Young Professionals programme

The Bank of Finland and the FIN-FSA’s Young Professionals programme provides a unique opportunity for participants to develop into top financial sector professionals, to work at the core of the Eurosystem and to learn about the key functions of the central bank and the financial and insurance supervisory authority. The programme also looks at the operations of the European System of Central Banks and European banking supervision cooperation. Participants in the Young Professionals programme spend time in different departments and offices of the Bank of Finland and the FIN-FSA over a period of 18 months. The previous programme was arranged in 2021–2023, and before that in 2018–2020.

Everyone’s work is appreciated, which is easy to observe. This can be heard and seen quite normally on a daily basis.

From programme participant to economics and finance expert 

In spring 2021, we recruited recent university graduates, along with other future top professionals with a few years’ work experience interested in digitalisation, the financial markets and law, to take on tasks carried out by economists and other financial specialists, and specialists in data science, digitalisation and law. We received many excellent applications. Those starting in the programme on 1 September 2021 were Jenni Granlund, Juhana Hannuksela, Antti Hirvonen, Mia Janatuinen, Aki Malinen, Matias Pihlajamaa, Hanna Pöntinen, Tatu Räsänen and Taina Sinivuori.

During the programme, the trainees gained experience in the three different areas, each over a six-month period, and became acquainted with the respective tasks through practical work. They worked with our experts and got the chance to establish important networks. The Bank of Finland and the FIN-FSA, in turn, gained access to the trainees’ fresh knowledge from universities and new kinds of expertise and ideas.

The nine trainees under the Young Professionals programme did a great job in the various functions of the Bank of Finland and the FIN-FSA. The programme finished at the end of February 2023. In addition to work tasks, monthly seminars were arranged for the trainees on the duties of the central bank and financial supervisor, for example on monetary policy implementation, compilation of statistics, banking supervision and the latest developments in payments and digitalisation. As with our other experts, the trainees also wrote blog posts, which you can access through the links on this page (in Finnish). The trainees also attended the ‘Discovering the ESCB & SSM’ training course, where they became familiar with the operations of the Eurosystem and the Single Supervisory Mechanism, while meeting colleagues from other central banks and supervisory authorities. 

After the programme, all nine trainees were employed in our organisation, some in fixed-term and others in permanent positions. The programme can be deemed a success, as all the participants wanted to continue working at the Bank of Finland and the FIN-FSA.

When we next organise the Young Professionals programme, we will first announce details on our website and in social media.