Hamina's ninth-graders prepared for working life at the Young Expert 2026 seminar
On Friday, February 13, 2026, the third Young Expert seminar day was organized, bringing together ninth-graders from Hamina and working life experts. The event, organized by the Hamina Junior Chamber of Commerce (JCI), was the culmination of a project that offered ninth-graders concrete tools for adulthood, summer job search, and future joint job search. The seminar was organized in the morning At Pappilansalmi school and afternoon At Vehkalahti school.
The beginning of a career and finding your own path
The event was opened by the Chairman of the Hamina Junior Chamber of Commerce JCI. Erika Tiainen and the keynote speech was given by InCore Oy Anni Karppanen. Anni was familiar to the young people from the project-related strength workshops and in her speech she encouraged the young people to utilize their own strengths and find their own path. She also reminded them that it is okay not to know what they want to do with their lives as a ninth grader. Today, working life is not a straight path, but many people go through 3-7 careers or professional directions during their lives.
Working life is a series of adventures where you try, succeed, fail, learn from other people and, above all, from yourself. Many things can only be learned by doing, not by thinking in advance.
Anni fed the young.Anni told the young people about her own path, which has led her to her current work as an entrepreneur and coach. She encouraged the young people to embark on their own adventure, to dare to be themselves and to get going.
Your strength is that you are exactly who you are. Dare to set out, find your own path, and take your own steps.
Lessons from working life and genuine encounters
The second part of the seminar was a panel discussion, where young people had the opportunity to ask experts questions that were on their minds, for example about money and job hunting. The panel was chaired by Henna Ihalainen from the Hamina Youth Chamber of Commerce. Answering the young people's questions were: Kari Saareks (Google) Niina Karinen (InCore Ltd.), Noppu Forsman (City of Hamina), Essi Soderholm (Southeastern Finland Cooperative Bank) and Kaisu Kaivola (Andritz). The panelists talked about their own backgrounds, careers, their first summer jobs, and the summer job opportunities at the company they represented.
The young people had sent questions in advance, which the panelists were able to answer. The first questions concerned job applications, salary and payment of wages, and standing out as a job seeker. The discussion about wages raised important points, from agreeing on salary to practices related to payment of wages. The panelists raised important points about applying for a job, such as how to stand out from the crowd with a job application and CV. The job interview had raised a lot of questions, and the panelists encouraged the young people to be themselves during the interview, to prepare by getting to know the company and the job in advance, and to show interest in the job they were applying for.
When you go to an interview, remember to breathe. That's the most important piece of advice. Everyone gets nervous going into a job interview.
Think of a concise introduction about yourself, because they always say, "Tell me a little about yourself." And remember to praise yourself and highlight your special skills!
Working life skills and coping at work make young people think about it, and the panelists gave good tips on this. Work always involves things that are not always fun. But if there are challenges with coping, it is worth talking about it openly, for example with a supervisor. Coping at work also requires a good night's sleep and free time that supports your own coping. The panelists reminded us that we must remember to take care of ourselves. In addition, it is important to make sure that we are a person who is pleasant to work with. Orientation was also highlighted as an important factor in making working life enjoyable and doing well.
In addition, the young people asked questions about, among other things, what kind of jobs 16-year-olds can get. Tips were provided both through the panelists' own experiences and through the companies they represented. The panel discussion also provided the young people with good and important tips on what things should be agreed in writing, what points to consider in their first jobs, and what they actually commit to when signing an employment contract.
At the event, young people also had the opportunity to participate in a CV workshop and sparring. In addition to the panelists, young people were guided by experts from Hamina Ohjaamo and Google. Help was available for developing their CVs and polishing other job application documents.