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‘My advice to anyone moving to Sweden is to be patient’

For Charles Kruse, moving to Sweden was about more than just work or a change of location. It was about meeting his father for the first time in over 20 years.

Published: 23 April 2018 06:59 CEST
'My advice to anyone moving to Sweden is to be patient'
Charles Kruse in Stockholm celebrating his 30th birthday. Photo: Private

“My dad's Swedish and we didn't have any contact for our entire lives, then one summer one of my best friends who has a Swedish girlfriend mentioned 'you have a Swedish dad, don't you?'. One thing led to another and I started to look for him, and found him that same night,” the Canadian told The Local.

Kruse was born in London, but moved to Vancouver when he was a toddler, and between the age of two and 23 the closest he got to seeing his biological father was through some photographs his mother kept. That all changed when curiosity sparked by a friend's comment led him to finding his dad online in 2010, then tracking down a phone number.

“When I got his number it took me about 20 minutes to dial. Making that first call was really hard,” he recalled.

“It was surreal. Knowing it was his number…I naturally had fears, and it was a very emotional moment.”

The call went well, and the two started speaking regularly. Then the next step came: a trip to Sweden that would prove to be more than just a vacation.

“Naturally he asked how I would feel about coming to Sweden for a visit. I was open to that, we both wanted to bury the hatchet and move forward. He bought me some plane tickets to come and see him at the end of the summer for what was supposed to be for two weeks, but after he showed me around I decided to stay here with him.”

Kruse was living in Spain at the time and already had work lined up there, but changing plan and opting to make up for lost time in Sweden felt right. It helped that the Nordic nation felt familiar:

“Sweden was always in the back of my mind, I knew I was half Swedish, and it turned out to be a beautiful place. It reminded me a lot of Canada, so I didn't feel so homesick. There's similar nature, the water. I loved it.”

“Coming from Vancouver the cold winters are easy to adjust to, we both love hockey. And Vancouver's also a very multicultural city – I've found Stockholm to be very international,” he continued.


Kruse after running the Madrid marathon. Photo: Private

Settling in was helped further by the job he found. Working as a teacher at the International English School (Internationella Engelska Skolan) in Täby has naturally meant being surrounded by many people with similar experiences of relocating and all of the challenges that can bring.

“At the school it's amazing because so many people are in the same boat. The Swedish teachers are super supportive too and make it as easy as possible for you to adjust. And the kids are amazing – there's so much English used in the media that they're really bright when it comes to the language. It's very different to teaching in Spain, where the level was lower – here their English is already quite good.”

He only has good things to say about his Swedish students:

“Swedish kids are extremely well mannered. Their parents are all really involved in their learning and are supportive of teachers. It feels like everyone is on the same team over here.”

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Stockholm has been home for years now, and he has now decided to tackle the city's marathon this summer – but not in the most straightforward of ways. In an effort to stir up some attention and raise money for charity School Club Zambia, he and colleague Alastair Wither will run the race together while carrying a cumbersome inflatable canoe.

“People don't really understand the inflatable canoe! I originally wanted to do it in a fireman's suit, but naturally the organizers wouldn't allow me to,” he laughed.

“I tried to think outside the box and one of my colleagues suggested it as a joke, so I looked into it. We did our first six or seven kilometre run with it the other day. The hardest part isn't really the weight, it's that it jumps on your shoulders when you run. It's very unnatural feeling. We still have to do quite a bit of training but we hope the adrenaline will kick in when necessary.”


Training with the canoe. Photo: Private

Unsurprisingly, two people doing preparatory laps with an inflatable canoe on Stockholm's streets has provoked a few odd looks from pedestrians. “Running in novelty outfits is maybe not as big here as it would be in the UK, Canada or the US,” he reflected.

It's worth it to raise money for the charity though, the 31-year-old said.

“Knowing it's an independent organization, knowing the money would be used well was important. It feels like it's going to something good.”

“I found out about the charity through a colleague that works at the school, whose cousin works with them. It connects helps schools who have zero or low income to try to make them sustainable and generate revenue. That could be as simple as hiring a gardener so the kids can grow some vegetables then not only eat them but also sell them. Or raising chickens who the kids have to take care of then can sell the eggs. It helps the schools to survive and also gives the kids a sense of meaning and something they can adopt beyond their education,” he added.

Kruse's own sense of meaning has changed in the years that he has been in Sweden. With a child and a partner here he now has firm roots in the country, and being granted Swedish citizenship has also contributed to a sense of coming full circle in reconnecting with his dad.

“I have no reason to leave Sweden now. I can't say I'll be here forever but I'm happy. Sometimes people complain about the weather being hard, and socially that it's hard to make friends, but if you can look past those points it's really an amazing place to live.”

“It's easy to take for granted the things that work here. But you have so much freedom, so much time to be with your kids. You don't need a car and can rely on public transport. There's lots of little things that once you're in your routine you stop thinking about and turn to focusing on the sun or your old friends back home. But going back home puts those things into perspective,” he continued.

That doesn't mean moving here is easy, but more often than not it's about riding out the difficult early period, he thinks:

“It can be a bit tough getting going, getting your personal number, and also when it's really cold. So the first couple of months are the hardest to adjust to, it can take some time to get your number and that has all kinds of consequences. My advice is to be patient, get through those months, and once you're in the system everything is great.”

Find your next English-language role in Sweden here

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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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