When talking with anyone interested in taking the plunge and moving abroad the top two worries are always 1.) language barrier, and 2.) find a job/ working abroad. In this post I hope to answer some of the questions you may have, and alleviate some of the concerns about finding a job and working in Sweden.

From my experience, finding a proper day job in my field of expertise proved to be reasonably difficult – but I don’t think this is the norm – in my case it was because most of my professional business experiences are rather hard to quantify on a CV, it requires a discussion, face to face, with a potential employer to truly express my talents and the benefits of having me on the team. While I ran several small online, web based projects from home, it took around 6 months for me to find an employer willing to take a chance on a “seemingly untested” employee. Once I was in the job there was no problems whatsoever, in fact, I was able to advance and move forward in my career. Main point – on your CV it is important to showcase measurable experience from each and every job held. Swedish employers place too much emphasis on how good you look on paper, so to get a good job, make yourself look good, without showboating.

Overall finding a job on your own in Sweden is not something to worry about – if you have a valuable professional skill set, you can almost always find a few companies willing to play ball. Never once has there been an issue because I am not yet fluent in Swedish. My best advice is to research the companies in Sweden – from the big names, to the small boutique agencies and startups, there is so many unique businesses with headquarters in Sweden, and operations around the globe. The great news for developers and designers – basically every single Swedish company is constantly looking for more developers and more designers. Sweden has blossomed as startup hub, new companies are emerging and growing worldwide extremely quickly. If you have any remotely decent skill set and experience with web and design, you should have a job before you step off the plane. I recommend heading to the jobs board on Swedish Startup Space and explore some of the great up and coming companies.

If you have exhausted all resources trying to find a job (and I mean absolutely all resources) you can register with Arbetsförmedlingen, which is the Swedish employment service. While they provide a much needed service, and there is a lot of companies who source employees through Arbetsförmedlingen, this is one government agency that is best to avoid. When you walk into the Arbetsförmedlingen office you can nearly cut the bureaucracy with a knife it is so thick. Arbetsförmedlingen is attractive to companies because the government will subsidize your salary through a company tax break for between 6 and 12 months. If this is your only option for gaining some experience with a Swedish company, all immigrants qualify – unfortunately it takes forever because it is a government agency, and there is certain things you must fulfill as long as you are enrolled in one of their programs.

It is important to note the hiring process in Sweden can be very slow, or very rapid, depending on the company. In my experience, the process has been rather informal and has taken several weeks to complete the interview process, and hiring process. Often times companies will hire someone with the start date 6-8 weeks after signing all relevant paper work. Another oddity I had never experienced before – at many Swedish companies your salary is structured on a one month delay, so if you are fired, you still will have one additional month of salary. The Swedish workplace is a very relaxed, informal environment. My experience working full time at a Swedish company has been very pleasant. Maintaining a balance between work, play, and home is a major facet of the Swedish workforce. Upon request I would be happy to discuss resume/ CV/ personal letter requirements in more detail.

In the next posts I will begin an ongoing commentary on life in Sweden. Detailing various facets of society, as well as annoyances and differences in culture. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment or send an email at movingtostockholm@gmail.com.

Cheers,

//Karl