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‘Stockholm has welcomed me with open arms’

Is it possible to balance a full-time job at a Swedish start-up with a career in music? That’s exactly what Sheona Urquhart is attempting to do. After spending two years living in London, the Australian singer, actress and communications professional relocated to Stockholm last May, and she hasn’t wasted any time in her quest to establish herself in her new home.

Published: 20 June 2016 06:59 CEST
'Stockholm has welcomed me with open arms'
Musician and communications professional Sheona Urquhart talks to The Local about her move to Sweden. Photo: Sheona Urquhart

The initial connection with Sweden came through a route many will be familiar with: love. Urquhart met her current partner on what she describes as a “Tinder date gone right” while visiting Stockholm, and after some time in a long-distance relationship, she decided to make the leap and relocate to the Swedish capital. Before long, the Aussie had managed to nail down a job at start-up Trygve, working in the communications department on their neighbourhood watch app.

“The idea is that you post events and incidents in your area to the app, people talk to each other about it, and instead of spamming the police to get them involved in something relatively small, the neighbourhoods can collaborate,” she explains.

The app launched in Sweden last year, and attracted attention when it offered to connect buildings housing asylum seekers to its technology for free, following a string of suspected arson attacks on temporary refugee housing. Using technology to try and improve society is something Urquhart sees as a typically Swedish solution to a problem.

“Whether communities are important or not here, people at least seem to feel like they should be,” she notes. “The Swedish mindset is to look at alternative ways to better the planet and to better society. Swedes are at the forefront of innovative ideas.”

Occasionally that forward-thinking approach can be unsettling for newcomers however, as the Australian found out when she started her new job doing PR on the English version of the Trygvie app, and discovered that spending time at the office was more flexible than she was accustomed to.

“Coming to the office here and hearing people saying ‘I’m not coming in, I’ll work from home’, or ‘I need to clear my head so I’m going to go to a cafe…’. That was new,”

“The first week I chained myself to my desk and thought ‘surely I need to be here until five’. I ended up being the only person in a shared office, locking up at night,” she laughs.

“I wasn’t comfortable with it at first, and stuck to my ways. Then I forced myself to try it, and I found it does make you work harder, even if you work less hours that day. It makes you much more productive.”


Photo: Sheona Urquhart.

Settling in to a new job in a new country is enough of a challenge for most, but not content with that task, Urquhart is also in the process of finding her feet in the Swedish music industry, following on from her performance work in London.

“I’m mainly a vocalist and saxophonist, and most of my work was done arranging for other artists and doing backing vocals,” she says. “There are a couple of artists in Sweden that I’m going to do some sessions with in the next few weeks or so.”

Becoming established in a country’s music industry is rarely a simple task, but to Urquhart’s surprise, the Swedish collective mentality extends to the arts.

“It’s very collaborative here. I went to an industry night last week and thought I’d feel bad as I didn’t know anyone, that it could be awkward. I was looking at people and thinking ‘you’ve probably written songs I sing all the time but I have no idea who you are’,” she laughs.

“But everyone was really cool. The overall experience feels refreshing. Everyone wants to hear you out, hear your story and give you a go. That has been pleasantly surprising.”


Photo: Sheona Urquhart

Music isn’t Urquhart’s only creative talent. She also has acting experience, including a six month stint in Australian soap opera ‘Neighbours’. She describes her old character on the show as “a real bitch called Candace, who was a single mom that didn’t crack a smile once”.

While a move into Swedish soaps isn’t on the cards at the moment, the actress does have one idol from Sweden's entertainment world whose footsteps she would love to follow in.

“If I could be Petra Mede, I’d be happy. I’m a massive fan of Eurovision, it’s like Australian Christmas, and the one she hosted was the funniest I've ever seen,” she says.

Along with finding a new hero in the form of the 2016 Eurovision co-host, Sweden has also thrown up a pleasant surprise for Urquhart in the form of her day job, which has exceeded her expectations.

“I feel very appreciated here. With Trygve I’m in a very cool situation where there’s no one else doing my particular role and everyone has their own patch they take care of. There’s no micro management, no one looking over my shoulder telling me I should be doing this, this and this.”

With her job at the tech start-up proving to be a stimulating experience, and her first steps in the Swedish music industry already taken, it’s hard for the expat not to feel excited about the future ahead of her in Scandinavia.

“I feel like Stockholm has welcomed me with open arms. It’s nice to think anything can happen. I really like my job, I want to do more music and I feel like I’m able to. If I can balance both, I’ll be happy as Larry,” she concludes.

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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