Information about EDUFI Traineeships

EDUFI traineeships abroad are meant for students in higher education and recent graduates. 

You need to meet the following general application criteria to apply for an EDUFI traineeship:

• You are a Finnish citizen or you reside in Finland permanently. Your main reason of residence in Finland cannot be studying or another temporary reason. Please note that those applying for a placement in Finnish diplomatic missions abroad must be Finnish citizens.
• You are a full-time degree student (Bachelor's or Master's degree) at a higher education institution in Finland or abroad.
• If you  are a recent graduate, the placement should start within one year of your graduation date.
• Please note that there is a limited number of placements you can apply for if you are not fluent in Finnish.
• You can only be selected for an EDUFI trainee placement once. If you have previously received a traineeship grant from CIMO, or since 2017 from EDUFI, your application cannot be considered.
• An EDUFI grant cannot be paid at the same time as an Erasmus+ grant for the same trainee placement.
• You must be at least 18 years of age.

Exceptions to the general application criteria are mentioned in the relevant placement description. 

Pre-selection at EDUFI

We pre-select a short list of applicants who

• meet the general application criteria
• meet the criteria of the employer, and
• have the most suitable education and training, work experience, language skills and other qualities for the placement in question.

Employers make the final selection of trainees.

There are five traineeship programmes:

• Business Finland
• Finnish diplomatic missions abroad
• Finnish cultural and academic institutes
• Team Finland Knowledge Network
• Universities teaching Finnish language and culture abroad

During each EDUFI call for applications you can apply for one or two placements within one traineeship programme. For example, if you apply for a traineeship in Finnish diplomatic missions, you can list two different diplomatic missions you are interested in.

The locations, tasks and grants in these placements are determined in advance. Make your preferred position as your first choice on the application form, because you can only be pre-selected for one placement. Applicants will be placed to their secondary choices only in exceptional cases.

1. Make sure that you meet the general application criteria.
2. Select a trainee placement that best supports your future plans and that best matches your education and training, possible previous work experience, your language skills and other qualities.
3. Write a good application on time. Make sure you have all required annexes and reserve time for writing your motivational letter. The online application form will be closed at 16.15 (4:15 PM) Finnish time on the application deadline date.
4. At EDUFI, we pre-select applicants that, in addition to meeting the general application criteria, best match the criteria set by the employer and the criteria and requirements listed in the placement offer. We normally pre-select 3 to 7 applicants for each placement.
5. You will be informed about the results of the pre-selection by email.
6. Employers make the final selection. If you have been put forward for a placement, be prepared to be interviewed. Interviews are normally done remotely. The employer may interview all or only a few of the pre-selected applicants.
7. When the employer is a Finnish diplomatic mission, you will be security checked with your permission. A security check will also be carried out if you will be working in the premises of a diplomatic mission even if you would be working for another organisation.
8. Employers will inform all pre-selected applicants about the final selection.
9. You don’t need to apply for an EDUFI grant separately. Once the employer has confirmed to us that you have been selected, we will send you information about the grant.