"Just like Minnesota – actually pretty warm”

The work-life balance in Finland is excellent. Especially if you're like me, more of a seasoned developer, and you don't want to participate in that 60–70-hour work week rat race startup mentality.
 

One big difference is that healthcare is usually tied to your job in the US. In Finland, you get affordable public healthcare regardless of employment.  
 

Another thing is that in many states in the US, there's no union protection or collective bargaining agreements, and you can basically be let go without cause. In Finland, the law and contracts are designed to favor and protect the weaker party.
 

I think all this makes my work more productive and of higher quality. 

Don’t expect it to be like home. You need to embrace the difference – the Finnish mentality, the culture, and the general way of doing things. Some things you’ll love, and some will strike you as odd, but you need to look at it as a positive thing, because otherwise why would you come here?  

Part of that is going to be learning the language, which will probably take a while. I’ve studied Arabic, so the language rules are not that hard, but the Turku dialect is challenging.

I like cold weather, but the winters haven’t been as bad as I expected. Granted, I live on the southern coast, so it keeps things moderate. Just like Minnesota – it’s actually pretty warm!

I had been thinking of leaving the US since 2016 and was looking at English-speaking countries at first. Someone pointed out that in IT in northern Europe, they have mostly international teams, and everybody there speaks pretty good English anyway.

I was previously exposed to Finnish culture in Oregon and eventually I focused my search on Finland. I started to get serious about coming here and took online university classes for Finnish and learned more about the country. 

In 2021, I started looking for jobs, and a Finnish recruiter posted about me on LinkedIn. After that I started getting contacts that eventually led me to If in 2022.  

“International recruitment has expanded the pool of potential talent. Regardless of location, this helps in finding the right fit for the team. Diversity in the workplace increases, lowering the threshold for anyone to come work here. A person is accepted as they are and does not need to fit into any mold.” 
– Saara Roine, Strategy and Delivery Performance Lead 

If Insurance is the leading property and casualty insurer in the Nordics for private and corporate customers. They have 7 600 employees, of which 1 100 works in IT.  Read more about Tech career at If.