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‘I love this island, there’s no other place like it’

Former yacht captain Chris Cockfield has travelled the world, but there is no place he loves as much as Öland, Sweden's second-largest island.

Published: 8 May 2017 06:59 CEST
'I love this island, there's no other place like it'
Chris and Agneta Cockfield. Photo: Private

It is no understatement to say that Chris Cockfield, 53, has seen the world. The American grew up in Connecticut and moved to Florida to work on board luxury yachts, a hard-working but adventure-filled job which for decades took him to all the dream holiday destinations anyone could think of.

But to him, there is one place that beats them all: Öland, where his Swedish wife Agneta grew up.

The couple met in Florida in 1988. Cockfield was first officer on a yacht, she was there to visit a friend. Later, she ended up joining him on board the yacht and they spent years sailing the world.

“When you work in yachting, especially as a couple, you always get asked what you're going to do when you get out, and the answer is usually, well, we'll open a bed and breakfast,” he explains.

So fast-forward almost 20 years and that's what they did. But it was not completely straightforward. On their travels they had found many countries they would be happy to settle in and call home, and they almost started their business in places as diverse as South Africa, Costa Rica and Florida Keys.

But when an old farm house owned by Agneta's grandparents at Mellby township on the island of Öland, Sweden's second-biggest island, became available, it was not a difficult choice to make.

“We had been coming here every year for vacation. I love the island. I think it's a unique and spectacular place. As a yacht captain who has travelled the world, there's nothing to compare it to.”


An old photo of Agneta's great grandparents at the main building. Photo: Private

It took two years to convert the old 1860s building into a guest house and Mellby Inn opened for business in 2009. A lot of the work they did themselves, being used to the work from their yachting career, which involved tearing the boats apart for maintenance and putting them back together.

“I love this kind of work. Many times it was 'what have we taken on?' but we were prepared for the hard work. It is still an ongoing project, I still have three barns to work on,” laughs Cockfield.


Giving the old farm house a substantial makeover. Photo: Private

Öland is Sweden's second-largest island, separated from the mainland by a bridge to Kalmar. It stretches out 137 kilometres from north to south, with its widest point being only 16 kilometres.

Home to the Royal Family's summer palace, it is a popular tourist destination in Sweden, but tends to end up in the shadow of its larger Baltic Sea neighbour island Gotland, at least internationally.

“If I have a complaint, it is that Sweden doesn't advertise itself as well as it should. This island is woefully underdeveloped for what it could be for tourism,” says Cockfield, not as criticism, but more as a way of wishing that even more people in the world would discover his adopted home.

“The south part of the island looks like an African plain or the Everglades. I can still drive around this island and find things I haven't seen and go 'how is it possible that I haven't seen this before?'”


A picture of an old windmill on Öland. Photo: Tina Stafrén/imagebank.sweden.se

The inn looks out on Stora Alvaret, The Great Alvar, a large limestone plain full of rare plants and species and historic settlements, with archaeological traces dating back to the Paleolithic era.

“You can literally walk through thousands of years of history… It's great if you're into archaeology, geology, biology… And that's all on one island – you can't find anything like this elsewhere,” says Cockfield. “I don't understand why people who do come here mostly only come in summer. It baffles me.”

He adds that the tourist organization on Öland has been stepping up its work to promote the island. As for Mellby Inn, it tries to attract visitors all year round, including projects such as yoga retreats and promoting bird watching tours – or just regular pub nights for both temporary and permanent residents.

“Our idea is not to cram people into July but spread them out over the year,” says Cockfield. “I think we've made a big impact on the local community and have become the local gathering place. We have pub nights every Friday during the winter.”

And while you may think that someone who's once been bitten by the travel bug will never be able to stay in the same place for long, the former yacht captain is firmly convinced that Öland is home.

“There's no other place in the world where you can live and have all the benefits but none of the downsides. It doesn't get any better. The schools are excellent, the healthcare is great,” says Cockfield. “I can get to Kalmar in 45 minutes or Copenhagen Airport in four hours, but I don't go over the bridge unless I have to, I just love it here.”

“People ask if I ever miss yachting and I don't, but if I could go back in time I would do it again. It was the perfect job then, but you're talking about a five-star hotel that can sink and then there's sharks. At least here everything's stable,” he laughs.

For members

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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