Top talent Sanaz Zarabi got a job after a persistent search – KL followed a process that has caused many to leave Finland

Sanaz Zarabi 30, had been looking for a job for the second month last spring, and the situation was stressful.

It was a demanding winter.

It was worn out while finishing my dissertation at Aalto University’s Department of Technical Physics in Otaniemi. Zarabi calls the red brick Nanotalo designed by Alvar Aalto his second home, as he has spent a large part of the last four years there. The actual home is elsewhere in Espoo, where he moved in 2020 from Iran.

Zarabi is a researcher undergoing doctoral training, an expert specializing in hydrogen technology important to Finland, and an award-winning expert.

In his dissertation, he investigates the inkjet printing technology he developed as a way to increase the efficiency of energy devices used in renewable energy. Applications include, for example, lithium ion batteries, or hydrogen conversion and production.

That is, the kind of expert that an aging Finland should hold on to. And at the same time, the kind of expert whose job search the Finnish government intends to make difficult.

When Zarabi finished his dissertation in March, he immediately started looking for a job. We started correspondence at the same time so I can follow the process. We kept in touch by email from March to July. Zarabi communicated his experiences in English.

Now we return to the topic on a September weekday evening in Otaniemi. Zarabi has rushed there straight from work.

The email came on March 27:

I can say that this is really challenging! Most of the positions at the junior level are not publicly available, and for the senior level you would need experience. Unfortunately, a PhD doesn’t always sound like the necessary experience, which is sad!

At the end of March, Zarabi had applied for eight jobs. Work in my own field from various high-tech companies. Sustainable development expert, process development engineer, development manager…

In special technology companies, the language barrier is usually not a problem, as many of the companies are international. Zarabi speaks Finnish at an intermediate level, moderately.

However, he was in a special deadlock.

The most common feedback in the job search was that the doctor of physics was overqualified and, on the other hand, too inexperienced because he had not done enough work in the field.

Before his doctoral studies, Zarabi worked in Tehran as a research and development engineer in a company that manufactures medical devices.

“I hope people understand how valuable the soft skills of a doctoral degree are,” he says in the yard of the Otaniemi campus, a familiar meeting place for students. Raide-Jokeri rattles by sometimes.

“You learn to manage resources and work independently as part of a team. At this level, there is also a good attitude towards learning new things. We are experts who need self-development.”

During the spring, the mood darkened. The Finnish government is currently preparing the widely criticized three-month rule for foreign workers.

If a person who came to Finland on a work basis becomes unemployed and does not find work within three months, he can be removed from the country.

“Sweden and Germany will be really happy with the talent you send them from your good universities,” says Zarabi. The situation is frustrating and worrying.

He says that he knows foreigners studying in Finland who have started studying German in order to move there after their studies.

“They don’t even give the Finnish labor market a chance. And imagine how much money and resources the Finnish government has spent on training them.”

Zarabi describes spring as “super stressful”. I had to start looking for work when the public debate about the law change intensified. Suddenly, Zarabi didn’t feel welcome in the country he calls home. Acquaintances’ experiences of job hunting were not encouraging.

At the same time, he received two research offers from Germany. The job market would be bigger, there would be more supply in Finland.

However, Zarabi wanted to stay. Finland aspires to be a leading country in the hydrogen economy and semiconductor industry, and she wants to be involved in the development.

During a short campus tour, it is easy to understand other reasons as well. Several acquaintances stop to greet Zarabi cheerfully when they see him. He is an activist known to many, a member of the board of the Association of Doctoral Researchers and one of the founders of the university’s Aalto Reader’s Club.

“I have built my life here, I have a community and friends. When I came, Finland was receptive and I have been recognized here, felt like I belonged. These are valuable things.”

In total, Zarabi applied for about forty jobs. On July 9, he emailed again.

I’m excited to share some exciting news: I received a job offer at the end of May, and I’ve been busy transitioning into a new position while taking a much-needed vacation!

Zarabi started a technology company from Espoo Don’t worry as a process development engineer in July, about a month before the residence permit based on research work would have expired.

“Even though my background wasn’t 100% in line, the company trusted me because they were looking for a way of thinking and wanted to build a team.”

In addition to science, Zarabi’s background is in engineering. He studied material science and technology (engineering) in his home country of Iran to master’s level.

He was born in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city. Zarabi attended schools in the capital, Tehran. He became interested in chemistry early on and won the Chemistry Olympics at the age of 16.

The father encouraged his talented daughter to study. Educating girls is not self-evident, as women’s rights are weak in Iran.

“I am lucky to have such a family. At the same time, I knew that I had to continue my studies and my career outside that country,” says Zarabi.

Equality was important to him, and he was fascinated by the opportunity to study fuel cells at Aalto University, because that was really the only thing missing from his career’s energy portfolio. From Finland, Zarabi knew Moomin and the prime minister at the time Hello Marine.

At Aalto, Zarabi has been developing inkjet technology for four years now, which can be used to convert hydrogen into electricity. A similar process could be used to produce hydrogen with electricity. It means cleaner and cheaper energy. The principle can also be used in the manufacture of batteries.

Zarabi has received several recognitions for his work. In 2022, he won the Millennium Graduate Student technology award, which is awarded by the Academy of Technology. It changed the direction of the career.

“It was a clear confirmation of the effectiveness of my research and opened the door to networks, which has been invaluable. I also gained more self-confidence as a foreigner in Finland, and that inspired me during the difficult moments of my degree,” says Zarabi.

In January of this year, he represented Finland at “Gyss”, an international meeting of young scientists in Singapore. Zarabi presented his work and won more awards on the spot. The trip was important in many ways.

He also got to meet his idol, the Nobel laureate in physics Konstantin Novoselovinwho praised Aalto’s Nanotalo to the audience and the research carried out in its cold laboratory. The same place that Zarabi calls his second home.

“It was a fantastic, really proud moment.”

And now Zarab has more good news. Earlier in the day, he passed the driving school’s theory test, and his next goal is to get a driver’s license.

Another step towards a smooth working life.