Finnish National Team begins training for the WorldSkills 2024 Competition – “A learning journey for honing my professional skills”

Team Finland 2024. Photo: Roni Rekomaa / Skills Finland.

The Finnish National Team is composed of 22 young experts who will represent their respective fields in the WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, from 10 to 15 September 2024. The Competition includes 62 fields, and the Finnish representatives will participate in 20 of these, such as beauty therapy, landscape gardening, welding, pâtisserie and confectionery, carpentry, and hotel reception services. The National Team convened in mid-January in Helsinki for its National Team Camp, where the participants focused on getting to know the team and fostering a common competitive spirit.

Jetro Virta, who will compete in Automobile Technology, studies at Savo Vocational College. Jetro sees the vocational skills competitions as an opportunity for developing his professional skills.

“I want to challenge myself. This is a learning journey that will help hone my professional skills. An international competition like this is also a great opportunity for seeing how things are done in other countries, and I can apply this new know-how in my future career,” Jetro explains.

"The National Team Camp helped clarify my goals, and it also helped me prepare mentally. It’s important to know how you can best enjoy what you're doing, while also staying cool and collected.”

Mika Saroma, an automotive lecturer from Stadin AO, the Helsinki Vocational College and Adult Institute, is the Finnish Expert in the Skill. He is also involved in Jetro’s training team. While his role is to support those participating in the competition, the process will also help him foster his own professional growth and the development of his educational institution and the entire automotive sector.

“From a teacher’s point of view, this will help me develop my competence and extend my professional network. It will provide the opportunity to talk shop about how people teach things in other countries, which will help broaden my own visions and ideas about how we can develop the teaching and competition in the field in Finland."

WorldSkills and Team Finland

The WorldSkills Competition for young professionals will be held next in Lyon, France, from 10 to 15 September 2024. The WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Competition will include 62 skills in total, representing a wide variety of different vocational professions, from practical nurses and chefs to welders and electricians. The Competition will include around 1,500 Competitors, with an expected 250,000 visitors to the Eurexpo Lyon exhibition centre.

The competing participants, who are all aged 22 or younger, represent the top vocational experts of their respective fields. The Competition also includes designated Experts who will serve as the Competition’s visiting specialists and judges. The Experts are often vocational teachers, and the training for the Competition is carried out collaboratively between vocational education providers and employers.

The Finnish National Team consists of 22 experts and 22 competitors, who will participate in 20 fields.

Team Finland is also supported by 15 vocational institutions and their partners. As a member of WorldSkills International, Skills Finland is responsible for selecting and coaching the National Team. All field-specific training is handled by the participating educational institutions and companies.

Finland’s aim in the WorldSkills Competitions is to develop top Finnish expertise and boost the international presence of Finnish vocational education and training. The goal of each Competitor is to achieve at least the Medallion for Excellence diploma for above-average performance in their respective skills.

Further information

The Finnish National Team (pdf)

WorldSkills Lyon 2024 website

Teija Ripattila, Team Leader, teija.ripattila@skillsfinland.fi

Katja Katajamäki, Communications Manager, katja.katajamaki@skillsfinland.fi