The joint channel of Helsinki Employment Services and Ohjaamo can be found on Jodel under the name Helsingintyöllisyyspalvelut. The channel can be used to ask anonymous questions about matters related to job-seeking and unemployment.
“The most typical questions have been related to unemployment security and the recent changes made to it by the Government. Other persistent themes that are frequently highlighted on the channel include work ability and well-being. Some users do not shy away from very personal questions either,” says specialist Meri Nuotio.
The questions that users ask on the channel are often broad and ambiguous, and answering them requires extensive expertise and cooperation. The aim is to provide the young person with immediate help with their issue and a definitive answer to their question all at once.
“We try to provide multi-professional answers, to which end we engage in cooperation with teams that are on-call on Jodel. It is a real learning experience for us as well, which is one of the best things about the channel,” Nuotio says.
Nuotio, who works as part of a Helsinki Employment Services team focusing on youth services, is one of the specialists on-call on Jodel. In addition to Meri, the questions asked on the Jodel channel are answered by other professionals in different fields from Ohjaamo, among other places. They answer questions on the channel on weekday afternoons, but users can submit questions around the clock, any day of the week.
The theme day in July will explore the topic of being left without a study place
In addition to answering questions and opening discussions, the specialists of the Helsingintyöllisyyspalvelut channel also use the channel to highlight various themes, which are visible to users as boosted posts. These theme days encourage young people to engage in live discussions with specialists. Boosted post days are held on the channel twice a month.
Upcoming boosted post days will explore topics such as housing and financial issues, job search tips and the rights and obligations of job-seekers. The next boosted post day is 25 July, when the topic will be “did you not get into any of the educational institutions that you applied to for the autumn and are now wondering what to do?”
“The good thing about Jodel is that you can pin discussions that you find interesting. Our channel has a lot of discussions that have been pinned by users. One frequently pinned topic is discussions related to independent study on unemployment benefits,” Nuotio says.
Users can also suggest topics for boosted post days on the Helsingintyöllisyyspalvelut channel. This can be done by submitting free-form suggestions or by participating in the polls on the channel, as the aim of the channel is to cover topics that young people themselves find interesting.
“The channel is all about us going to them instead of requiring them to come to us. The effectiveness of this approach can be seen on the channel itself, as the discussions are long and frequently pinned,” Nuotio says.
The Helsingintyöllisyyspalvelut channel has been well received on Jodel, with the clients of Helsinki Employment Services providing positive feedback both on the channel itself and in personal client meetings.
“I believe that the channel has lowered people’s threshold of contacting us in other ways as well,” Nuotio says.