We talked with Janet who had a work trial period in the kitchen of the Kankaan school in April 2025. You can also find the news in English below.
| We want to highlight the work life stories of local job seekers from Hollola who are at different stages of their careers. We interviewed Janet, who was on a work trial at the Kangas school kitchen in April 2025.
As a non-native speaker at work trial at school kitchen (in Finnish you can find the text below)
Let's start with a simple question, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? I'm Janet, 21 years old and I live with my family in Hollola. We arrived in Finland just before the winter of 2024. Janet told she is from Zambia, so it took a while to get used to the weather, but now she feels she is well adapted and spring is coming.
How did you end up doing a work experience placement at Kankaan school? Janet says she spent time was looking forward to starting her integration training in November 2024. She spent time at home with nothing in particular to do and wondered what she could do while waiting for home education to start. In the early winter of 2025, Janet met an integration counselor in Hollola who suggested a work experience in the municipal kitchen. Now Janet has been working in the kitchen of the Kankaan school for a couple of months. Janet says that the work has gone well and she hasn't had to stress.
Janet has been guided and taught by Pertti, who works in the kitchen. Janet does not yet speak Finnish, so she and Pertti primarily speak English in their Everyday work, but Janet is already actively learning Finnish vocabulary. Pertti says that Janet often asks him what things mean in Finnish when she's working, and through this she is gradually learning Finnish vocabulary. Pertti also translates between the children at school and Janet as needed: the children get to practice speaking English and Janet practices speaking Finnish.
What are your days like in the kitchen? Mostly I help in the kitchen with the dishes and put food on the plate, as well as preparing the salad. Making salads is my favorite part, as it was something I was not familiar with before. Janet's supervisor, Pertti, has also instructed her on how to make salad dressing and other home-cooked meals. Janet says she recently made garlic cream potatoes at home.
What did you learn during your work experience? In addition to Finnish vocabulary, Janet has learned how to work in the kitchen herself.
What kind of environment is the school like to work in? It's peaceful and the children are happy to see her. Everybody wants to talk to me, it's nice.
Has anything been challenging or difficult? Mostly the lack of language skills, otherwise it's been nicer than Janet anticipated. At the same time, she has been able to learn about the kitchen profession and what it entails.
I hear you've had a really good time here, what advice would you give to other trainees? Perhaps most of all, Janet's advice is to be open-minded and enthusiastic about getting to know a new place, people and things. It's also worth listening to advice. For example, Pertti's advice was to change the way you work so that less food fell on the floor, which meant less cleaning work.
Have you ever done this job before? I've never worked in a kitchen before, says Janet. The work is not challenging if you listen. But the best part of the job is meeting new people. The work experience has kept me busy this spring: I was lazy at home and now it's good to wake up for work in the morning.
What are your plans for the future? The first thing Janet wants to do is learn Finnish. After that, she wants to study medicine: either as a nurse or a doctor. Her dream job has been on her mind for a long time: in her home country she has seen how people don't get better if they don't always get good enough care. In nursing, she could help people. Now the plan is to study in Finland, maybe as a nurse or doctor, it's good to be here.
Could working in a kitchen be an option for a future career? If Janet doesn't get into the care sector, she feels that the kitchen could be an option, now that she has some experience. We also talked about the possibility of applying for a summer job in the kitchen during her studies. In the second week of April, she plans to move from kitchen work directly into her integration training, which starts in April. Janet would definitely recommend a work try-out in the kitchen to others: you learn the job and it doesn't require much effort.
And how has Pertti, the supervisor, experienced the work try-out guidance in English? We also asked Janet's supervisor Pertti about her experience of the spring. "Then look it up on Google, there's no problem". Of course, the first few days are always a challenge when getting to know someone, but after that it's been nice. At the same time, you get to speak English and talk about Finnish culture, the kitchen profession and work. You can see the Joy in learning new things. According to Pertti, the desire to learn is the most important thing. "Janet has learned really well, after five months in Finland, already at this point."
Why a work tryout? A work try-out can be a good opportunity to get to know a new field and gain new skills, as well as to find potentially interesting areas of work. No previous experience is required – a person's own desire to learn goes a long way. On the other hand, the experience you gain through a work try-out can also help you in your career. For example, Janet could well use what she learned in the spring to apply for a job as a helper in a kitchen. The work try-out also gives you the opportunity to meet new people, build your own network and get some rhythm in your everyday life.
