Versatile work tasks around HR and beyond by Essi Rohula

There it was! After a long search and numerous applications, finally, the perfect place for my practical training. 4H Finland’s associations around Central Finland were looking for interns.

I contacted the 4H association of the Jyväskylä region and its operative manager. And in no time, we had already written a practical training agreement.

4H Finland is a youth organisation that provides clubs with different activities for children. During most school holidays, there are also camps organised. Along with the group activities for children, 4H provides training, courses and job opportunities to youth. 4H supports entrepreneurship, and it even has a program where young people can set up their own 4H businesses. Jyvässeudun 4H-yhdistys is one of the ~200 4H Finland’s associations. Along with the main activities, Jyvässeudun 4H-yhdistys has many projects, and they also organise youth exchanges. 

I had been interested in HR for years, so I was excited that I got to practice my skills from the very first weeks of my practical training. I went through all the summer job applications, interviewed applicants and made decisions based on these. Along with these, I got to practice making employment contracts with our summer employees. When all the paperwork was done, I combined orientation material for the employees and held an employment orientation.  

All the newly employed youngsters had two supervisors, and guess what, I was one of them! I was, along with other tasks, responsible for creating a work roster and managing it. All the shift changes were reported to me, and I had to react quickly to find another person to substitute.

After handling the first two recruitment processes with my practical training supervisor, I was given one of my own. I enjoyed getting even more responsibility. In addition to recruitment tasks, my work tasks during my internship were, e.g., training and coaching, social media tasks, translating texts and videos, public relations and developing the operations. I really enjoyed having versatile tasks and getting familiarised with all the association’s operations.

Practical training was a great opportunity, and I enjoyed it very much. Learning new things and putting already gained knowledge into practice was very valuable for my future career.

For me, practical training had the perfect ending. I signed an employment contract, and I got to continue my journey at Jyvässeudun 4H-yhdistys as a youth activities coordinator.

Author: Essi Rohula