Led by Suomen Mentorit, Future in Finland mentoring programme aims at strengthening the employment opportunities and retention of international higher education graduates in Finland. The programme responds to the current concerns about talent shortages and recruitment challenges that are slowing down business growth and development across various sectors.
Applications for this year’s Future in Finland mentoring programme are open until 9th of August 2026!
Mentoring by Future in Finland
The initiative offers international students the opportunity to participate in one-to-one mentoring, build professional networks, and establish closer connections with Finnish working life. Over 100 international talents will run through a 6-month one-to-one mentoring programme with an experienced professional, focusing particularly on topics such as integrating into Finnish way–of–life, making a job search, an internship, or a placement for thesis easier. This programme is conducted in English and aims to ease the process of settling into the Finnish labour market by helping participants find attractive career opportunities -and being one step closer to build a long-term future in Finland.
The mentoring programme takes place from September 2026 until February 2027 and during these months the mentoring pairs shall meet at least once a month. Besides the one-to-one meetings, the programme has the following complementary events:
- 10 September 2026, 16:00-18:00 | International mentoring training (for mentors, on Teams)
- 15 September 2026, 16:30-18:00 | The Kick-Off of the programme (Teams)
- 12 November 2026, 15:00-19:00 | Follow-up on mentoring training (for mentors) & joint midterm meeting (live, Helsinki)
- 4 February 2027, 16:30-18:00 | Closing event of the programme (Teams)
Who is this programme for?
Mentees
We are looking for mentees with the following profiles:
- A degree student in a Finnish university or university of applied sciences, or graduated in the field within a year
- Motivated to integrating into Finnish way-of-life; exchanging information, develop personal competences and creating work and social networks
- Keen on receiving career advice from an experienced professional
- Currently searching for an internship, a thesis position, or a job matching their higher education
- Availability to commit for 6 mentoring meetings (ca. 1,5h per meeting, once per month) between September 2026 and February 2027.
In this mentoring programme, the mentees will be matched with a mentor for one-to-one meetings, with a minimum of six meetings in total. Additionally, the programme facilitates the creation of professional networks through networking.
Mentors
Mentors
To contribute as a mentor in the programme, the following shall be considered:
- Availability to commit for 6 mentoring meetings (ca. 1,5h per meeting, once per month) between September 2026 and February 2027, and commitment for international mentoring trainings (2 sessions during the course of the programme)
- Genuine willingness to help and support younger international professionals in career development, self-employment, and solving working life issues.
- Interest in a meaningful volunteer work and an opportunity to learn from younger professionals.
The mentoring programme offers a chance to be paired with a mentee, with whom at least six meetings will be arranged by mutual agreement. It provides an opportunity to learn from a younger international talent and to broaden perspectives. The programme also enables the sharing of experiences, knowledge, and skills to support the mentee’s development. In addition, it includes valuable networking opportunities.
A joint project of Finnish organisations
The programme is supported by City of Helsinki, City of Espoo, and 3AMK (Haaga-Helia, Laurea and Metropolia). Further collaboration partners include Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), Väestöliitto (the Family Federation of Finland) and Boardman Advisors.
