How to start working in Estonia? A review of Settle in Estonia’s work module
When I first came to Estonia, the Settle in Estonia program immediately caught my eye — it offers various free courses that tackle different sections of Estonian life, such as what you should know upon arrival, when studying, and when working and starting a business. When I finally started looking for jobs in Tallinn this year I realized that I had learned next to nothing about the job market despite living here for a year and a half. This led to my decision to try out Settle in Estonia’s work module: in this post I’ll give my review of it, including what topics we discussed and what new things I learned, so you can decide if it would also be a good fit for you! I’ll note that the course experience can be slightly different every time it’s held, but the overall structure should remain the same.
Getting started
As mentioned, registering for and participating in the courses offered by Settle in Estonia is completely free. All you need to sign up is your name, email and Estonian ID code (isikukood) which you receive with your temporary residence permit. It is important to note that you can register through the website with your ID code only once, but you are welcome to participate in a single course multiple times — you’ll just have to send an e-mail to Settle in Estonia to register.
After registering, I was sent an e-mail one day before the course started, which contained a Zoom link and PDF handbook related to the course. The handbook is up-to-date, extremely comprehensive and contains in detail information on where to find jobs, how to build your CV, how to pay taxes, and any other essential topics related to working in Estonia.
Although the e-mail mentioned that the course would be taking place from 10:00–18:00, in actuality it only lasted from around 10:00–17:15. Either way, if you want to participate in the course, you should plan to set aside a whole day for it; but because topics are very clearly divided into different time slots, if there is only one topic (for example, taxes) that you want to learn about, you can ask the instructor what time it will be discussed and come and go as you need.
Course structure
At the beginning of the session, one comment was made by the instructor which I really liked — “the biggest resource is not the person speaking in front of you, but the collective knowledge of everyone in the room”. Because the handbook accompanying the course is so comprehensive, it might be easy to decide to skip the course and just read about it instead, but because the people attending the course are so diverse in background, work experience and what they’re looking to learn about, you can also take it as an opportunity to connect with other foreign residents who are in the same situation as you.
The first half of the course was dedicated to learning about various legislation such as labour law and the rights of foreigners to work and the taxation system. Here a contact of someone who can help with finding a family doctor was also given, which I really appreciated — it’s a good idea to find one as soon as possible if you plan on working in case you get sick and need to show a doctor’s note!
One thing I really like about Estonia is how easy it is to find information in English on various services. For example, we were shown the website of the Social Insurance Board to learn more about pensions or the Tax and Customs Board to learn more about the tax system.
The module’s second half focused on support systems for working, allowances and benefits you can receive (one precautionary tip was not to take an unemployment allowance while you’re a full-time student, as this can affect your case negatively if you want to prolong your residence in the future), and of course how to create a CV and search for a job.
A few tips that were given related to job hunting here that I found useful (some specifically about Estonia, some are just helpful in general)—
- Don’t shy away from applying for a certain job if you don’t meet all the requirements; showing interest in and dedication to learning and developing your career can boost your chances as a candidate.
- Because Estonia’s population is so small, it is also important to be a bit more aggressive with networking as this is another way to increase the chances of finding a job opportunity that suits you.
- It’s okay if your CV is more than one page, but it should not be over two pages long. There was also an idea brought up to create a small 30–45 second long introductory video to accompany your CV and motivation letter when applying to a job posting.
- Reframe your strengths as weaknesses — if you have a lack of experience, it means the company has a better chance of training you to work how they want rather than meaning that you have no idea what you’re doing.
So, how to find a job?
I would say that the Settle in Estonia work module is not necessarily meant to help with finding work, but more to help with educating newcomers on their rights as an employee in Estonia, the systems which can help support them and resources which are useful to have access to. In this sense, I would really recommend taking this course if you’re a complete beginner when it comes to navigating Estonian work culture. Even if you’ve been living here for a while, it can help with feeling more comfortable and confident when approaching your job search, or your new job if you already found one. I didn’t know, for instance, that because it’s difficult for employers to cancel work contracts here they might be less likely to hire young people — this makes it even more important to make yourself stand out as a candidate.
In terms of where to actually find jobs, I spend the most time looking at Work in Estonia’s job board because it only lists jobs that are suitable for foreigners and don’t require fluency in Estonian, but you might have some luck looking directly on cv.ee or cvkeskus.ee as well. LinkedIn and Facebook might also have job listings that aren’t posted elsewhere — I’ve especially seen some internships posted on LinkedIn but not on the other sites I mentioned above. Career counselling is a unique resource you have as a TalTech student that you might also want to take advantage of.
Most importantly, remember to pay attention to your studies as well as working — even if your class schedule makes it difficult to work, you can look for opportunities to take part in projects or clubs at TalTech that can improve your CV in the meantime. Stay healthy and have a successful job search!
