Today it’s Independence Day in Finland. 100 years of it. Blue and white lights are being lit on buildings in different parts of the world. Even in Ethiopia. It’s an honour to be remembered by other countries. What Finns love the most is hearing praise. We’re really proud of our nation. No one is perfect though. Like any other country, we’re not saintly. This is not the day to have negative thoughts.
Google greeting us
There’s a saying in Finland, it’s a jackpot to be born in Finland. You really can say that. For starters, there haven’t been any wars since 1917. Our school system has been praised. We get our basic education for free. We don’t need to pay for our school lunch either. It doesn’t matter what background you come from, you still get an education. High school is only optional. If you don’t want to go, you can study an occupation in vocational school instead. So if you don’t go to high school, it’s not the end of the world. There are different ways to educate yourself. Education of any kind is very important. You have a better chance to get a job. It depends on what kind of job you’re looking for though.
Finns love their sport. Especially ice hockey. We have won the championship twice, 1995 and 2011. Winter sports, in general, have been successful. We’re also good at other sports. Recent success has been in female floorball and ringette.
Finns are also well known in motorsport. If you want to win, hire a Finn, is a well known saying. Being a small nation with so many champions have amazed other countries. There haven’t been any champions in recent years though. The standard is higher and many other great drivers are coming along from other countries. But I think there will always be Finns in motorsport.
There are so many great things in Finland so it would take forever to write. We have nature and we have the sauna but it’s so much more. Never underestimate a Finn. We might be famous for being introverted and reserved. But when we get going, there’s nothing that stops us. We’re honest and trustworthy. I’m proud to be a Finn. Veterans fought for our independence and for 100 years Finland has been war-free. I’m happy to have been born here and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Turku Castle. Light Art. For Finland 100 years of independence
Recently on The daily post in daily prompt, there’s been words that are kind of hinting. Words like Believe, Risky, Ascend, Loyal and now Brave. It’s like they are trying to tell me something. All of those words have a meaning when it comes to job search. You need to believe in yourself and be loyal to your goals. Without some risk you’ll won’t get far. You want to ascend to the next level of your life and not get stuck. Most of all you need to be brave and that’s where I lack it. Sometimes I do feel brave though. Like when I went to see Robbie Williams this summer. From my point of view that is a brave move. I didn’t back down like I usually do. I just took the chance and went. I’m not into big crowds but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I ended up having a really good time. I wish I could be brave like that more often.
Back in 2015, I wrote a post about my job search. Some things have changed since then. Like the photography and job search campaigns thing. The latter I skipped altogether. When you looked through a lot of job ads, they’re soon coming out of your ears. I can understand why some unemployed think job search is useless. I hate the writing part where you have to explain yourself why you’re the one the employers are looking for. Especially when I have to write them in Finnish. My mother tongue is Swedish so it shines through in my writing. At least that’s what my web design teacher told me. I’ve always thought my Finnish writing was alright but now I feel insecure. Maybe the reason why I haven’t got even an interview is because of the writing. I have got into education despite that so it can’t be it. Finnish is not the easiest language so it’s not that easy for Finns either. If I keep looking to work for someone else, all my skills I’ve learned so far will go to waste. Honestly, I’m getting fed up with this whole job search thing. The gaps in my work experience are probably too high but at least I wasn’t totally lazy. I did have those clients when I studied web design so I do have some experience in the field.
I don’t really know what to call myself anymore. Yesterday I did something I didn’t think I would do. I applied for an education for a graphic designer in the same school where I studied a photographer degree, Helsinki Design School. Applying doesn’t do any harm. If I don’t get in, it doesn’t matter. I’m still looking for work and if I did find one, I could still go to school. Some say this school is a joke and that the degrees don’t mean anything. Even though I didn’t get a job in photography, I still experienced things I wouldn’t normally do. Employers might not see the degrees worthwhile but in the end, it’s the skills of people that matter. I think in Finland, certificates are too important. Especially in design. There are different ways to educate yourself and you don’t need to go to fancy schools to learn. Jealousy is a problem in Finland. If you have taken a simpler route to design, you get the look you’re not good enough. They don’t say it out loud but you know they mean it.
I see younger people’s work in design and I feel I’ve no chance in the business. I feel like Chandler Bing in Friends when he changes jobs and he started to work in advertising where all these young people worked. He felt so old and thought he didn’t have a chance. In the end, he did get a job there as a manager or something like that. In real life, you can’t get a job that easily if you have no experience or education. Employers are so into thinking about the future so they hire younger people. But how much do these 20 something know anything about life anyway? Of course, they should also get a chance but experienced shouldn’t be disregarded either. I wish I had the power to hire unemployees who’s been rejected for different reasons. But that’s too much for one person to handle. Being the employer is no piece of cake either.
As for what to call myself. I want to do something more than just designing websites. I wonder what people think of long job titles. How about web designer/photographer/graphic designer. Just designer doesn’t say much. It still feels weird to call myself a designer. They say you should stand out of from the crowd and that is it. I can do more than just one thing. The whole standing out is a bit strange. Aren’t we all a bit different in some way? I for sure hope there’s no one like me out there. I couldn’t handle two of me. At least I have been brave enough to be different and not walk the same path other people expect me to. I’m going all the way and it doesn’t matter what others think. Always follow the path you’ve chosen. That’s what I call bravery.
Today it’s Independence Day in Finland. 100 years of it. Blue and white lights are being lit on buildings in different parts of the world. Even in Ethiopia. It’s an honour to be remembered by other countries. What Finns love the most is hearing praise. We’re really proud of our nation. No one is perfect though. Like any other country, we’re not saintly. This is not the day to have negative thoughts.
In my world 