New mentoring program brings together professionals from the City of Riihimäki and international students from HAMK

A new mentoring program jointly launched by the City of Riihimäki and Häme University of Applied Sciences offers international degree students at HAMK a unique opportunity to explore Finnish workplaces, build professional networks, and receive support from experienced experts in various fields. The program will be launched on October 1 at the Riihimäki campus.

This is a pilot project where experienced professionals support students by sharing information, career insights and experiences from Finnish working life. At the same time, mentors benefit from the new perspectives brought by international students.

The program will involve 37 students from different fields of study (social sciences, engineering, business, agriculture, and technology). The students were selected after group interviews based on their interests, skills, and commitment.

17 employees from different fields from the city of Riihimäki signed up to be mentors. The mentors will work in pairs, and each pair will mentor five students from different degree programs. This will form eight multidisciplinary teams.

Mentors are involved during their working hours and students can incorporate their participation into their studies. Each team meets four times face-to-face between October and December. Students prepare for the meetings with advance questions and assignments.

Mutual benefit

From the perspective of the city of Riihimäki, the mentoring program responds really well to the international Riihimäki action programThe city wants to engage young students in the area – not only during their studies, but also after. Mentoring enables meaningful encounters that support students' integration, professional growth and staying in Riihimäki.

“I am really happy that no less than 17 city employees were excited to join as mentors. This shows that we have the desire and heart to welcome international students – and shows that Riihimäki is a good place to live and build a career,” says Päivi Ojanen, Human Resources Development Manager for the City of Riihimäki.

According to Kati Heikkinen, Head of International Affairs at HAMK, professional networks are key to employment in Finland. It is difficult for professionals who have moved to the country to find work without networks, and many students have found it difficult to make contacts with Finns.

“Our mentoring program with the City of Riihimäki provides opportunities to create these networks, explore different career paths, and learn about the working methods of different work communities. Participating employees get a glimpse into how jobs in their field are currently trained at higher education institutions and can deepen their expertise in language-aware and diversity-promoting activities in work communities,” says Heikkinen.

Hundreds of new international students start at HAMK every year. There are approximately 1300 international students at HAMK.

More information about the Kickoff event on October 1st will be provided In the HAMK press release.