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‘Sweden feels like a different country each season’

Meet the American who's climbed the highest peak in Sweden – and wants more. Biomedical engineer Chris Grigsby divides his time between a lab and the great outdoors.

Published: 20 November 2017 07:59 CET
'Sweden feels like a different country each season'
Chris Grigsby, who moved to Stockholm from New York City. Photo: Hampus Boësen/Private

Grigsby, 35, moved to Stockholm in January 2016 to take up a position as a post-doctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institute, working in biomaterials and regenerative medicine.

A biomedical engineer, he is working on cell reprogramming, turning cells which are not neurons into neurons, aiming to treat neurodegenerative disease. It's “like stem cells, but not”, he says.

But he doesn't spend all his hours in the lab. An avid rock climber and runner, Grigsby has found in Sweden a balance between urban spaces and nature. Having moved to Stockholm from New York City, easy access to nature is his favourite thing about life here. He says pursuing outdoor activities such as rock climbing isn't exactly straightforward in the Big Apple:

“In order to go climbing there you have to drive to the airport, rent a car for $300, drive three hours to get to a place outside the city, pay more fees to enter the campground, and then you can climb for a day.”

In Sweden, on the other hand, “you can pretty much take the bus or a train in any direction outside the city and find lots of hiking trails and rocks to climb, and water to swim in or kayak.”


Grigsby climbing in Finland on a trip organized by the Solna Klätterklubb. Photo: Hampus Boësen/Private 

Access to nature and conservation are highly valued in Sweden. As of late 2016, 85 percent of Swedes lived within 5km of a nature park, nature reserve, or conservation area – and a striking 98 percent within 10km. Forests cover almost 70 percent of Swedish land territory, and after the first national parks of Europe were created in Sweden in 1909, the country now boasts 12,474 protected areas.

“I think Swedes also in general are pretty fit as a society, so there's a lot of enthusiasm for any sort of outdoor activities,” says Grigsby, whose own passion for the outdoors has led him all over Sweden, starting right outside Stockholm.

Last summer, he entered the world's largest cross-country running competition, Lidingöloppet, which takes place every September in Lidingö, Stockholm. Then, through social media, he found out that Lidingöloppet was part of a larger event, the Swedish Classic.

It consists of the 30km race in Lidingö, a 90km cross-country ski race (called the “Vasa race” in Sweden), a 300km cycle race, and a 3km swim race, to be completed in a 12-month period. The point of the Classic is to keep people active and training all year round, motivated by the different challenges. 

“The whole point of this, is that all the races are designed to be recreational. They're not designed to be super competitive, they're supposed to be a way to get people off the couch and start training, within reach for anyone who trains.”

“I've always liked doing endurance sports like that, so I thought I'd sign up and do them all”, says Grigsby.

But it wasn't all that easy. After Lidingöloppet, the next event on the calendar was the ski race in Dalarna. “I had never cross-country skied before, and it hadn't been a great snow year, so there weren't too many opportunities for training in Stockholm. And I wasn't aware of the existence of roller skis either, which I guess you can use to train with no snow. I spent maybe an hour or two on skis in Hellasgården in Stockholm before the race.”

Undeterred, Grigsby “bought some skis on Blocket [a Swedish buy-and-sell site similar to Craigslist], took the train up there, and survived – barely. And I think I beat at least three other Americans, so I wasn't last.”

He says at every checkpoint during race there is a cut-off time. “If you don't pass there before that time, they kick you off the course and send you home.”

And at one point during the race, he was ready to be sent home: “I thought I was too slow, and I was ready to be cut off when I got there, but in my exhaustion I just read my watch wrong, I think, because when I got there I realized I still had another hour or two. So I got to drink some more blueberry soup and keep going.”


Chris Grigsby completing the Vasaloppet Öppet Spår in Mora, Sweden. Photo: Hanna Barriga/Private

Grigsby finished the ski race, and all other races, and completed his Swedish Classic. “After you've completed all four events in a 12-month period you can go on their website and register your completion and they'll give you a number.”

“All the races, besides the Lidingöloppet, are in Dalarna, which is Swedish heartland. It's cool to be part of something that's so traditional, and I guess, classic,” he says, noting that most of the participants in the events are Swedish.

Would he do it again? “I know there's a special award if you complete all the races with a total time below a certain threshold”, he says, referring to the Super Classics Trophy. “So that might be my next goal. We'll see.”


Grigsby after completing Vansbrosimningen, the last leg of the Classic in Vansbro. Photo: Private

“Oh another thing I did”, he says, unassuming, “was the Fjällräven Classic”. The Fjällräven Classic is a trek on a 110km section of the Kungsleden trail up in Lapland, going from Nikkaluokta to Abisko, organized as the name suggests by Swedish outdoor wear company Fjällräven.

Up there, he recalls, “you get all four seasons every day – you get snow, hail, rain and sunshine, all of it.”

And if hiking in Lapland, seeing reindeer and experiencing the wild climate of the Arctic were not enough, Grigsby took on another challenge during the Classic:

“I took a detour on the second day and climbed Kebnekaise, which is Sweden's tallest peak. Despite it not being that tall, it was pretty treacherous. I've climbed a couple of 14,000 foot peaks in the States, and this one, I had some sketchy moments up there. It was legit winter up at the top, even though it was August. So that was also a good time.”

He camped half-way up the mountain and had an early start on the climb. “I passed some people who were going up on my way down, but I think I was the first one on top that day.”

He really enjoyed the experience – and the big party at the finish line in Abisko – and is already making plans to go back up north. “I haven't booked it yet, but I want to go back up there in the winter, because I still haven't seen the northern lights, and I think it's beautiful up there so I'd like to go check it out during other seasons.”

READ ALSO: Five top tips for climbing Kebnekaise

The Classic was a good first step for getting to know the area, and organized events like these can help those who are intimidated by going to the Arctic Circle for the first time by themselves, as he was. “But now that I've been up there, I'd totally go back and hike there again, but not as part of the event. I'll probably just go up by myself or with anyone who'd like to go have a little bit more solitude.”

The harsh Arctic winter does not intimidate Grigsby, who says he likes bad weather and snow. “As long as you have warm clothes, it's not a problem.”

Having moved to Stockholm in the middle of winter, the cold and the darkness were the first things he noticed. Now, he says the changing weather is one of his favourite things about living in Sweden, as the distinct seasons help “keep things fresh”. “It feels like a different city, a different country, each season.”

So does he see himself staying in Sweden? He doesn't know. He found in Sweden the mix of good culture and good scientific infrastructure he was looking for, but he is living the “post-doc lifestyle” – one year at a time. His current fellowship ends in January, but he is staying on for at least another year.


Grigsby at work. Photo: Private

He likes Swedes' healthy cultural approach to work. In the US, “when you meet your friends after work, inevitably the first discussion you have is how hard you worked that week, how many hours you worked that week, how much stress you're under”. In Sweden, that first conversation is usually “about the weather, or what your next holiday is”.

And he wants to work on his Swedish more as well. After stopping SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) in the summer, he is in the process of re-enrolling.

Becoming fluent in Swedish will help him pursue another one of his passions. For ten years in the US, Grigsby volunteered at fire departments and ambulance services as an Emergency Medical Technician, or EMT. Seeing the clinical side of medicine, rather than the research side he sees at work, was one of his favourite things. As for volunteering in Sweden? “If I do get my Swedish skills up to an appropriate level.”

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.

READ ALSO:

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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