My Career: From Start to Finnish

Russian product designer Kate respects the work-life balance

Get to know more about Kate via LinkedIn

Kate Pashinova, Russia. Senior product designer

“Having the full month of July for vacations sounds crazy only for the first few years.”

1. The reason I ended up in Finland is…

I was determined to leave my home country because it didn’t feel comfortable living there and I was trying to find a place to study abroad. At first, I was looking at London, but circumstances pushed me towards the Nordics, I got accepted into TaiK (an arts university in Finland) and I moved to the country of thousands of lakes.

2. What I find surprising about working in Finland is…

the work-life balance, which everyone respects here. Try moving to any other non-Nordic country and you’ll most likely find a work regime that means your evening sports/yoga/pole dancing class is out of question.

3. If I could change one thing about Finnish working life it would be…

working towards making working life more approachable, inclusive for foreigners. It’d do a lot of positive things for both the company and its people.

4. How I got my current job is…

I opened Gmail and sent my future employer a letter explaining what I want in my professional life and what I can offer in return. It happened to be a match.

5. The piece of advice I would give to someone contemplating coming to work in Finland is…

having the full month of July for vacations sounds crazy only for the first few years. Then it becomes a norm, almost like a pizza with pineapple.

Published on 25.03.2019