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Swedish career guide: How to get a job in fashion

Sweden is well known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to all things fashion, but how exactly can international professionals break into this competitive industry? The Local spoke to fashion insiders in Sweden to find out.

Published: 25 October 2018 12:59 CEST
Swedish career guide: How to get a job in fashion
Sweden's fashion industry is known for being ahead of the curve in design and sustainability. Photo: Sofia Sabel/imagebank.sweden.se

This article is available to Members of The Local. Read more Membership Exclusives here.

The fashion industry provides tens of thousands of jobs in Sweden, in a whole range of roles from design and manufacturing to sales, buying, styling, and many more.

If you've already studied or worked in fashion abroad, you'll likely have an idea of the part of the industry you would like to work in, and that will narrow down your search. On the other hand, if you're new to the workforce or contemplating a career change, the first step is to build up your understanding of Swedish fashion and get experience as soon as possible.

Read up

You may want to study towards a qualification to add to your CV, and across Sweden you'll find everything from three-year degrees to evening courses in fashion-related topics. As a starting point, two well-regarded institutions are the Swedish School of Textiles at the University of Borås and Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm. 

“I knew I wanted to work with fashion – but with no real experience other than retail and customer service, or a single contact to speak of it isn't easy,” says Swedish-British stylist and writer Beatrice Trodden.

“I started a blog to show what I could do in terms of online content, aesthetics and visual presentation. While I was still in my previous job I also did a long distance fashion stylist diploma course. To be honest, everything I've ever learned I learned by actually working, but the course combined with my blog helped get me my first internship.”

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

A post shared by Beatrice Trodden (@beatricetrodden) on Oct 6, 2018 at 1:26am PDT

Learning doesn't have to mean a formal course, and Trodden also highlights the importance of doing research on Swedish brands, companies and events.

This might mean following relevant people on social media and LinkedIn and reading fashion magazines, the Swedish Fashion Council website, and trade publication Habit. That way you'll not only get an understanding of the industry to help you impress at any interviews, but you'll also hear about company expansions, mergers and so on in advance – which might give you a clue of when and where to send speculative applications.

Fashion marketer Nathalie Ryngdahl was able to line up her first job in fashion before she had graduated, after a recruiter for Gothenburg-based brand Rut & Circle contacted her via her blog. The role was an instore sales assistant with additional responsibilities as a stylist and blogger.

“I was so happy!” she says. “I worked there for 3.5 years and got a lot of contacts in the fashion industry and lots of experience.”

While working at Rut & Circle part-time, she found a second role as a freelance fashion stylist for Nelly.com, and worked there for a year before a career change that saw her train as a digital marketer and do internships in two other companies. Her top advice for succeeding in fashion is that “hard work pays off” and “be available to work any time”. 

Ryngdahl recommends that people at the start of their careers should keep an open mind about unpaid internships, particularly if it's possible to do these alongside studying, as they can pay dividends in terms of making contacts and building up experience.

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

Arrivederci, Italia????

A post shared by Nathalie Ryngdahl (@nathalieryngdahl) on Sep 27, 2018 at 3:38am PDT


Volunteering

“You don't need a 'fashion background' – the business is huge and you can find a job in all fields, including finance and IT. But it's important that you actually have some education in the field you are interested in,” says Swedish fashion journalist Maria von Wachenfeldt, adding: “Volunteering was the reason I got my first job as a marketing coordinator at Gina Tricot.”

Von Wachenfeldt got her start in the industry after getting involved in fashion-linked projects at university, from creating magazines to working on runway events and volunteering at Oslo Fashion Week, with the final role leading to her first job.

As well as looking out for events, other volunteering opportunities could include a sales assistant role in a charity shop, writing for a publication such as Nordic Style Mag, or simply offering your services – if you hear about an event and think you could help, there's nothing to lose by getting in touch, even if there's been no official call for volunteers.

Show up

Even if you miss a deadline for volunteering at an event or can't commit the extra time, simply attending industry-related events can be the key to your big break. 

Stockholm Fashion Week, scheduled for August 2019, is the biggest date in the fashion calendar, and elsewhere in the capital, check out what's going on through the year at the Stockholm Fashion District in Nacka or at Beckmans College of Design. In Gothenburg, try the sites GoCreative and ADA, which are aimed at supporting creatives, including those in the fashion industry, in the Västra Götaland region.

But there will also be smaller-scale events such as launches, seminars and meetups. Make sure you're following brands you have a particular interest in on all social media platforms, not only to hear about planned events but also because many will publish job adverts targeted to their followers (or even their competitors' followers).
 


