Is it worth giving feedback?

Job Market Finland without logging in 

We have been building the Job Marketplace online service for about four years. And, throughout this time, we have encouraged users to provide open feedback on our service. We have requested feedback on just about everything. We have also received it on just about everything. 

Initially, we published the beta version of the Job Market Finland service. The service forced users to log in to see what was it was all about. At the time, we received a great deal of feedback on the forced login. 

More than a year ago, we published a new production version, or kokeile.tyomarkkinatori.fi. Now, for example, you can view job vacancies or situational entities on the Job Market Finland website without logging in. But if you want artificial intelligence to be able to offer jobs that are just right for you, then you must log in and create a job search profile in the service. 

Job preferences to be made visible 

If there is one aspect of the service regarding which users did not spare any efforts to provide feedback, it was creating job search profiles. So, thank you all for your feedback. We have read and recorded all of it. 

Feedback was mostly very constructive. Most of those who provided feedback have also realised that our service is only in the construction phase. However, we were delighted to see that the comments were actually such that they both confirmed our existing ideas and helped us to obtain new ideas for our future development targets. 

In the production update, to be released towards the end of the year, the job search profile will undergo a major overhaul. Completing a profile will be made easier in many ways. Among other things, we will include a free text field where you can use natural language to tell us about yourself. In other words, you can use the field to provide information on your competence in your own words.  

In addition to describing your work and education history, you will soon be able to share your dreams for the future. In other words, you will be able to share your work preferences in the profile and see what the service suggests to you. 

Oi ESCO, ESCO 

In order for us to be able to offer you with right kinds of jobs, you must select keywords suggested by the ESCO classification from your free text. We have built a kind of artificial intelligence under the hood to help us make recommendations. If there is nothing in the ESCO classification that directly describes your competence, you can add the description through a separate box.  

You have experienced a great deal of challenges with adding skills and professional titles, and, regarding this, have sent a number of messages to us. We understand very well the feedback that we have received. The ESCO classification identifies and classifies skills, competences, qualifications and professions relevant to the European labour market and education and training systems. It is therefore a European multi-lingual system of skills, competences, qualifications and professional ratings, which will also be developed and updated for a long time to come. It is a small comfort that I can add that many other European countries are wrestling with the very same challenge. For the sake of European mobility, this development work is also extremely important. So, I want to thank all of you separately for sending us all the designations for skill areas and professional titles. We will add them to our service during the development work. 

Many people have also hoped that there would not be so many mandatory items that must be filled in when creating a profile. Your wishes has been heard. In the future, you will receive job proposals immediately after you have described your first competence. Of course, the more you tell us about yourself, the more specific hits the service will be offer. 

Competence is at the centre when creating a match 

Feedback on editing a job search profile, entering information in a chronological order and marking the duration of the publication was provided in various styles. Similarly, a great many people wondered why they were offered jobs throughout Finland although they had narrowed down their job search by selecting only a certain area.  

You will find that these and many other points that emerged in the feedback will be easier to handle after the production update of the job search profile is available. So, wait for a while and your waiting will be rewarded. 

But, even in the future profile, the main principle is that you first tell us something about yourself and then specify the duration and other information for your job search profile. A prospective employer will be able to see your profile and expertise only after you have published it.  

And yes, our intention is to continue to highlight jobs suitable for your competence from all over Finland, not just from the areas in which you are looking for jobs. This will enable you to see, through the service, more extensively the trends in working life that meet your competence. 

Leena Rankila
Development Specialist, Job Market Finland