Working Life Studies

Published 19.9.2022 | Updated 23.6.2025

Uniarts Helsinki’s Working Life Studies give students tools for adopting future-oriented thinking and reflecting on their personal paths as an artist. Studies consist of courses, online studies that are completed independently as well as project-related events. 

Working life studies increase students’ understanding on their own competence, help them to develop their professional identity and improve their employment prospects. After completing these studies, students and artists are better aware of how artistic fields can be applied in the ever-changing world. 

By completing Working Life Studies, you will learn how to:  

• find employment in demanding expert duties in the arts sector   
• understand the structures and operational environment of your own field   
• assess the existing practices with a critical mind   
• apply and develop your own competence in the ever-changing labour market   
• take sustainability into consideration in your own work environment  

Working Life Studies at the Open University

The Open University gives people who are already working professionally in the arts sector the opportunity to participate in Uniarts Helsinki’s studies that boost career and entrepreneurship skills.  

Develop your business idea in an incubator

Starting from autumn 2022, Uniarts Helsinki’s pre-incubator programme will give operators in the arts sector an introduction to an entrepreneurial operating model, offer them hands-on tools for starting up a business and serve as a platform for testing out product or service ideas and a business model. During the programme, participants are given insight from experienced entrepreneurs and information on what it means to run a business in practice.  

Applicants to the pre-incubator may be individuals or teams that work in the creative sector or in the arts professionally or students who are studying the field.  

Get help in job search and career planning

Assess and develop your career capabilities with Kudin-self-assessment

Kudin.fi is a self-assessment tool designed to support you in your career planning and study path. Career planning and the determination of the direction in which you want to take your education and career involve diverse cognitive, psychological and social processes. This self-assessment assists you in identifying your own career skills with the help of three questionnaires: Career readiness test, My strengths during change, as well as Career choices and decision-making.

Log into Kudin.fi with your Uniarts ID.

Kudin has been developed in the Work-integrated Pedagogy in Higher Education (WORKPEDA) spearhead project (2018–2020), funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä. The project aimed to promote university students’ career counselling, employment support, and equal opportunities in study and work paths by mapping the challenges in career planning and the students’ questions.

Discover a free workbook that supports your creative and cultural sector job search and planning your next career step!

This newly released workbook developed in the CreativeGPS project is designed for professionals considering a career move, students nearing graduation, aspiring creative entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in developing their skills and expertise.

The CreativeGPS project supports experienced creative professionals navigate their careers. It is co-funded by the Interreg Central Baltic Programme. The project partners are Trade Union for Arts and Culture Professionals TAKU, Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture NDPC and Tallinn Business Incubator.

Discover and download the workbook from the TAKU website.