Study

A collection of 3 posts

How I found internships as a foreign student in Finland

Hello guys, it’s been a while since my last post. Today I want to share with you about how I found three internships as a foreign student in Finland.

I was a student at a University of Applied Sciences (UAS). My study program required three separate internships (also called practical training) before I was eligible for graduation. These internships are ranked in three levels: basic practice, field-specific practice, and professional practice. Ideally, these three internships should be in different places but it’s also okay if you do a long internship in one workplace and earn the 30 mandatory credits there. For me, it was the first case where I went to 3 different workplaces.

1. Basic Practice

I participated in a lot of hackathons and events from my school (TUAS) and other organizations in the city during my time there. The events were most of the time very well-organized, interesting, and best of all, free. There was this one hackathon called Challenge Turku Goes Green. Its topic was Circular Economy. The event was filled with challenging but intriguing questions for several teams to tackle. After it was over, I reached out to the teacher who was the main organizer. I remember asking her something like: “I am very interested in this Circular Economy topic and I would love to get further involved. Is there anything I can help you with?”

The teacher was so kind. Unexpectedly, she told me I could do an internship at the Circular Economy campus and earned credits. It turned out that there was a whole research group about this topic. That’s how I got my first internship. It was unpaid, but the study credits and the experiences I gained there were so worth it. On top of that, I got a much more in-depth understanding of Circular Economy, which was what motivated me in the first place. At the end of my internship, I even got a chance to join a two-week intensive course about Circular Economy with numerous exciting outdoor activities, at no cost. The course was one of the best memories I got during the whole practical training period.

Part of my Certificate of Internship period, hopefully, it gives you a brief understanding of what I did.

2. Field-Specific Practice

Most Finnish universities have exchange study programs available. Schools strongly encourage their students to go on an exchange. The benefits of an exchange study should be obvious. You get to see a new culture, learn to speak a new language, experience something entirely different at the comforting thought that the trip will only last 3 months, so if it doesn’t live up to your expectations, you can always go back 😉

If you look a little more carefully, you may find out that there are exchange practical training opportunities as well. So instead of going to another country to study, you go there to gain working experience, while also getting to experience all the above benefits. Sometimes you could even get a paid internship! Make sure you talk with your school’s advisor to find out if some programs like this exist, also apply early!

In my case, I went to Japan for three beautiful spring-summer months for my internship. I didn’t get paid directly for my work, but I got a scholarship worth 80 000 yen per month (around 650 euros at that time) from the government. It was more than enough for me to live in Japan because the living cost was very cheap there thanks to the school’s dormitory. I had to pay only around 120 euros/month for accommodation and lunch. You can check out my blog post to get more information about how to prepare for an exchange trip to Japan.

My tasks were about building a web application using my existing skills set, so it totally matched my study major (I was an ICT student). My supervisor was so nice and helpful. He guided me to work in the right direction while also making sure to give me tasks that I found interesting. The whole process was pretty easy and enjoyable. The best part about this internship, needless to say, was the weekends and the traveling parts where I got to explore Japan! It was such a beautiful experience that I have many times dreamt of going there again 🙂 And of course, it also earned me an additional 15 study credits.

My school lunch in Japan costs only 320 yen (2.5 euros)

3. Professional Practice

For professional practice, my goal was to work in a real company where I would have a chance to work on real-life projects. I started with making a portfolio that showcases my projects, both from school and from my personal free time. Then I applied to all the junior positions I found on LinkedIn. Or any position that didn’t have the “senior” word in their job title, to be more accurate 🙂 I think I sent around 40-50 applications until I got my first interview.

The interview happened while I was still in Japan, in the middle of my second internship. I didn’t hear back from the company until one month later. It turned out they had already found a person suitable for the position that I applied for, but they liked my enthusiasm during the interview so they offered me a trainee position to write my thesis at their company. I happily took the offer. If you want to know how I felt after working there for half a year, check out my other blog post where I wrote about my experience in working in a Finnish company 🙂 The internship turned into a full-time job offer 6 months later. It has been an incredible journey where I’ve been learning new things every single day from my lovely colleagues.

