4.6 Developing your own competence

Developing professional competence

Lifelong learning:

It is important to develop professional competence constantly. Professional competence develops through the whole work career. Life-long learning is strongly stressed in Finland.

As a concept, life-long learning means that learning doesn´t stop after getting a degree but go on through the whole life and in work places. The workers should be active and self- guided to improve different professional skills and knowledge.

Constant and life-long learning is important because of the following reasons:

  • There happen continual changes in work life. Due to those changes, the workers have to learn new skills and adopt new information

  • The need and the content of the work are in constant change. Because of that, many professional fields and professions can disappear. Instead of that, new professions develop in which case many of us have to study a new profession and start a new career. Thereby we need to be ready to study through our whole work career.

 

Proficiency training and proficiency passport

  • In demanding professions, very high competence is a perquisite to practice this profession. Different regulations, legislation and subject to license rules what kind of competence is needed in a certain professional field.

  • To be sure that all workers have the demanded competence in the field the workers are required to accomplish special training. After accomplishing the training, the worker will get a permission (permission card) to practice in the field. These trainings are called “card studies”. This is because the worker gets a card as a document to prove that he has successfully accomplished the training.

  • These trainings are meant to prove that the owner of the card has the knowledge and skills to practice the profession. Secondly, the meaning is to keep up the commensurate among these workplaces. The work organizations and worker´s skills are controlled by the authorities.

  • In some work places, this card is demanded from every worker. The authorities can make checking that everyone has the card ant they have accomplished the training.

  • Sometimes starting a business (for example restaurant business) demands that every worker in that work place has a hygiene proficiency card.

  • It is a good idea to participate training on this kind to get a proficiency card in a field you like to work. (Eg. in the field of food industry, construction business, the information security field, in the field of electricity or in the field of health and welfare.)

  • The work proficiency traings of an different kind of fields are for ex. Hygiene proficiency training or Occupational safety training and card.

  • These trainings are offered in vocational institutions and in adult education centers. Some work organizations offer their own training

  • Some of the training materials are translated into different languages

  • These trainings and tests are chargeable.

(Source: Korttirekisteri.fi Turun aikuiskoulutuskeskus)

 

Hygiene proficiency test and training:

  • You need a hygiene proficiency training and a test if you want to work in the field of food industry where you have to handle food. (E.g. restaurant business)

  • Demand to accomplish the training and test is based oon following legislations: European general regulation of the hygiene of foodstuffs (elintarvikehygienia-asetus)

  • National legislation of food supplies (elintarvikelaki)

  • Evira´s regulations. (Official Authority under the ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) regulations, (hygieniaosaamisesta)

  • Evira (Evira), as an authority is controlling the quality and work performance.

You can find material written in plain language:

  • Practice material (Lähde: Laakso, E-L., Saloniemi, M. Leino, P. Ruokaa hygieenisesti. Opetushallitus.)

Getting a hygiene proficiency test and a card may help you to find a work in the field of food industry.

Information and practice material are to be found in different language. It is possible to take a test in many languages.

You can find more information about Hygiene proficiency test from following pages:

Vocabulary needed when studying hygiene proficiency test:

 

Even you have professional skills gathered from your own country please try to get information about what kind of skills in a certain profession is needed here in Finland. Try to develop your skills determinedly.

The most important skill in a new country is a language skill.

To be successful in a job seeking you need to learn professional vocabulary and special terminology. Practice them every day.

Material progressed

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Material progressed

A guide for pre-integration
1 Everyday life in Finland
1.1 Welfare and well-being1.2. Participating and influencing the environment1.3. Health, wellbeing and culture1.4. Activities of daily living1.6. Equality and discrimination1.7. A child and everyday living in Finland1.8. Child´s protection and child welfare
2 Coping and sustaining wellbeing
2.1 Stress and crises2.2 Managing the stressful situation2.3 Nature as a support of wellbeing2.4 Relaxation2.5 Self-destructive thoughts and self-destruction2.6 Where to seek help?
3 Work in Finland
3.1 Working culture in Finland3.2 Education3.3 Labour legislation3.4 General work life skills3.5 Job seeking3.6 Stages in a job seeking process3.7 Job application and CV
4 Professional Competence and competence development
4.1 Earning and proving your competence4.2 Assessing your own competence4.3 Professional competence4.4 Demonstrating the competence4.5 Recognition and comparing the degrees earned previously in countries of origin4.6 Developing your own competence
Digital Material
Car MechanicElectrician
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