Today, in most cases, work in Estonia is provided to highly qualified specialists who have graduated from higher educational institutions in the country and have an appropriate diploma. As a result, unemployment remains at a very high level, which reduces the chances of emigrants finding employment in this country. But even with the necessary education, finding a job is not so easy.
Tooipea Castle in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia
To find a job in Estonia, foreigners need a work visa and a special permit. The second document is issued if the emigrant has found an employer from this country. The owner of the enterprise must present a certificate of consent to employ a foreigner in his company.
An Estonian employer is allowed to hire Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russian emigrants only after he provides full information to the authorities that not a single native Estonian meets the requirements for the position. In most cases, entrepreneurs rarely engage in such activities. This applies to all EU countries without exception in 2021.
Requirements for applying for a job in Estonia
Those wishing to find work in Estonia need to learn the state language, despite the fact that most of the population knows and speaks Russian. It turns out that without knowledge of the Estonian language, finding a job is almost impossible. But those who do not care about this fact and want to get a job in Estonia should, first, find an interesting and suitable field of activity.
You can start searching on Estonian Internet sites where entrepreneurs post vacancies for their companies. You should also look at job advertisements on the Internet resources of Estonian newspapers. You can increase your likelihood of finding a job by browsing the official websites of some companies that are looking for professionals for a specific position. It is worth sending your resume or calling the company. Perhaps the entrepreneur will be interested and invite you for an interview.
Programmers are in great demand. This is because the IT field has developed well in Estonia, and knowledge of the state language is not required.
Specialists in this field can earn 500 – 2500 euros per month, depending on their length of service and work experience.
In addition to programmers, work in Estonia is available to workers in the financial sector. There are vacancies for bank clerks, insurance agents and others. But to get a job in this field, you need to know several foreign languages and have a higher education diploma, which is listed in the European Union.
If you manage to find a job in Estonia, you can apply for a permit for unhindered residence in the country for the duration of the employment contract.
But this period is limited to two years. After this time, the permit will need to be renewed.
Another important point is that upon arriving in this state, you must register at your place of actual residence within 30 days.
form for registering residence in Estonia
In addition, to find a suitable vacancy, you can resort to the services of agencies specializing in the employment of citizens. If the outcome is positive, the entrepreneur pays all expenses of the office.
What professions are relevant in Estonia?
When looking for a job in Estonia, foreigners should pay attention to the areas of information technology, construction, agriculture and road transport. Most often, truck drivers, IT specialists, medical personnel and technical professionals are required. In recent years, Estonia has experienced a surplus of trade workers and some blue-collar workers.
Important. According to a study on labor force needs conducted by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF), programmers, cooks and truck drivers will be most in demand on the Estonian labor market in the coming years.
The service sector is most in need of security guards, cooks, customer service and cleaning workers, while the manufacturing sector requires general and specialist workers, seamstresses who operate sewing machines, carpenters, project managers and construction specialists.
So that workers and employers can find each other more easily, young people know what profession to choose, older people and people who cannot work for health reasons can retrain and find new applications in the labor market - more and more thorough research is being carried out and forecasts.
When talking about future jobs, we often don’t know what kind of work will be in demand in 10 or 20 years, and whether in this case we need to learn anything specific at all. The decision to simply study something hasn't worked out very well either, experts say. “On the basis of one specific profession, you can always move forward, but if you know how to do everything a little bit and in general terms, then it’s difficult to get a foothold in the labor market,” confirmed the chief analyst.
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Work permit
Such a document allows emigrants to obtain employment in Estonia for the duration of this permit. Without it, foreigners can work in this country for no more than six months. However, before starting work, it is necessary to register it. Based on this, citizens of other countries who have a residence permit are prohibited from changing their place of work in Estonia.
Registration of short-term work is not required if the emigrant already has a residence permit in Estonia and is staying on its territory legally and lawfully on this basis. He needs to apply for a work permit or obtain a residence permit in Estonia for employment.
Citizens of another state are allowed to apply for short-term employment registration in two cases:
- If residents of other countries entered Estonia with or without a visa;
- For EU citizens who are allowed to work for three months from the date of arrival in the country when applying for a residence permit.
In some cases, a work permit is not required:
- An emigrant has a residence permit for a long-term resident;
- The foreign citizen has a residence permit for work;
- A resident of another state who submitted an application for a residence permit before July 12, 1995 and received it.
An application for a work permit must be submitted to the Estonian Police and Border Guard Department.
How to start working in Estonia
Ways to find work in Estonia:
- seasonal work;
- long-term work;
- opening a business;
- internship.
Completing an internship in Estonia provides an opportunity for students and recent graduates to gain work experience abroad in their field of study.
The most common areas for internships:
- information Technology;
- banking and finance;
- hotel and restaurant business and tourism.
Resources for finding internships:
- The international organization Aiesec is the official organization that sends students from all over the world for internships in Estonian companies.
