Duration of summer employment
We offer summer jobs ranging from a two-week (10 working days) trainee period to full-summer employment.
We offer jobs for young people of all ages and backgrounds
There are either two-week or one-month summer job placements for people under the age of 18. For those over 18, summer jobs are available for one month or longer. We only employ lower secondary school pupils for the two-week ‘Earn as You Learn’ summer trainee programme. This ensures you’ll have enough time to relax during your summer holiday. At PKO, summer employees are always carefully trained for their roles.Duration of summer employment
"It all starts with giving the young person a warm welcome and guiding them as they begin their work. It’s important that the young person gets help and support from their instructor, supervisor and colleagues whenever they need it. At PKO, the entire workplace community looks after young people."
– Janette Vepsäläinen
Service Manager, Prisma Joensuu
Summer jobs even for the whole summer
We offer summer jobs starting from one month up to the entire summer. We’re looking for both industry professionals and trainees. We want to support students in finding employment in their own field, so we consider it an advantage if you apply for a summer job that matches your area of study (for example, if you’re studying to become a chef, we recommend applying to a restaurant or an ABC station). All our summer employees receive proper induction training. A customer-oriented mindset, strong communication skills and a positive attitude will take you far. All our employees work variable shifts, including evenings and weekends, so being able to commit to flexible working hours throughout the summer is definitely a plus. Our summer job period runs from April through to the end of September. Many of our summer employees continue working with us into the autumn, either through occasional shifts alongside their studies or with more hours by agreement. We also hire young people with special needs and those selected on social grounds, so please take a moment to explain on your application form why you should be chosen for a summer job at PKO. We also offer summer jobs to young people living elsewhere in Finland, provided they have accommodation in North Karelia during the summer, such as staying with grandparents or similar arrangements. You can see the locations of PKO outlets here. As a PKO employee – that is, an employee of the Northern Karelia Cooperative Society – you’ll have the chance to build your skills across our entire area of operation through great additional work opportunities. On top of that, you’ll get access to S Group’s amazing employee benefits! Equal treatment of employees is important to us, and we follow collective agreements in all roles, including pay and other terms and conditions. All communication related to the summer job application process is handled via email, so please make sure to check your inbox regularly. Sometimes our messages end up in the spam folder, so it’s a good idea to check there occasionally. We interview applicants as early as during the application period, so please keep an eye on your email.‘Learn as You Earn’ summer trainee programme (10 business days)
Are you interested in gaining work experience and exploring what it’s like to work in customer service? During the trainee period, you’ll get to know working life and its basic rules, as well as customer service, alongside the team at your location. Your tasks will depend on your placement. In a store, you’ll be stocking shelves, tidying up, and participating in customer service. And how is a hotel bed made to feel so comfortable? As a trainee in a hotel, you’ll get to explore tasks such as housekeeping duties. As a trainee in a restaurant, you’ll get to explore kitchen prep work or assist with customer service and cleaning in the dining room. You can apply for a two-week ‘Earn as You Learn’ summer trainee placement if you’re in comprehensive school, the 10th grade, upper secondary school or preparatory education. It is essential that you are not in vocational education and do not have a degree. Even a 13-year-old can be eligible for work, provided they turn 14 during the same working year. The trainee period can only be completed in the retail sector once. This means that if you’ve already completed a two-week trainee period in retail, you cannot apply again. In that case, you can only apply for a placement in a restaurant or hotel. You can complete the two-week 'Earn as You Learn' summer trainee programme multiple times in a restaurant or hotel. To be eligible for the programme at PKO, you don’t need to have a lot of work experience. We’ll provide training for all your tasks. A positive attitude and an eagerness to learn are your most important qualities. We also select young people with special needs as trainees, as well as young people on social grounds. Please take a moment on the application form to tell us why you should be chosen for a two-week trainee placement at PKO. Through this programme, you’ll gain hands-on work experience in locations such as S-markets, Sale stores, Prisma stores, Sokos stores, ABC service stations, restaurants, cafés, and Sokos Hotels. When choosing your preferred locations on the application form, please make sure you’re able to commute to the workplace. If your home address is in Joensuu but you’re applying for a job in, say, Koli, please let us know why – for example, if you have the opportunity to stay at a cottage or with relatives during the trainee period. We also offer two-week trainee placements to young people living elsewhere in Finland, provided they have, for example, a grandparent’s home or similar accommodation in North Karelia. You can see the locations of PKO outlets here. Here you can explore the wide range of tasks available at PKO: Versatile job opportunities. As an employee of PKO, the Northern Karelia Cooperative Society, you’ll gain valuable experience working in our various locations. We believe it’s important to give as many young people as possible the chance to gain experience in job interviews, so we’ll be interviewing a large number of applicants. In 2025, the ‘Earn as You Learn’ summer trainee programme included a one-off payment of EUR 425 upon completion. The lump sum salary includes the holiday compensation accrued during the traineeship period, as well as all other benefits with monetary value in accordance with the collective agreement. Each year, Service Union United PAM negotiates the summer trainee programme with employer organisations. All communication related to the summer job application process is handled via email, so please make sure to check your inbox regularly. Sometimes our messages end up in the spam folder, so it’s a good idea to check there occasionally.Read more:
Social criteria in summer job applications
Social criteria are also taken into account when selecting summer employees. When the job and the applicant are a good match, we also take into account factors such as financial or other challenges within the family.Summer jobs
PKO employs over 1,000 young people annually, including over 100 special needs young people and their counselors.
