Empowering Migrants for Employment EME

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Description of the target group

Personae are fictional, conceptual designs of targeted user groups that aid in clarifying what someone’s life is like, along with behaviour, needs, expectations, and goals.

To create a better common understanding of our heterogeneous target group, we have used  the best practice of personas from our Belgian partner.

Latifa – a participant in language training

Life story

Latifa is 36 years old. She was born in Morocco. She speaks French and Berber. Latifa is divorced and takes care of her three children. She has a close relationship with her sister, who lives two blocks away from her. When Latifa is attending the language class, her sister takes care of her youngest son, who is not yet in primary school. Latifa did not get a lot of opportunities in her school years. She went to secondary school in Morocco but, because of family circumstances, didn’t receive a diploma. She deeply regrets this. Therefore, she wants to take every chance she gets. Latifa used to work part-time with a cleaning service and is now starting language classes to increase her employment opportunities. However, it is not always clear for her what the possibilities are and what her next steps will be. She would like to have some guidance.

Age: 36

Origin: Morocco

Family situation: Divorced,
3 children

Languages: French, Berber

Goals

  • I want to find a good job.
  • I want to integrate training or work with my family situation.

Quote

I want to be respected in the society because now I often feel like I’m not even a part of it.

Needs

  • I need more information about the employment sector.
  • I want to improve my language skills, so that I have more opportunities to take part in educational programs or to be hired.

Social network —

Social network ++

Low education level

High education level

Informal experience

Professional

Unfamiliar with service

Familiar with service

Newcomer

Resident

– 

Fadumo –a home-making mother

Life story

Fadumo has lived in Finland since she was 25. She is married and has six children. Her husband works as a taxi driver. The eldest child is 26 and the youngest is 4 and in day care. The older kids help Fadumo with the younger ones. Her social network consists mostly of other Somalis in her neighbourhood. Fadumo went to school for only a couple of years as a child, because of the war and because her mother needed her help at home. Now that most of her own children are older, Fadumo wants to get an adult education and a job. She speaks Finnish quite well, and she has completed Finnish language courses, but writing Finnish is still difficult for her. She is interested in studying to be a hospital guardian or child-care assistant in a day-care setting. Getting Finnish citizenship is important for her also, because then she’d be able to visit her relatives. She can obtain citizenship if she passes a language test or completes a vocational education.

Age: 45

Origin: Somalia

Family situation: Married, 6 children

Languages: Somali, Finnish

Goals

  • I want to get Finnish citizenship.
  • I want an adult education for being a hospital guardian or a child-care assistant for day care.
  • I want to get a job after that.

Quote

I took care of my family, home and kids for a long time. Now it’s my turn to get an education and a job

Needs

  • I want to learn to write Finnish better.
  • To be able to apply for a vocational education, I need counselling.

Social network —

Social network ++

Low education level

– 

High education level

Informal experience

– 

Professional

Unfamiliar with service

Familiar with service

Newcomer

Resident

Mohammed – a former entrepreneur

Life story

Mohammed arrived in Finland five years ago as an asylum-seeker with his family. He has relatives and friends all over Finland and Europe. He attended primary school in Iraq. Mohammed learned Finnish at the reception centre, in literacy training for immigrants without Latin-alphabet skills, and in the integration training for adult immigrants. His teacher thinks his skills in the Finnish language aren’t very good yet. He has 30 years’ work experience from Iraq as a small-business owner and a craftsman, but he hasn’t had a job in his new home country so far. Mohammed is frustrated because finding a job is difficult even though his work experience is substantial. He is starting to realise that the kind of handicraft work he did in Iraq doesn’t exist here anymore. Mohammed wants to start working as soon as possible.

Age: 52

Origin: Iraq

Family situation: Married, 3 adult children (2 of them live in Finland and the other in Germany)

Languages: Arabic, Finnish, some English

Goals

  • I want to find a job and not spend much time studying.
  • I want to become a warehouse worker or a painter.
  • I want to provide for my family and not receive social benefits. I want to send money to relatives in Iraq.

Quote

I just want to work and earn my own money.

Needs

  • I need help to contact possible employers.
  • I need more information about Finnish work culture.
  • I need an opportunity to show my skills to an employer during an internship or a validation process.

Social network —

– 

Social network ++

– 

Low education level

High education level

Informal experience

Professional

Unfamiliar with service

– 

Familiar with service

Newcomer

Resident

– 

Ali – someone skilled in practical jobs

Life story

Ali fled Afghanistan when he was 16 years old and came to Sweden without his family. His social network consists of other young adults in the same situation. Ali has lost everything that was familiar to him from his home country, and he has been forced to adjust to a completely new life. He tries to manage on his own and doesn’t really want to speak about his background. Ali observes Swedish people – what they do and how they do it – so as to become as Swedish as possible. At the same time, he does everything he can to learn the language. Back in his home country, Ali worked in a bicycle shop for eight years, so he was able to contribute to the household. When he came to Sweden, Ali attended senior high school, and now he wants to get a job, as Swedish legislation requires, so that he can stay in the country. He is skilled at practical jobs but doesn’t know how he is supposed to get steady employment in Sweden.

Age: 21

Origin: Afghanistan

Family situation: Unknownn

Languages: Dari, Farsi, Persian, English, some Swedish

Goals

  • I want to get a permanent job so that I can stay in the country.
  • I want to have my own flat.
  • I want to get a driver’s licence.

Quote

I’m a survivor. Now I want to reduce my worries and start living.

Needs

  • I need a bigger social network, including local people.
  • I need to know more about the labour market and alternative ways to get an education.
  • I want to feel safe and secure in my new home country.

Social network —

Social network ++

– 

Low education level

– 

High education level

Informal experience

– 

Professional

Unfamiliar with service

Familiar with service

Newcomer

Resident

– 

Natalia – a former teacher

Life story

Natalia moved to Finland when she was 32 years old. In Russia, she taught at a comprehensive school, and she would like to do that in Finland too. Natalia has good skills in Finnish, but as a teacher she would need skills virtually as strong as native Finns’. She has applied for recognition of her studies. According to the decision, she must complete complementary studies worth 50 study-credit points and have excellent command of Finnish before she can start working as a teacher. That could take a long time. Natalia wanted a ‘fast track’ to working life, so she took part in 14-month training to become a school assistant. Now she is working and improving her language skills. She is also learning about the work culture of Finnish schools. Meanwhile, Natalia is gradually progressing through the studies. Her dream is to work as a teacher in the future.

Age: 37

Origin: Russia (Ingria)

Family situation: Married, 1 child

Languages: Russian, Finnish, English

Goals

  • I want to improve my skills in the Finnish language.
  • I want to complete my complementary studies.
  • I want to work as a teacher at a comprehensive school.

Quote

I have to be patient and work hard. It’s a long process.

Needs

  • I need a mentor to support me.
  • I need to get more experience of the culture of Finnish schools.
  • I need to have information about Finnish culture in general.

Social network —

Social network ++

– 

Low education level

– 

High education level

– 

Informal experience

Professional

Unfamiliar with service

– 

Familiar with service

– 

Newcomer

Resident

–