A short guide to working in Estonia

One of the most common (and sensitive) questions I often receive from incoming international students are job-related. That is why I decided to come up with a Q&A about working in Estonia.

A quick disclaimer first: I am not in the capacity to estimate your chances of landing a certain position since I am a student myself, not an HR manager:) Also, the guide is limited to my personal knowledge and experience of studying&working in Estonia.

Question 1. Can I work in Estonia during my studies?

All international students who received their TRP can legally work in Estonia without a separate permit. Keep in mind, that if you applied for TRP, but have not received it yet, you are not allowed to work here.

From the university side, you have to complete 30 credits each semester (can be a bit more or less but should be 60 credits at the end of each academic year) to be considered a full-time student. Students who obtain less than 22.5 credits per semester are considered part-time students and need to obtain a TRP for work.

This makes working full-time challenging, so my suggestion is to focus on studying and building up hard skills during the first semesters, if possible.

If you need any information or help with regards to administrative matters of working in Estonia, you can go to workinestonia.com, settleinestonia.com, or ask Career center of our university.

A quick disclaimer: labor laws may change, so keep that in mind and check.

Question 2. Where do I search for a job?

When it comes to looking for a job, there are few options available:

• Job sites. Most popular ones are cv.ee, cvkeskus.ee, and workinestonia.com. These three have an English version of their website, and you can search vacancies posted in English. Students have their specific job site: https://tudengiveeb.ee/en. There is also a website for part-time or one-time gigs: goworkabit.com
• University website. Go to a webpage of your particular school and search for internship section (e.g. here are vacancies (for non-Estonian speakers) sent out by companies to School of IT)
• School email lists. At the beginning of the semester, your school will offer you to join an email list. They send out internship and job offers(part-time or full-time) that have been sent to them by the employers. Often those are positions that require a certain type of technical or language skills.
• Company websites. If you are interested in working for a particular company, you can join their career website’s email list or submit your CV directly to them.
• Career Fairs. The largest career fair for engineers is Võti Tulevikku, usually held in March. At the same time, Workinestonia.com has recently started organizing career fairs targeted at expats in Estonia, both online and offline (go follow them online).
• Facebook groups. Most popular ones are Expat Jobs in Tallinn and Non-English Jobs in Tallinn/Estonia.
• Internships opportunities abroad. TalTech students can go on Erasmus+ internship during or directly after their studies for a period of 2 to 12 months. Follow the link or contact international mobility officer if you have any questions.
• Networking. Word of mouth can often help you land a job, so ask around if somebody knows of a vacancy that might suit you. A few months ago I forwarded a vacancy to a friend of mine, and I am happy to say he was recently promoted:)

Question 3. What is the salary range?

According to Statistics Estonia, the average salary in Estonia is 1,242 euros. You can calculate salary/wage and taxes using this website.

Question 4. But what salary can I get as a hardware developer (lawyer, manager, etc)?

You can compare salaries using websites like https://www.palgad.ee/en/ and https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm

Keep in mind, that salary level can depend based on the company’s economy, your skills, and experience.

Question 5. Does university provide a job after graduation?

Yes and no. In Estonia, it is up to a student to find a suitable position and apply.

At the same time, lack of bureaucracy makes it easier for students to find one. All non-EU students can stay up to 6 months after their graduation to search for a job in Estonia, and local companies(regardless of field of work) do not need to obtain a separate permission to employ graduates of Estonian universities. At the moment, there are plans to extend the rule from 6 months to 9. After receiving a job, you can apply for an extension of your permit. In most of the cases, the extended permit will be automatically issued for the maximum period of 5 years.

University actively collaborates with employers to facilitate job searching process. First of all, employers often send out their vacancies directly to university to distribute. Second of all, professional internships are often a part of a program so the student can count his/her summer job in the related field towards overall credits.

Also, students can have thesis co-supervisors from outside of the university. Many companies in Estonia, particularly, in the engineering field, offer internships for students with a possibility to conduct a research on the workplace (you can also contact them directly if needed). In many cases, students are later offered a full-time position at the company after this type of internship is over.

Question 6. Do I need to speak Estonian to get a job?

A simple answer: it depends on a position. Some companies prefer Estonian and Russian speakers, whereas others require fluent English. Look up positions that might interest you so you can start gaining some necessary language skills now.

In any case, knowing some basic Estonian won’t hurt in everyday life. TalTech offers free Estonian courses to all of its students each semester. It is also possible to apply for a free language course provided by the Ministry of Interior. More information can be found here: https://www.settleinestonia.ee/

All in all, getting a job is a personal experience. People have different background even within the same program, and it impacts their job prospects. For example, in my master’s program, there are students with the background in business, IT, public administration and law. Some people may also choose a completely different field of work from what they initially studied, as their interests and priorities may change with time.

Since I receive many questions about my classmate’s positions and salaries, I have to say that I cannot explicitly publish private information about my friends without permission. Money is a very personal matter, and I choose to respect their privacy:) Hopefully, in the next post, I will do more one-on-one interviews about getting a job in Estonia.

My final tip is that once you become an international student, don’t be afraid to network and ask your new friends about jobs in Estonia. They might give you some tips on finding one or even refer you to a particular employer:)