4. Conclusion

I graduated half a year earlier than the scheduled study time, largely thanks to my early initiatives to find internships and finish them quickly. These internships also sharpen my professional skills significantly while connecting me with wonderful people along the way. If there is one takeaway from this post, it should be: Don’t be shy to ask. You’ll never know unless you try.

Good luck with finding your dream internships! 🙂

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Study

How I got a 100% Master's scholarship from Aalto University

Aalto University is a well-known university in Finland (and probably even in Europe), thanks to the good reputation and its high ranking. I applied for the Master's program in International Design Business Management (IDBM) and was granted a 100% tuition-fee waiver scholarship, which means that I would save 30 000€ and pay 0 euro to study Master's for 2 years at Aalto. In this blog post, I will share with you how I applied for the Master's program and the scholarship. This post will hopefully be helpful for students who come from outside of Europe and are required to pay a tuition fee to study in Finland.

Some facts first: My program honestly didn't seem too competitive to get in this year (statistics here). Another thing is that in this year 2020 I will not take this scholarship and study the graduate program because of personal reasons. I already sent an email to Aalto explaining that I would not be able to proceed with my admission and the scholarship should be passed on for the next person in line. I do hope to have a chance to be a student at Aalto in the future years though.

Disclaimer: First of all, about the process, I will write about my own experience in the IDBM program only. The process may change each year, it totally depends on the university. Secondly, all opinions in this post are just my own personal opinions.

Okay, let's get started :)

When to apply?

Each university will have a different time period for taking in applications. Generally, December is the most popular time for universities to get their application period open. On the university's website, there is clear instruction about the application time and the required documents.

What is in your application?

For Aalto, you need to use studyinfo.fi to submit your application.

Remember to submit all the required documents from the degree you are applying to. For IDBM program I had to submit:

Degree certificate
Transcript of study records
Motivation letter
CV

In my case, I submitted my high school diploma, because at the time of applying, I hadn't graduated from my school yet, so I didn't have a Bachelor's degree yet. But that was not a problem, Aalto will still consider your application normally and if you are accepted, you will need to submit your official Bachelor's degree before the end of August. I didn't even start working on my thesis back then, so I wrote "Not defined yet" when I came to the part "Title of thesis / final project" :D

What to focus on in your application?

There was a part in the application form that asked about "Cumulative grade point average" - your GPA. Therefore, I do believe that your GPA does matter. While doing your Bachelor's, don't underestimate those tests that you may have thought "It's just a test, I only have to study just enough to pass it. I'll graduate anyway and just get a job with my degree. Who cares about grades anymore?" Well, graduate schools seem to do so. If you want to further your academic journey, I think paying attention to your GPA will pay back in the end. Plus, having a good GPA doesn't hurt, ever. I personally think that a good GPA shows that whatever you are doing, you always do it seriously, with your best efforts, even if it's just some school tests. For reference, my GPA at the time of applying for this Master's program was 4.56/5.

The second obvious thing that may help you stand out in a pool of applicants is your motivation letter. Through this letter, the admission staff will get a better picture of you through the word choices you made. They will see you closer as a human being, who has different passions, achievements, dreams and on top of all, a burning desire to be admitted to their university's Master's program :D

In this letter, you can write with your own style, but these parts should be included, at least for IDBM program:

Reasons why you want to study the program
Expectations for the program at Aalto
What you will specialize in if you are admitted
What you will contribute to the school and to your fellow students if you are admitted

Try to write your motivation letter as soon as possible, don't wait until it's close to the deadline because for a motivation letter to be good, it needs to be edited several times. Speaking from experience, you should reserve at least 1 week just for the motivation letter. After you write it, leave it there, go to sleep and read it again tomorrow. When your mind is refreshed, you'll find many things that can be fixed. Ask your close friends, your family, or whoever you trust to read it and give you constructive feedback to make it even better. This letter is important, I want to repeat. It will be the ticket to get you to the next round.

