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Mayor of Stockholm: ‘You can be a mother and a fantastic politician’

Mayor of Stockholm Anna König Jerlmyr talks about her vision for the city's future, why she wants more girls to play chess and what makes Stockholm 'A Woman's Place'.

Published: 8 March 2019 09:01 CET
Mayor of Stockholm: ‘You can be a mother and a fantastic politician’
Mayor of Stockholm Anna König Jerlmyr

I think Stockholm is a fantastic place to be a woman. We are very aware of things like gender issues, equality and women’s rights. Though we have our challenges, of course! For example, two days ago I was sitting on a panel and we talked about FemTech and investment into female founders. A small percentage of venture capital goes to female founders and I think it’s such a big possibility for Stockholm — we need more investment to go to female entrepreneurs.

But we also see progress. According to a new study by Dr. Nima Sanandaji, CEO of the think tank European Center for Entrepreneurship and Policy Reform, women in Sweden now make more money than men in 9 percent of all occupations. And furthermore, a majority of Sweden’s young CEOs today are women.

When I was young, I felt like I had a lack of female role models. When I started in politics, I was 16 years old and the female politicians tried to be like men. They dressed like men and almost acted like men, and I could never relate to that. I feel really feminine and I like to dress feminine and be myself. But I think that’s changed now. You can be both, you can be a strong woman but you can also wear a dress, you can be a mother and a fantastic politician.

Read more about Stockholm’s ‘A Woman’s Place’ initiative

I think it was a British member of parliament who once said to me: ‘What are you doing here, you should be home raising children!’. I was also a member of parliament, it was at one of these European meetings and I was shocked. I think of Britain as an equal country, he was much older. But sometimes you get these questions and of course you remember these comments. They are very rare I would say. Most people are very positive. Now I’m president of Eurocities and when we went to Brussels they were so positive, saying this signalled a change.

I want to see more girls playing chess. I asked my son how many girls are in his chess club. None! I think chess is also a subject, if they are good in chess they are good in programming and mathematics. And we need more women to study engineering and become role models for others.

I am a really strong supporter of ‘feminist urban planning’. I work with NGOs about how we can have inclusive city planning. It’s also gender based, of course. If public spaces are safe for women, they’re safe for everyone. So we have to address women’s needs: it could be lighting, making sure it’s clean and that ground level is lit by lots of shops and restaurants. Safe play areas for children, too. 

Stockholm is a good city for women when it comes to the possibility to achieve your goals. It’s almost like the American dream but it’s the Stockholm dream! You can do so much. You have fantastic possibilities because of the flat hierarchies and lots of the employers are also very open to flexible working. And you have a tax deduction on services like cleaning and home help. Now I think women can combine a career and have quality time with the children because they are not cleaning all the time!

In Stockholm, we have a lot of informal networks for women. It would be best if both men and women meet in the same informal networks in the long-run. But for now, it’s an answer to the traditional male-only networks. I see the younger generations meet together but even at an early age they separate at school, they tend to play differently. It’s really important to encourage girls to do engineering or for boys to be creative. 

Find out what makes Stockholm ‘A Woman’s Place’

We are very tolerant and interested in new people. I hope so anyway! We are also quite a big city, and it’s a beautiful city. It’s a good place to raise a family. When people are asked why they chose Stockholm, it’s because it’s an equal city; men and women have the same opportunities and it’s a good place to raise children. 

In the next ten years, I want half of Stockholm’s unicorn companies to be created by women. It would be great to have a female prime minister in Sweden and to see more female leaders in the business community, as well as female innovators. I want more girls to go to KTH and study engineering and programming and to work with safety in the segregated areas. I don’t want to see any ‘honour’ crimes, it’s the goal that in ten years these will disappear. 

I want Stockholm to be an inclusive and open city in every way. Today Spotify can attract programmers from many countries where the culture is not so open and tolerant to, for example, LGBTQ people. Therefore, to work with LGBTQ rights is also a way of showing that this city is open and welcoming to everyone.

This article was produced by The Local Creative Studio in partnership with Invest Stockholm.

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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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