As a foreign student, finding a summer job can be a very difficult task for various reasons: lack of knowledge in national languages (Swedish and Finnish) and studying in a scientific field that does not have a wide range of foreign-language-speaking jobs available are just a few of the reasons that might make the task of finding a job much harder.
Personally, I had other plans originally for this summer, but because of the CoVid -19 pandemic I was obliged to change my plans. For about one month in the spring I was completely without anything certain, but luckily in the end of April I managed to nail a summer job from a branch that is quite much corona-safe: agriculture. At this point it is good to pinpoint that I will solely be writing about vegetable cultivation in greenhouses.
Anyway, since almost a month ago I have been working in a greenhouse in the village of Yttermark, in Närpes. The city of Närpes is famous in Finland for mainly four things: agriculture, integration of foreigners, sports (football and athletics) and truck trailer manufacturing. What comes to agriculture, the farmers in Närpes cultivate roughly speaking 60% of all tomatoes grown in Finland. Also cucumbers, bell peppers and chili peppers are grown commonly. The company where I work is a member of Närpes Grönsaker vegetable cooperative that is the leading one in its branch in the country. We grow two kinds of tomato cultivars: orange pearl tomatoes (also called as baby plum tomatoes in some English-speaking countries) and kumatoes (aka “tomate marrón” in Spain). We are in total 6 people who work in the greenhouse this summer (I’m one of the two summer workers).
What does the greenhouse work consist of?
The main tasks in my summer job are three: picking/harvesting, cutting the plants and keeping the greenhouse clean. Picking in done four days a week, while cutting is done always on Wednesdays plus some other days depending on the need. The cleaning is usually done on Mondays. It means that we basically brush all the leaves cut from the plants to piles, pack the piles in boxes and compost them. It is a work that consists of routines, as one might already guess. The working day in my case starts at 8.15 in the morning and finishes at 16.15 in the afternoon every day from Monday to Friday. We have one 15-minute-long coffee break and a lunch break that lasts 30 minutes. In other words the regular working week is 37,5 hours long. Sometimes it might happen that I finish a bit earlier on Fridays.
Since the hygiene measures are very strict in the industry, this post does not contain any pictures, since I can’t have my mobile phone with me inside the greenhouse during the working day. Every time we enter the greenhouse, we sanitize the shoes by stomping on a mat that sprays out soap. Then we wash hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. After that you dry the hands and sanitize them with hand sanitizer gel. The hand-washing/sanitizing procedure is repeated always after coffee breaks, toilet visits and lunches.
What are the pros and cons of working in a greenhouse?
+ Knowledge of English is enough in order to start working.
+ Everyone can learn the tasks with some effort.
+ Regular working hours make planning the rest of the week easier.
+ You don’t have to worry about rain or other types of lousy weather since you are working indoors.
+ In a small greenhouse like ours there is a familiar atmosphere and the sense of togetherness is strong.
+ Physical work where you get a free workout at the same. No need to go to the gym after work. 🙂
– If you are not willing to set up personal goals and challenge yourself to make progress with the tasks, the job is definitely not for you. There are certain target times for picking: eg. in picking the orange tomatoes the decent level is 30-35 minutes per box. This depends on the delivery times, since the delivery truck, that takes the tomatoes to the packaging centre, arrives between 14.00 and 15.00 every day.
– If you don’t like routine-like work, it is definitely not for you.
– If you don’t like physical work where you sometimes get your hands dirty, it is definitely not for you.
– If the idea of bringing your own lunch does not appeal you at all, it is definitely not for you.
– If working in Närpes, finding suitable housing CAN BE tricky, especially if you don’t have a car.
Tips for a beginner:
– Keep yourself hydrated during the day! During every working day I drink at least 3 litres. If it is a really tough day, the fluid intake increases by 1,5 litres, which means a total of 4,5 litres a day.
– Wear shorts when at work, since the temperature is over +20 all the time.
– Join the union! The union of greenhouse workers in Finland is Industrial Union (sv. Industrifacket, fi. Teollisuusliitto). For more information about what the unions do, see: https://www.teollisuusliitto.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/We-Are-The-Union.pdf
– Read the collective agreement before you sign the contract and have a look at it also during the summer. You will find it on the website of the Industrial Union.
– Make sure also that you have a tax card before you start working. The tax card can be ordered at Vero.fi.
Interested? By the end of the summer I will certainly have much more information and experiences to be shared.
Soundtrack of the post:
Billy Bragg – There is Power in a Union
Tom Morello, “The Nightwatchman” – Solidarity Forever
Gente de Borgata – Operaio
Hanna – Näst sist
1G3B – Storpojk
– Pekka