¨Turning job rejections into art

Job searching in Finland—especially as a migrant—can be a demoralizing and an isolating experience. Despite attending networking events, CV clinics, LinkedIn workshops, and job coaching sessions, many job seekers still face constant rejections without clear feedback or progress.

In Helsinki, the unemployment rate continues to rise—reaching 12.9% as of February 2025 (kaupunkitieto.hel.fi). In a time marked by uncertainty and helplessness, this is a moment to reclaim agency—by taking control where we so often feel we cannot

This creative, community-based workshop offers a unique way to channel the emotional toll of repeated job denial into something both artistic and cathartic. Participants are invited to bring printed copies of their job rejection emails and transform them into paper mâché art. Together, we’ll construct piñatas from these rejections—symbols of the frustration, invisibility, and resilience experienced in the job-seeking process.

In a follow-up event, we’ll break the piñatas as a collective act of release, resistance, and solidarity.

• Printed job rejections - printing is available at most public libraries. NOTE: Please blur or blot out any personal information in the printed emails to protect the confidentiality of you and the sender.
• You can also upload your job rejections using the google forms provided below - Upload your job rejections here
• https://forms.gle/4nd7PQHnwjgH4mQD9
• Apron or clothes you can get dirty

The workshop is open to all, however, the target group is those who have been struggling with chronic unemployment

This workshop series will take place in 2 parts-- The workshop and the party

• Workshop - Tuesday, May 20th (11:00-15:00) - Creating our paper maché piñatas
• Piñata Wrecking Party - Saturday, May 24th (16:00 - 20:00) where we will smash our paper mâché creations and celebrate our resilience together

MIELI Without Borders is grassroots, migrant-led organization that is dedicated to destigmatizing and spreading awareness about migrant-mental health through community action. Check us out --> mieliwithoutborders.fi

MITTI organizes groups, workshops, courses, and events to support mental health and well-being. Our community loves music, dance, food, conversations, languages, stories, art, movement, culture, and different opinions. We work for equality, diversity, and human commonness, and believe that connection is a key for overcoming prejudice. Check out MITTI --> https://lapinlahdenlahde.fi/en/projekti/miitti/

Hi! My name is Hope and I am originally from New Mexico, USA, but I have been living in Finland for the last 8 years. I am a licensed social worker (sosionomi) and have been struggling to find work, on-and-off for the last 4 years.

I was passionate about founding MIELI Without Borders because of how the integration process negatively impacted my mental health and well-being. I was unable to find adequate resources during my integration process and wanted to prevent others from experiencing the same thing . Additionally, I saw little to no coverage about how immigration, joblessness, and mental health intersect and wanted to bring attention to the issue.

I have been on the board for the last 3 years and am passionate about community action and spreading awareness about the impacts of immigration and unemployment on mental health and well-being.

Let's connect on LinkedIn!

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