Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

JOBS

The internship programme offering new arrivals a ‘headstart’ in the Swedish job market

Three years after its launch, an internship programme targeted at new immigrants in Sweden has led to over two thirds of its interns gaining permanent employment.

Published: 23 July 2019 06:00 CEST
The internship programme offering new arrivals a 'headstart' in the Swedish job market
The programme is open primarily to immigrants from outside the EU with a university degree in a range of fields. Photo: Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

The idea behind the programme was to help immigrants enter the labour market much quicker than the five to ten years it typically takes after arriving in Sweden, according to the Swedish Confederation of Enterprise. By reducing that time, the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences aimed to help skilled new arrivals find work in their field while offering employers a way of plugging skills shortages with talent already in the country.

Saroja Kandula is one of those who found an internship, and now a full-time job, through the Jobbsprånget programme. She came to Sweden from India in late 2018 after her husband got a job here, but when she started her own job search, she found it hard to get a foot in the door.

Despite having a degree in computer science engineering and three years’ work experience, she found that most full-time positions required Swedish skills which, after just a few months, she didn’t yet have.

“I had a plan to search for work or an internship, I was also trying to apply for a Masters’ because I didn’t want to sit idle,” she told The Local.

Kandula heard about the Jobbsprånget programme through Facebook, and after applying, she got interviews and eventually internship offers from two companies in Gothenburg, and accepted an internship with manufacturing company SKF.

She was recently offered a permanent job there once her internship ends.

CAREERS:

“Sweden’s work environment is very friendly. If you want to do something, the culture is ready to test things so you can try out new ideas,” Kandula says of her experience.

Like many internationals, she has found that socializing and networking is key to career progression in Sweden, and for this she has been working on Swedish skills. “The language is important if you have long-term plans. Fika at work is helpful because it gives people a reason to socialize and have small conversations, and I’ve joined SFI,” she says.

Entry to the programme requires a high level of English and does not include formal Swedish language training, but according to organizers, the idea is that most interns will be able to significantly improve their Swedish language skills simply through fika breaks and chatting to colleagues.

Saroja Kandula came to Sweden in late 2018 and has now been offered a permanent job after carrying out an internship. Photo: Jobbsprånget

Jobbsprånget was first launched in 2016, initially targeting only engineers with a focus on those who had recently arrived in Sweden from outside Europe. The majority of interns in the first year came from Syria and Iraq.

Since then, it has been expanded to include internships for newcomers with a degree in engineering, economics, science, architecture, and engineering, with a continued focus on new arrivals from outside Europe. 

There is no salary offered for interns, but they receive allowances from the Swedish Public Employment Agency as the internship is considered part of their route to work. Petra Bunsop, a strategist at Swedavia, says that one big benefit for her company was that the scheme works with all the necessary paperwork with the Public Employment Service around hiring new arrivals, making it easier than going through a typical probation period.

Swedavia has taken on seven interns and hired five of them full-time. “”We, like many other companies today, have challenges in finding relevant competence and we need to work in many different ways to ensure the skills we need. And Jobbsprånget helps us to reach out and get in contact with recently arrived talents,” Bunsop said.

READ ALSO:

Swedavia is one of 150 participating employers across the country, including private and public sector companies of varying sizes.

“For the interns it’s primarily a speedy entry to the Swedish job market,” explains Alexandra Ridderstad, who runs the Jobbsprånget programme in Sweden. “”It is a huge chance to show the employer one’s potential and gain Swedish experience within one’s area of expertise, and last but not least get a Swedish professional network.

“For the employers, they get to meet so many talented people that are not yet on the Swedish job market, and they get to know people from other backgrounds, to get new insights and perspectives,” Ridderstad adds.

When asked about the steps taken to ensure the internships remain productive for participants, she says there is an ongoing evaluation process for both interns and employers, and that so far the results have been positive. 

Almost three quarters of participants (70 percent) have been offered employment once the internship is over, making it a much speedier entry to the workforce than is typical for immigrants. For those who don’t receive a job offer, the hope is that the experience will give them Swedish references and a professional network as well as an understanding of how their industry works in Sweden.

This figure came as a positive surprise to Ridderstad. “We didn´t know what to expect but we are so happy that 70 percent actually are offered an employment. After four months!”

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
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”.

SHOW COMMENTS