A foreign language for a work trial in the kitchen
Let's start with an easy question, could you tell me a little about yourself? I'm Janet, 21 years old and I live with my family in Hollola. We came to Finland just before winter 2024. Janet says she's originally from Zambia, so it took her a while to get used to the weather at first, but now she feels she's adjusted well to the weather and spring is coming.
How did you end up doing a work trial at Kangas School? Janet says she has been waiting to start homeschooling since November 2024. She spent time at home with nothing to do and wondered what she could do while waiting for homeschooling to start. In early winter 2025, Janet met an integration counselor in Hollola, who suggested she try out a job in the municipal kitchen. Now Janet has been trying out a job in the kitchen of the Kangas school for a couple of months. Janet says that the work has gone well and she hasn't had to stress.
Janet has been guided and taught by Pertti, who works in the kitchen. Janet does not yet speak Finnish, so she and Pertti primarily speak English in everyday work, but Janet is already actively studying Finnish vocabulary. Pertti says that Janet often asks what something means in Finnish while working, and through that she is gradually learning Finnish vocabulary. Pertti also interprets between the school children and Janet as needed: the children get to practice speaking English and Janet gets to practice speaking Finnish.
What are your days like in the kitchen? I help out the most in the kitchen with the dishes and setting out the food, and with making the salad. Making the salad is my favorite, because it was something I was not used to. Janet's instructor Pertti has also given her advice on making salad dressing and other home-cooked dishes. Janet says she recently made garlic cream potatoes at home.
What have you learned during your work experience? In addition to Finnish vocabulary, Janet has learned about kitchen work herself: I have learned to use kitchen appliances, such as the dishwasher and oven, and to prepare salad.
What kind of environment is the school like to work in? It's peaceful here and the kids are happy to see him. Everyone wants to talk to me, it's nice.
Has anything been challenging or difficult? The main problem was the lack of language skills, but otherwise it has been more enjoyable than Janet could have imagined. At the same time, she has been able to get to know the kitchen profession and its tasks.
I heard that you've done really well here, what advice would you give to other people going on a work trial? Perhaps Janet's biggest advice is to be open and enthusiastic about exploring new places, people and things. It's also worth listening to advice. For example, by changing the way we work, Perti's advice helped us drop less food on the floor, which also meant less cleaning.
Have you ever done this job before? I've never worked in a kitchen before, says Janet. The work is not challenging if you listen. However, the best part of the job is meeting new people. The work trial has given me something to do in the spring: I was lazy at home and now it's good to wake up to work in the morning.
What kind of plans do you have for the future? First, Janet wants to learn Finnish. After that, she wants to study medicine: either as a nurse or a doctor. Her dream profession has been in her mind for a long time: in her homeland, she has seen how people don't get better if they don't always receive good enough care. In nursing, she could help people. Now she plans to study in Finland, perhaps as a nurse or a doctor, it's good to be here.
Could working in a kitchen be an option for a future career? If Janet doesn't get into nursing, she feels that the kitchen could be an alternative, as she already has some experience in this area. We also talked about the possibility of applying for summer jobs in the kitchen during her studies. In the second week of April, she plans to move from working in the kitchen directly to studying for the home training that starts in April. Janet would definitely recommend a work experience in the kitchen to others: you can learn the job, and it doesn't require much strength either.
What about instructor Pertti, how has he experienced directing the work experience in English? We also asked Janet's instructor Pertti about his experience in the spring: Although Pertti has used English, he comes across new vocabulary in the kitchen, such as the word "rag". "Then we look it up on Google, there's no problem with that". The first few days are of course always challenging when you're getting to know each other, but after that, on the contrary, it's been nice. You get to speak English and talk about Finnish culture, the kitchen profession and work at the same time. You can see when the other person gets joy from learning new things. According to Pertti, the desire to learn is the most important thing anyway. "Janet has learned really well, having been in Finland for five months, already at this point."
Why a work trial? A work trial can be a good opportunity to get to know a new field, gain new skills and find possible interesting fields of work. A work trial does not require previous experience – a person’s own desire to learn goes a long way. On the other hand, the experience gained through a work trial can also help them move forward in working life. For example, Janet could use what she learned in the spring to apply for assistant positions in various kitchens. A work trial also gives you the opportunity to meet new people, build your own network and get a rhythm to your everyday life.
Hollola employment and integration services
Text: Mari Ylä-Uotila
Published: 8.4.2025
