies also know she or he hasn't too much sense of the culture about Finnish work culture at least not about the Finnish culture at least about the Finnish culture how the people are working how the work is going likewise and networking with others do some if you want to know about the Finnish work culture to do some voluntary work and attend to the university of the good career service provide a lot of opportunities and platform to the student. I think we can use it. It's a very important for all of us. I use it I attend to the CV sessions counseling sessions and also UNICOM+ project.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): The first thing I want to say is: don't be in a hurry. I mean, yes, you do need to find an internship, but don't rush it. I've seen so many students who, from the beginning of their first semester, are in a hurry, thinking "I need to find an internship, I need to find an internship." But without any background especially if you're an international student first take some time and do research: what kind of companies are available in Turku, or in whatever region you want to work in. Build up your background first, and get to know Finnish culture. I believe that when you apply for an internship, you should at least have a sense of the culture I think companies expect that too. If you've just arrived in Finland and apply to a company, they'll notice if you don't have much sense of Finnish work culture how people work, how things get done, and so on. So network with others; if you want to learn about Finnish work culture, do some voluntary work, and make use of the university's career service, which offers a lot of opportunities and platforms for students. I think we should use it it's really important for all of us. I used it myself: I attended the CV sessions, counselling sessions, and the UNICOM+ project.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: And then also great networking you can find. Networking means not only about the going to the companies and trying to contact with them not only about that just spend time with Finnish society, Finnish community.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): And also, you can build great networks. Networking doesn't just mean going to companies and trying to contact them it also means spending time with Finnish society, the Finnish community.
Lotta: Yeah.
Dilukshi: Yeah, it is one thing before the apply just make your background then you can apply. other thing I want to mention be honest and gently tell what kind of the capacity you have. If you lie or if you tell oh yes I can do everything like that. so they they believe you they trust you you can do everything. So once you go to work and if you cannot do it it's kind of the damage to your yourself and maybe it will lose opportunities for the future future students too. so be gentle and be honest and other thing is contacts companies and have a follow up asking feedback and ask I would like to know about the feedback about my application process. It would be really important for my future development likewise ask feedback. And finally I want to say finding an internship is not easy task. It's hard but we can do u because most of the students I also face that situation once we apply and applying we are not getting a situation we are trying to give up don't give up take every time once your rejection is a take it as a learning experience
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): Yeah, that's one thing before applying, build your background, then you can apply. Another thing I want to mention is to be honest and gently share what capacity you actually have. If you lie, or say "yes, I can do everything," they'll believe you and trust that you can do everything. Then once you start work, if you can't actually do it, it damages you, and it might also cost future students opportunities. So be gentle and be honest. Another thing is to contact companies and follow up asking for feedback ask them, "I'd like to know feedback on my application process," because it's really important for your future development. And finally, I want to say that finding an internship is not an easy task. It's hard, but we can do it most students, myself included, face this situation: when we apply and don't get anywhere, we start to feel like giving up. Don't give up. Take every rejection as a learning experience.
Lotta: Yeah well that is really sound advice because as you say it's hard to get internships it takes a lot of time.
Dilukshi: Yeah,
Lotta: It takes a lot of background work. but I think it pays off. Yeah, hopefully for most of the people. Thank you very much Dilukshi.
Dilukshi: Thank you for inviting me.
Lotta: Yeah, thank you very much for sharing. I didn't know what you were working with. So now I mean it's interesting also to hear that as a career counselor like where you have started and now where you are in your process.
Dilukshi: I think I want to thank to you and funny also because I had to always keep contacts within your projects and your sessions and I learned a lot from them because the Finnish work culture and Finnish application process is quite really new to me. So, I learned a lot from the career services.
Dilukshi (AI-rephrased): I want to thank you, and it's funny too, because I always kept in contact through your projects and sessions, and I learned a lot from them, since the Finnish work culture and application process were quite new to me. So I learned a lot from the career services.
Lotta: Great. I hope this episode can work also as an inspiration for you listening and watching. Good luck in the search of internships. Thank you for watching and thank you for listening to the UNICOM+ podcast co-funded by the European Union. See you around.