Entry queues for Stockholm Fashion Week. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT

Networking

“Getting that first foot in the door is the hardest step,” Trodden admits. “So much depends on contacts in this business and I know I really lucked out when I decided to move to Sweden.”

She found her first role in Sweden through an online advertisement, but says this is unusual. When she later went freelance, she says a large amount of her work comes from “word of mouth and being suggested for jobs by friends and contacts”.


And if you're new in Sweden without any industry contacts – make them! Set up an Instagram profile or blog/website, and if you already have one, make sure you're following and connecting with potential collaborators and clients in Sweden. You can be proactive and send introductory emails to people working in relevant roles at companies you admire, or freelancers.

“Depending on what your initial goals are and what kind of work you're looking for I would suggest emailing people to let them know what you can do and ask if they might have a need for more freelancers on their roster,” Trodden recommends. “Or if you just want to expand your contact network email a casual introduction and ask if the person would be willing to meet for a quick coffee so you can get some advice about how the industry works in Sweden.”

If you do this, make sure you have questions prepared before you meet, and be specific when you first let them know what advice you're hoping to get, so that you can both get the most out of the meeting.

Some good news is that as Sweden is a smaller country, the fashion industry is close-knit and Trodden describes the atmosphere as “casual and friendly”, meaning that once you've made the first few daunting introductions, things will get easier from then on.
 

Front row at Stockholm Fashion Week. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

How to job hunt

If you're looking for a role in a Swedish fashion company, the good news is there are dozens to choose from. To name just a few, there are high street brands such as H&M, Weekday, J.Lindeberg, Björn Borg, Cheap Monday, Cos, Monki, Carin Wester, Filippa K, and Lindex, plus exciting names in various niches: shoes (Vagabond Shoes, Swedish Hasbeens, Reschia), childrenswear (Polarn O. Pyret, Mini Rodini, Newbie), outdoor wear (Craft, Peak Performance, Haglöfs) and maternity and pregnancy wear (Boob).

These will be your best bet if you want a head office job, and make sure you find out where your chosen brand is based (or to target companies based near your city if you have a fixed location).

In Sweden there's a big crossover between the booming tech and fashion industries, so look into e-commerce companies, such as NA-KD, which has several roles in Stockholm and Gothenburg, Nelly, with roles in Stockholm and Borås, and Zalando, offering roles in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Norrköping. 

But for roles such as sales assistant or store manager, you can also try international brands that have a Swedish presence, or approach smaller stores such as bridal boutiques, accessory stores, vintage shops and others. To speed up your search, check out the jobs pages featured on most mall and shopping centre websites, where roles for all the different shops will often be advertised. 

Cast your net wide: use traditional job sites, including the Swedish Public Employment Service such as Career Builder, Indeed, Monster, Jooble, LinkedIn, and of course The Local's own jobs site, which advertises English-speaking roles. There are also recruitment agencies and job-hunting sites specific to the fashion industry: Fashionnet, Modeverket, Modekonsulterna, and the jobs pages of both Swedish fashion trade publication Habit and the technical university in Borås which has a section of jobs and internships aimed at people with a background in textiles and design (the page is only available in Swedish, but some of the ads are written in English). 

If you're planning to launch your own business, there are plenty of resources for entrepreneurs in Sweden, and it's worth looking into joining an employee organization, such as The Swedish Association of Designers (Sveriges designer) which is free to join.

READ ALSO: How to register as a freelancer in Sweden

Stand out

If you aren't finding the roles you want but have unique skills to offer, let people know. In the fashion industry even more so than any other, having a strong personal brand and new ideas is incredibly valuable. 

In the case of fashion journalist Maria Von Wachenfeldt, she was able to carve out her own exciting role at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås after studying fashion internationally.

“Come up with your own ideas,” she recommends. “I contacted the Swedish School of Textiles with my ideas around fashion and communication. They believed in me and gave me the responsibility to develop a fashion journalism course and give lectures in the field.”

Bear this in mind with your social media profiles too. It is a competitive industry, so make sure that these showcase your unique value.

When it comes to the qualities hiring managers may be looking for, fashion marketer Nathalie Ryngdahl emphasizes: “being hard-working, creativity, and having your own sense of style.” 

Since then, she has studied fashion internationally, and got an exciting role at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås. After getting in touch with the school to share her ideas, she was asked to develop a fashion journalism course and has lectured at the school, proving that the combination of volunteering experience and having confidence in your unique value can lead to a great job. 

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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.

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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