- Tehnopol is a resource for finding vacancies in technology and business. The organization also supports youth entrepreneurial initiatives and invests money in promising startups.
- CVKeskus - vacancies in hotels and restaurants in Estonia.
- EuroGraduate - vacancies in the fields of engineering, finance, automotive and technology.
- CareersInternational - the resource posts vacancies for internships in such large international companies as Volkswagen, Siemens, European Investment Bank, Sephora and many others, both in Estonia and around the world.
For long-term employment, the applicant, together with the employer, issues a work permit. A permit is not required if you plan to work for less than six months.
Permission is not required from the following citizens: holders of a residence permit of Estonia or EU countries; EU Blue Card holders; journalists, reporters and other accredited media workers; teachers of Estonian universities; graduates of Estonian universities; athletes, coaches, judges and representatives of creative professions; employees of international companies located in Estonia; scientists and researchers to conduct scientific experiments; seasonal workers in agriculture. Work in Estonia for Belarusians is represented by vacancies common to all representatives of the CIS countries, since a number of similar requirements are put forward for foreign workers: Availability of education, qualifications and work experience in the specialty. Educational documents listed in Estonia and the EU are recognized. You can check your diploma for compliance with the European standard on the Estonian state portal. Knowledge of the Estonian language. In large international companies or for seasonal work, you can get by with English or Russian. Salary amount. It cannot be below the national average. Important! An Estonian employer approves Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusians for vacancies only if residents of Estonia and the European Union do not apply for it or if their qualifications do not correspond to the required position.
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Jobs required in Estonia
There are vacancies in Estonia that are in particular demand:
- Service specialists.
- Sales representatives.
- Equipment and machine operators.
- Highly qualified workers.
- Shipbuilders.
- Metallurgy workers.
In Estonia, specialists in the field of IT technologies are highly valued, who can earn up to 2 thousand euros per month. Along with programmers, financial professionals are also required, which include bank employees, insurance agents and others. As a rule, proficiency in the state language is not so important for IT specialists, while for the second category it is one of the important criteria when hiring.
In addition, it is important to have sufficient experience in this field. Also, when hiring, Estonian entrepreneurs pay attention to a higher education diploma.
Estonian higher education diploma
Specialists trained in European universities are highly valued. The smallest salary in Estonia is 320 euros per month.
After employment, a foreign worker is issued a residence permit for a period of no more than 2 years. If the entrepreneur provides the emigrant with future work after the expiration of the employment contract, then the employee’s residence permit in Estonia is extended for five years. After crossing the borders of the state, a foreign worker must obtain registration at his place of residence within a month.
Employment and salaries for foreigners in Estonia
Labor tourism in Estonia is directly proportional to the outflow of indigenous people who go to work in more solvent EU countries.
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More than a third of the vacancies are posted on the Internet and anyone can try to find a niche in developing industries. Mainly required are information technology specialists, medical personnel, builders and teachers. The level of qualifications often does not matter, but it is worth remembering that without knowledge of English and minimum work experience, wages will be 25-30% lower.
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To find employment in Estonia, Russian citizens must submit an application to the consulate for a residence permit. The issue will be resolved within 2 months. Then you need to apply for a work visa.
The average salary of a hired employee with legal employment is up to 2,000 euros per month, depending on the type of activity. For violations of the law, foreign citizens are punished with fines, and for repeat violations - with imprisonment.
Employer Responsibilities
When hiring emigrants, the Estonian entrepreneur is obliged to pay him a salary equal to the average salary for the previous year in this company. In the case where an individual is an employer, the salary of a foreign worker depends on the type of activity he performs.
comparison of Estonian salaries with salaries in other countries
In Estonia, work is paid in this way:
- caregivers;
- advisors, experts, consultants;
- seasonal agricultural workers for processing products.
Summer seasonal agricultural work in Estonia for immigrants
It is not easy to stay away from your family for a long time, so going to Estonia for seasonal work is the most suitable way to improve your financial situation and return home with money. Summer work in Estonia is a good opportunity for Ukrainians to earn extra money, since it is not so difficult and does not force them to stay in this country for a long time.
For women, seasonal work is a good chance to seriously improve their financial situation, see another country, travel and enjoy life. In most cases, married couples go to work for seasonal work.
Most often they can be found when harvesting agricultural crops. Such temporary employment is easier than finding a permanent job.
Finding a job without experience or language knowledge
There is no specific guidance for short-term employment in Estonia, as various companies and agencies provide several options for finding work in this country on a temporary or permanent basis.
You can get information about employment on specialized forums or thematic portals for finding jobs in Estonia, of which there are currently a large number.
Reviews on these resources make it possible to identify the most promising companies that offer vacancies for various positions, even without speaking the language. Recruitment advertisements help solve this problem very well, in which anyone can find out information about the specifics of the job, the required length of service and experience.
