Jobs You Can Do as an Aalto Student

I’ve been talking to many of you prospective students, and one question I get a lot of the time (especially now, when job markets all around is fumbling) is if you can find a job as a student just starting out, moving somewhere new, etc. As someone who has been through the same thing I want to give you a few ideas.

It is stressful to think about your finances when moving to somewhere not so cheap for us international students. You need around €800-1200 per month for your expenses here in Helsinki as a student. Luckily, there is plenty of jobs on and off campus for students moving in to support yourself, even if you are getting some help from government or family. I will try to give an idea of both and talk a bit about what it has been like for me. Keep in mind that here I will only list jobs you can work in English, so you don’t need to worry!

Aalto Student Ambassador

To start off with, being a student ambassador (which is what I’m doing!) is one of the great options for a student looking to make some money on the side, reach out to future Aaltonians and share your experiences. You get to talk about what studying in Aalto is like in webinars, blog posts, create social media content about student life, and participate in fun events while getting paid.

Student Services and International Peer Advice

Another on-campus opportunity for students is in within the Student Services branch. Here you take on more administrative roles, help students with their documents such as student certificates, transcripts, etc., along with helping them out with more practical stuff such as how to get student-discounted transport tickets, how to access student healthcare, and so on.

Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant

For the last on-campus jobs, you can assist your professors in teaching assistant and research assistant roles. This is a good way to also strengthen your academic skills, get work experience in your field, and build relationships other students and academicians. Your tasks would include grading papers/assignments, moderate the course websites, support your professor in a research project, and much more!

Customer Service Jobs

Now getting a bit off the campus (although the campus also has a lot of restaurants, cafes, bars etc., and Aalto Store), you can find a lot of English-speaking jobs in the service industry. I also worked at a restaurant in my first year and now I’m doing part-time work in a bar as well. This works for big chain restaurants/cafes/bars to individual small establishments around Helsinki.

Delivery Jobs

Lastly if being in contact with people constantly is not your thing, one option is being a part-time delivery person for various places like the post office Posti, driving delivery jobs (like for lab test packages, etc.), moving companies, and so on. These companies also usually employ English-speakers.

Hope to see you on other posts!

You can chat with Cem and other student ambassadors on the Unibuddy platform!