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‘Swedes respond well to people showing they want to integrate’

MY SWEDISH CAREER: For British communications professional Georgina Varadi, moving to Sweden has meant being more engaged and also having a more fulfilling work-life balance.

Published: 21 May 2018 06:59 CEST
'Swedes respond well to people showing they want to integrate'
Georgina Varadi. Photo: Private

“In London I had a lot of acquaintances, whereas here in Sweden I have meaningful friendships,” Varadi reflects when asked about the differences in the social life in her old home London and current home Stockholm.

“That's what you get when you don't give up. If you spend time getting to know each other you have a friend for life here. It's something real and meaningful.”

Her experience of the Swedes has been different to  the stereotype of closed, cautious types. Taking the jump and moving to the Swedish capital in 2015 has paid off.

“I had naturally reached a point living down in London where I was a good place in my career and was doing a lot of the things I set out to do, and I started to think about getting older and what I wanted to do with my life. It was a natural discussion between me and my Swedish partner that led to the idea of moving to Stockholm,” she recalls.

“We had visited Stockholm a lot, so I got a really good idea of how it was. I'd also said that if I wanted to make the move, not knowing how easy it is to get a job in communications as an English speaker, I had to know about that. I started looking around about six to eight months before we made any move and discovered there was a whole eco-system of startups and an entrepreneurial world that I didn't know about from before.”


Pitching at Uppstart in Uppsala. Photo: Private

In fact the process went even better than Varadi had expected. Offered a job with tech startup Universal Avenue, she was in Sweden sooner than planned:

“I was asked to move over a bit earlier than I was ready to. My sambo wasn't finished yet with work and had to finish that off. So I ended up moving out here on my own for four months before he was ready to come over too. It was a blessing in disguise in hindsight as I was able to find out whether I liked it in Stockholm as an individual.”

Aside from financial security, moving with a job also had the added benefit of helping her to meet people quickly.

“I realized very quickly that in terms of meeting Swedes in the beginning you have to work a bit to get to know people and have a safety net you can go to if you're feeling lonely. I love talking to and meeting people, and I realized I wouldn't get much out of it unless I went all in and pushed myself out of my comfort zone to meet friends,” Varadi explains.

“Whenever I'd meet someone through a networking event, or get invited to something through work, I'd make sure to stay in contact with the people I was meeting, see if I could meet up with them at the weekend, have a coffee with them during work and so on.”

Though she knew Stockholm quite well before relocating, several aspects of the city have still been a surprise – not least in the professional sense.

“Something that surprised me is that the people are extremely creative, very innovative. I didn't expect that. The work-life balance you get living in Sweden helps: when Swedes take time off they go out to spend time in nature, which I've started doing too, being away from a phone – and when they come back to work they're much more refreshed and productive. People are very efficient as a result,” she argues.


At midsummer. Photo: Private

Adapting to the change of pace wasn't natural at first, but has resulted in a more fulfilling and efficient working life.

“I'm used to the London way of eating lunch at your desk, working late. I didn't realise until I left how much of a routine I was in – doing the same thing every day, every week. Here there was a bit of a teething period where I had to realize that I could take my hour lunch break, go for a walk, meet a friend, then come back and work better because of that.”

Varadi is now chief communications officer at travel startup Triple, and has also thrown herself into networks for women working in Sweden, which she said have been invaluable.

“I joined a group called HER Network – an amazing initiative set up by two girls, where you connect with like-minded women of different backgrounds and nationalities, and come together and support each other. They host regular events where you go and meet other people, which has really helped me to integrate.”

“It inspires you to help others as well. If I know someone is new to the country I try to support them, and I've helped other friends to get involved in the group. It has been really instrumental in helping me feel like I'm part of this community and the life I have here. Without it I'd feel quite alienated,” she adds.

Though the comms head says she would never close the door on new opportunities, she sums up her life in Sweden as a positive one with an enviable amount of flexibility that would be difficult to match.

For anyone that sounds tempting to, she has a final piece of advice when considering whether to move to the Nordic nation:

“Don't give up on meeting new people if you don't have initial success. Keep trying, you'll definitely get a lot out of it. It takes a while, but you'll get a lot back. Swedes respond well to people showing they want to have a friendship and integrate.”

Find your dream job in Sweden via The Local Jobs.

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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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