Vahid emphasises knowing the locals when job hunting

Vahid is a former mining engineer who quit his job to find better ways to use his creativity and handcrafting skills. He came to do his master’s studies in visual communication at Aalto University and then met his Finnish partner. Later, his design skills met his lifelong passion of cooking and he became a food designer, starting his own business in Helsinki.

1. My initial expectations of Finland were… utopian, but in time I realised that every society has its own problems and challenges – even the happiest one in the world. 

2. What I find surprising about working in Finland is… that knowing the locals is as vital in Finland as in Iran, in order to find a place in the job market.

3. If I could change one thing about Finnish working life it would be… changing the mindset that you should figure out everything by yourself.

4. My favourite thing about Finland is… the very moment that, all of a sudden, the spring appears, every year.

5. The Finnish word that best describes working here is… ‘kiire’, which means busy. This is the first thing that you hear from people, even if they’re unemployed.