Tech
Nov 19, 2019
“Why I moved to Helsinki”
At Wolt, we know that building a great product requires top-notch developers, or setting up successful operations requires the right team of go-getters. And that’s why our people are the heart and soul of the business. We are super lucky to have exceptional talents and numerous nationalities across our country teams and Central teams. With first-hand experience in building both product and operational teams, we have found that each Wolter has the common desire to drive growth and impact our cities for the better.
Over the years, we’ve successfully relocated a number of top tier talents to our Headquarters (Helsinki, Finland) from various locations such as Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Estonia, and Russia to name a few.
We’ve asked a few of them to share a snippet of their journey as to why they chose to relocate to ‘The World’s Happiest Country’.
Vincent (VP of Product) from Canada
I was happily living in Montreal, Canada before moving to Helsinki in April 2019 in order to join Wolt. While I had some reservations about the city, I was very excited about the opportunity to join such a group of talented people at Wolt, and this is what convinced me – first and foremost – to give Finland a try.
Logistically, moving to Helsinki was absolutely seamless and fast: Wolt has partnered with organizations that make the whole relocation and immigration process a breeze.
Having lived in cities around the World (Paris, London, Frankfurt, Detroit, Boston, and Montreal), I have rarely felt so comfortable, to the point where I have even decided to buy a home here. With a sauna of course…
If you’re considering joining Wolt and moving to Helsinki, don’t hesitate. You won’t regret it.
Seven months in, I have fallen in love with Helsinki and everything it has to offer. The cultural life is vibrant, and we live in great proximity to nature: forests and beaches are literally two metro stops away from our office. The quality of life is outstanding: the city is one of the safest in the World, the work culture is very healthy, the food scene is amazing – even to French standards, and some neighborhoods such as Kallio are buzzing, day and night.
It’s also very easy to get on incredible weekend getaways, as the city is conveniently connected to all major cities in Europe and beyond. While winter is often described as harsh, I am actually looking forward to all the activities it brings (from snowboarding less than an hour away from the city, to dog sledding and northern lights hunting in Lapland, or enjoying a warm sauna after taking an icy plunge at Löyly).
Kristian (Developer) from the Faroe Islands
I relocated to Helsinki between Christmas and New Year of 2018. At the time, I ended up joining a web consultancy. Around a year later I finally joined Wolt!
I had already been interested in this country for many years, but the main motivation that pushed me over the edge was a trip here in the summer of 2018 where I also met my current partner.
Some of the Finnish quirks may surprise you, but living here is generally easy and stress-free. So my advice would be. Take a chance!
In terms of relocation, I was in a quite nice situation in general. As I was moving in with my partner, I did not need to find an apartment. But everything else was super easy. It took me no longer than an hour to file the documents to officially become a resident of Helsinki. Opening a Finnish bank account, getting a tax card, phone number and otherwise getting everything set up for residency was no more than a day’s work.
My favorite thing about Helsinki (that was not possible at home) is how easy it is to live here without a car. Public transport is really good, and basically, every place in the greater Helsinki area is accessible by a bike lane.
Shaun (Recruitment Manager) from the United Kingdom
My partner is from Vaasa in western Finland and we had talked about moving over here for a while.
One day in July 2019, I think something overly ‘Brexity’ happened and that was the catalyst for us ramping up the search. I applied to Wolt that same day and to cut a long story short, I found my dream job that also enabled our move here in October. A ‘win-win’, you might say!
I’ve always admired the way of life over here and just love how much more opportunity there is to achieve your goals – it’s something the Finns are extremely humble about, but it’s definitely true.
In Helsinki especially, everything just seems to work. Yeah, there are some ‘legacy’ things that seem a little odd to us foreigners but on the whole, the system is so much more functional than what I’ve seen from my time living in the UK, Australia, and Spain.
Apart from being rated as ‘The World’s Happiest Country’, Helsinki is the world’s first ‘City as a Service’. Read more here.
