How To Volunteer In Finland; List of places, websites, and organizations you can apply to become a Volunteer in Finland and Successfully Build your Career and Job Experience in Finland.

Without mincing words, let me first start by saying that Finland is one of the best places in the world to Live and Work. The Finnish system is well organized so there are lots of benefits you will experience from living and working in Finland, as compared to many other countries, especially developing countries. Having said that, I must also point out that Finland is not without it’s share of economic and societal challenges, just like the rest of the world. 

One of those challenges is in the area of the Labour market. Unemployment is one of the issues that many people are facing in Finland. I have spoken about this in some of my recent videos on YouTube and I also gave some of the reasons for the rise in unemployment rate, why most foreigners find it difficult to secure good jobs in Finland, a list of Jobs that you can easily get in Finland as a Foreigner because they don’t require Finnish language, and a host of other very helpful videos.

I will quickly list some of these videos below so you can go and check them out after this post, and then we can continue below with today’s Blog post. Hey, also check the description boxes of those videos as well for more information and more content related to that topic.

Okay, back to today’s blog post; One of the post corona effects on the Finnish economy, and the world at large, is that many people lost their jobs during those difficult times. This even threw a bigger blow to the already challenged Labour market. In my video on YouTube yesterday, I talked about some of the reasons that influence Getting a Job in Finland negatively. And one of those reasons is that many job seekers, especially Non Finns, do not have the necessary Job experience that many Finnish employers are looking for.

So I went ahead and shared How you can successfully build your Career and your CV in Finland to help you secure a permanent Job here in Finland. One good and proven way to do that is by Building your Job experience in Finland. And there are 3 Major Ways to do that. So I shared all about these and also some good tips you don’t want to miss in yesterday’s video. One of those ways as I mentioned in the video is by Volunteering and I promised to share today on this blog post, the places and organizations where you can Volunteer in Finland to Build your Job Experience and increase your chances of getting hired.

Many people I know and those I spoke with when I was researching this very topic explained to me how they were able to increase their market value in the Job search by signing up for some Volunteer in Finland programs and then listing on their CV their Job experiences. Quickly, Here is the video below. So go watch it after this post. The post continues below with the List of places you can volunteer in Finland for free.

So Where Can You Volunteer in Finland to help build your CV and Career?

There are some organisations in Finland who are searching for Volunteers and are willing to take Volunteers for even long periods of time. Let me quickly point our here that when you Volunteer in Finland, it is an unpaid work. It is based on the mutual agreement that you work for free because you believe in the cause or you have passion for that work, or you want to use your free time to do some good will work and give back to the community. Or that you want to learn some new skill. No matter what your reason is, volunteering is a free will unpaid work.

So first let’s start with the websites where you can search for voluntary work and volunteer in Finland and also around the world. Below are some websites; 

1. Vapaaehtoistyo.fi: This is more like a website or search service where you can browse and locate available places to volunteer in Finland and directly apply through the website. On this website, you can search for voluntary work by place, the time you are available to do the work, and your area of interest. You can access this website in Finnish, English, or Swedish. Just click on the Menu button and you will find the option to choose the language that best suits you.

2. Toimeksi.fi: This is another website where you can search for Voluntary work in Finland. Just like the above website I mentioned, you can still filter your search by location, time, and area of interest. In addition, you can also choose the organization or coordinator you would like to work with, the age of the persons you would like to do voluntary work for, the form or position you would like to work in, and your desired start and end dates. The website is accessible in Finnish, English, Swedish, and Russian.

3. Hiiop100.fi: This is yet another website and it has the same characteristics as the above mentioned websites. You can choose if you want to work with children and young persons only, old people, as well as the theme or area of specialization. For example you can choose to work in matters pertaining to Development, Art and culture, Multiculturalism and equality, Mental health work, Wellness and exercise, Advice, or even Environmental issues. On this website, you can also read the experiences of other volunteers who have worked in some of the fields mentioned above. The website is only accessible in Finnish and Swedish. 

4. Workaway.info: This is different from the above websites in that it works more like a connecting and networking site. Almost like a dating site. Haha. I said that because you will find some Host there introducing themselves, their work or where they need volunteers, and inviting you to come over to help out. Okay seriously this is one of my best because of how it works.

Okay let me explain to you briefly. You join the community either as a Workawayer or a Host. A workawayer is someone who is willing to travel to another place and help out a Host for a few hours a day (about 4-5 hours per day, 5 days a week) in exchange for a place to stay and food. Some agreements even include small wages or salary.

A Host could be a business or a private person who is looking for volunteers and needs help with the business or even at home in their garden (for example). Let me point out here that signing up as a Host or a workawayer is free of charge, but first you have to join the community for a small fee per year. Workaway is a global community, so anyone can sign up as a host or as a workawayer. They offer over 50,000 opportunities in more than 170 countries. You can search for voluntary work based on the country or area of interest.

5. Volunteerworld.com: This is another website where you can search for volunteering opportunites and programs worldwide. The platform works almost as same as the one I mentioned above. On their database, you can find voluntary work with over 200 organisations in 81 countries. It is also available to university students and they can count their voluntary work as an internship. On this platform, you will find opportunities for group volunteering, as well as long and short term voluntary works. As a volunteer, the programs are free of charge for you because all costs are paid by the organisations.

Other websites you should definitely check out are The great Project, Free volunteering, and Go abroad.

Now let us move on to the organizations and NGOs where you can directly apply to Volunteer in Finland.

1. Maailmanvaihto.fi: This is a non-religious and non-political NGO whose main work is to build intercultural relationships by sending out volunteers from Finland and receiving volunteers in Finland from around the world. They provide accommodation for the volunteers either at the work place or with a host family. Maailmanvaihto is closely affiliated with the ICYE program which is the International Cultural Youth Exchange programme which offers voluntary opportunities in over 40 countries around the world. 

So Maailmanvaihto coordinates voluntary work under 2 different categories. The first one is under the ICYE and it is available only to volunteers coming from ICYE countries outside of Europe. The volunteers take care of the costs of the programs themselves. The other category is the ESC (European Solidarity Corps), which is meant for European citizens and is funded by the European Union. The website is accessible in Finnish, English and Swedish. On the website, you can also read about the experiences of other volunteers.  

2. Finnish Red Cross (Suomen Punainen Risti): The Finnish red cross is one of the popular places where you can volunteer in Finland. They have a lot of programs, multicultural services, good will collection activities, and also their flea market. They usually hire volunteers in Finland to help out in these places.

3. Pelastakaa Lapset: This is a Finnish organisation which simply translates to Save the Children. Here you can volunteer to work with children and young persons. They take online volunteers as well as physically. Just like the Red cross above, some of the activities here include working in reception centers for asylum seekers, helping out to collect good will and money during fundraising, helping out in their family house for children, helping out foster families, as well as sports mentor. There are a host of other opportunities to help out as a volunteer when you sign up.

Other places where you can volunteer are Familia, MLL, Ensi Turva Koti, Salvation Army, and Scouts. You should definitely check these places out. 

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