For the scholarship, if you are a student who comes from outside of Europe, you will tick an option like this in the application:

That's it. Your application for the scholarship is just as easy as a click. You will then be considered for the scholarships. There are 2 types of scholarships at Aalto: 50% and 100% tuition-fee. There are currently no scholarships that cover your living costs. More information here.

After applying, what's next?

Depending on the program you applied for, there will or will not be a second round.

For my IDBM program, I had to go through the second round, which was a 15-minute interview. I was informed one week beforehand and was given a topic to prepare for. My topic was "How can design make a difference?”. I was required to prepare a 5-minute verbal presentation about this topic.

So I wrote about the topic, memorized it, and practiced in front of the mirror 4-5 times before the interview date. I put in serious time and effort because I was aware that this 5-minute presentation would be the first impression I made on the interviewers. My tips are that when you practice, set a timer, turn on your voice recorder and only speak within the allowed amount of time. By listening to your own performance, you'll find out your faults, your repeated Uhm/Ah, your unnecessary details, etc. After a few tries, you'll find the most suitable speech content as well as the perfect speaking speed.

After I gave the presentation, the interviewers asked me just this one question: Why do I want to study this program at Aalto? I pretty much repeated what I said in my motivation letter, but this time with intense eye contacts and some hand gestures to show my enthusiasm :D

The results

The results were released on 31st March, both the scholarship and admission results were in one email. This email also included further instructions on how to accept the scholarship and the next steps.

Conclusion

I hope my sharing about the process of getting a Master's scholarship at Aalto was helpful. It was a nice journey. The process was smooth, Aalto admission staff was very friendly and responsive. If you are planning to study Master's at Aalto, all the best to you :)

Comment below if you have any questions, or if you just want to share your thoughts with me :)

Cheers :D

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How to get 9.0 IELTS Reading

The other day I watched a video about this topic: How to get 9.0 IELTS Reading

Then I remember I got it too, 5 years ago. I was really lucky I must say. However, there are definitely some approaches that I always use when it comes to IELTS reading. I hope sharing them will be helpful for someone stumbling on this post :)

1. Read the questions first

I know there is controversy about this method. But it worked for me. Scan through the questions section first before reading the main passage. This will help you get the general ideas about what you will be looking for when you read the article.

Try to underline all the important keywords in the question. And remember, if it is multiple choice questions, at first read only the questions, not the answers listed in those questions because they will get you confused.

Don't try to read the texts first because you will end up reading them many times anyways. If you follow this order: questions, the article, then questions again, it will just be exhausting and time-consuming. Remember, read the tasks first to know what you are expected to find out, and proceed from there!

2. Synonyms are the key

In the IELTS reading test, there are a lot of synonyms and paraphrases. Sometimes the answer to a question may seem to lay very clearly in the article, however, some words look different. That's when synonyms kick in. The answers having words that bear the closest meanings to the original words in the article will be the correct answers.

To improve your ability to recognize synonyms, the best way is to expand your vocabulary and your ability to guess the meaning of words in certain contexts. You can do this by:

practice a lot of IELTS tests
read newspapers and articles in English
watch movies with English subtitles

If you immerse yourself in the language with the above techniques, you will gradually develop a "sense" to guess words that look totally alien to you. This will be of great help when you do the real test.

3. Be careful with the answer sheet

I have, many times, stupidly filled in the wrong answers in the answer sheet, even though I got it right on the test paper when doing mock tests.

Use your time right and be as careful as you can when you fill your answer in the answer sheet. My advice would be to fill the right answer in the sheet right away after you are sure it is your final answer. Time is short in the IETLS test. Mistakes because of panic filling at the end when you don't have enough time are just sad.

Bonus tip: Do not leave a blank answer! Ever! Better try than not try at all.

So that's all I have to share about how I did my IELTS reading test. Reading and Listening in IELTS test are skills that you can practice and get better at in a fairly short amount of time, so try your best to get good scores on these skills to improve your overall band score :)

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