Viewpoints
Viewpoints is a blog in which different writers express their views and opinions on current topics. A new blog post is published about once every four weeks.
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Persistence and the Sanssi card helped me to get a job
I am a 20-year-old young man from Espoo and work at Ruoholahti Intersport in Helsinki. After passing the matriculation examination in 2013, I completed military service of six months. I plan to begin my vocational studies in the next few years, but I’m not yet completely sure of the field.
As I was unemployed for five months only, the period mainly felt relaxing and liberating after the hard work at school and the military service. I visited the Employment and Economic Development Centre a few times during these months, but got no actual support from there.
When I started looking for a job, my main wish was to find something to do with sports. Still, my search covered many sectors of retailing: I applied for nearly 20 different jobs before succeeding. I didn’t lose heart, however, but continued with an optimistic mind.
I was given a Sanssi card, which proved useful at an interview for this job at Intersport Ruoholahti. The outcome was a sudden and pleasant surprise. I had emailed my CV to some employers just the day before and now I was asked to come for a job interview. I agreed to come the following week and felt really excited.
At the interview I was naturally a little nervous and so perhaps not quite myself. The interview was relatively short, but I think the questions were all relevant, about my background and the duties of a shop assistant, for example.
Now I work part time and for a trial period of four months. My duties include sales, customer service and goods handling. I feel that the job is exactly right for me - I’m service-oriented and the atmosphere in the store is great. Every day there is motivating, thanks to customers and my workmates.
Working for Intersport is close to my heart, as I’m keen on various sports. I do this much out of interest, not out of necessity. Finding the right products for customers makes me as happy as them.
Now I want to work, which means that I’m putting off my study plans a bit.
What I want to say to other young people is that it pays to just be yourself and keep trying, even if you may not find a suitable job right away. However, energy and a certain type of modesty are qualities that help when looking for a job, as an ability to adapt to different duties is important at many workplaces.
For myself, scanty work experience was no obstacle to getting an interesting job; I believe that my positive attitude and that I really wanted to have this job were decisive.
Writer Joni Yliviitala works for Intersport Ruoholahti in Helsinki.
