Using Service Design Methods as a Tool to Facilitate Foreign Graduates Transition and Integration into the Finnish Labour Market. Subtitle:Case study of the employment of graduates of the degree programme in Leadership and Service Design

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to investigate using services design tools and methods, how foreign graduates from Finnish universities can be integrated into the Finnish labour market. The focal group for this research was ex-students of the degree program in leadership and service design, jointly organized by Novia and Turku universities of applied sciences. Different service design methods were used to navigate the studies. These methods vary in approaches and range from double diamond, stakeholder maps, business canvas model, survey, benchmarking, swot, personas, and customer journey maps. The aim of using different methods was to give the researcher a broader collection of data and different perspective for analysing. The principal tool was the surveys with 30 respondents out of a group of 73 ex-students. Personas were then established from the results. The results also aided the researcher in developing different journey maps and touch-points. Benchmarking results were similar to those from the surveys. The two research methods both established that Finnish language courses, internships, and collaborative platform are a must for foreign graduate’s integration to be successful. A co-design workshop was organized during the final stages of the thesis to address the above concerns. The researcher met with some ex students online to develop prototypes of the solutions to the aforementioned problems.