Working for the government

Government jobs are versatile and require experts in various fields. A willingness to make a difference and to develop in your work provides a good start for a career as a public servant.

Government positions require good communication skills, a customer-oriented and cooperative approach, development skills and often also good language skills. A good public servant has an interest in what is going on in our society and in general trends. A willingness to be mobile within the organisation will be important in the future.

Candidates with various educational backgrounds can apply. Most expert positions require a university degree. Positions in some areas require a certain qualification. For example, many judicial administration jobs require a law degree.

A general eligibility requirement for government positions is that the applicant must be at least 18 years old (for some jobs, the minimum age is 15).

Vacancy announcement lists the requirements

Qualification requirements (i.e. mandatory requirements) for each vacant position are listed in the vacancy announcement. An announcement also states what is expected of candidates and what is specifically required for performing the job in question.

Recruitment

As a rule, government employees have public service employment relationships that are valid until further notice. Fixed-term appointments may be made on grounds stipulated by law. Some Government jobs are performed in a contractual employment relationship.

The most accomplished candidates are selected for government positions. A public service employment relationship may include a trial period of up to six months.

Each agency is responsible for human resources planning and its own recruitment. Recruitment for some positions is also done through agencies’ own training.

If you are applying for a vacancy, you must refer to the specific vacancy that interests you in your application. To make sure that the employer will get all necessary information, you can submit your application in Valtiolle.fi recruiting service.

Publicity of applications

Applications for government posts or temporary official vacancies sent to authorities are public. Based on the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), only confidential matters specified in section 24 of the act are to be kept secret. If your application contains confidential information, the information will not be disclosed to third parties.

Those who took part in the recruitment will be informed of the name of the appointee in an attachment to the appointment decision, but no other information will be automatically disclosed to any outside parties. The applications are not publicly available. Applicants may request information from the registry office of the recruiting agency.

When applying for government posts, applicants may ask that their information not be made public. The request can be included in the text describing the applicant or sent directly to the recruiting agency. The Jobseeker Service will not accept such requests.

However, the authority must always present the information upon request. The press has often heeded the applicant’s wish. Ultimately, the name of anyone applying for a government position may be made public.

If you have a non-disclosure, you can enter text 'non-disclosure' in the address field in the application and approve electronic notification with the application. Applications sent to authorities are nevertheless public.