Our recruitment practices

Listing job vacancies

All jobs available for external recruitment are announced on the Open jobs website. You can also find our advertisements on other job sites. We will also post some of the vacancies in the largest newspapers and professional magazines. If you are seeking a job, you should also follow the channels of the City’s recruitment operations and divisions. Temporary jobs are announced on the website of the staffing service Seure Henkilöstöpalvelut Oy, www.seure.fi(Link leads to external service) .

Application period and applying

The duration of the application period is 14–30 days. The application period usually ends at 16:00, but the time may vary case by case. Please check the time on the job advertisement in question. We will not consider applications that are submitted late.

You can search for jobs through Helsinki’s electronic recruitment system. Alternatively, you can also submit a paper application to the City’s Registrar’s Office. When doing so, make sure that the application and the envelope both include the key of the job you are applying for.

Anonymous recruitment

In anonymous recruitment, all personal information, such as the name, age, gender, address or native language of the applicant, are hidden in the job applications. Applicants are selected for interviews based on the skills, education and work experience that they describe in their applications.

Publicity of the application documents

The publicity of the application documents is based on the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. Applications become public documents the moment they are received in the City’s recruitment system or registrar’s office. In practice, this means that anyone (such as residents, City employees, the media) may request to see an application or a list with the applicants’ names in the registrar's office. The applicant may state on their application that they would prefer their name not to be published by the media, for example. The request will be conveyed to the representative of the media requesting the information, but the medium in question will always make the final decision on whether to publish the name.

On the applications handed out to people requesting them, confidential information will be hidden according to the Act of the Openness of Government Activities. Confidential information includes information related to the private life, annual income, total wealth, political stances, client relationship with social services, and health of the applicant. The applicant’s contact information will be confidential if the applicant has specifically requested confidentiality, or if they have reasonable grounds to believe their health or safety or those of their family will be threatened.

The City does not publish applications or name lists of applicants of its own initiative while application process is underway. However, when selecting a person for public service, the information of the applicants who made it to the interview stage and onwards will be published. This information includes the name, education, professional experience and skills of the applicants. The information will displayed until the period for appeal has ended.

Certificates and other information requested from the applicant

As the recruitment process moves forward, you as the applicant should prepare to present the following information:

Certificates regarding education, employment and languages

You do not need to attach diploma/degree certificates, certificates of employment, language certificates or other qualification materials to your application. However, you should bring them with you to the job interview so that they can be verified.

Pre-employment medical examination

When you apply for a permanent job or a fixed-term job lasting for over a year, you are required to provide a favourable statement regarding your health, as prepared by the City's occupational health services. You will need to present the statement to your supervisor before you sign the employment contract. If you are appointed to a civil servant position, the appointment to office includes the deadline by which the statement must be presented.

Drug testing

For some positions, applicants are required to undergo a drug test. Applicants are notified of possible drug testing in advance, and the testing is conducted as part of the pre-employment medical examination.

Credit check

Some jobs that demand particular reliability, especially in regard to financial matters, require the applicant to have a flawless credit history. Applicants are notified of a possible credit check in advance, and the credit check is only carried out for the person chosen for the job. The credit check is conducted before the appointment to office or the signing of the employment contract.

Criminal record extract

For positions that involve working with minors, the employer needs to check the applicants’ criminal record. The requirement to check the applicant's criminal record will be mentioned in the job advertisement.

Pre-employment assessment

The application procedure for managerial, supervisory and certain expert positions may include a pre-employment assessment to support the selection decision. These assessments are made by a third party assessor specialising in pre-employment assessments. The pre-employment assessors used by the City are all licensed psychologists.

Processing of personal data in recruitment

Why do we process your personal data?

We process personal data for the purpose of filling the City's vacancies, offering work to City employees subject to reassignment, sending alerts about new vacancies that applicants have expressed interest in using the saved search function and sending a survey on the applicant experience to people who have applied for a job at the City of Helsinki in order to develop the recruitment process.

Which personal data do we process? 

We process the following personal data on job applicants and City employees subject to reassignment: identifying and contact information; information on education, language skills, work experience and competence; applicants’ video interviews and free-form presentations; and applicants’ saved search settings pertaining to what kinds of jobs they are interested in. 

For more information on the processing of your personal data in recruitment, please see the recruitment register description (pdf).