Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
PRESENTED BY INVEST STOCKHOLM

How to find work when you’re new to a city

Some people move abroad for an irresistible job offer. But if you decide to settle in a new country for love or adventure, finding work can all too quickly become your biggest source of stress.

Published: 2 February 2021 11:00 CET
How to find work when you’re new to a city
Photo: Getty Images

Many people who move don’t know anybody in their new city and can say nothing more than ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in the local language. It’s easy to become disheartened – and even more so when Covid-19 restrictions make face-to-face networking impossible.

The Local, in partnership with Invest Stockholm, offers a simple guide to some of the key steps you can take to boost your job prospects in your adopted home, wherever you are. 

Curious about Stockholm? Find out more about career opportunities in the Swedish capital

Digital networking: be confident in what you can offer

You’re in an exciting new European city. But you’ve barely left home for weeks due to the pandemic and you don’t know how or where to begin your job search. 

All is not lost. The opportunities for digital networking are greater than ever. Now is the ideal time to make new connections online – and the contacts, skills and confidence you develop could prove vital long after the pandemic is over.

Networking – in person or online – can be a “scary” process, says Shaena Harrison, Executive Assistant to the Director at LinkedIn Nordics. But you should take confidence from your willingness to switch country in the first place, Harrison advises. Finding a supportive ‘team-mate’ can also be vital to keeping you going.

“We’re ready for adventure when we move abroad, so we shouldn’t be afraid to tap someone on the shoulder – or to do the digital equivalent,” Harrison says. “With physical events, you can take a ‘wing person’. Even if you’re networking digitally, you could find someone to work with as a team.

“The most important thing is to ask yourself ‘why do I want to reach out to these people?’ Frame the answer in terms of what you can offer, rather than what you’re looking for.” To learn more about the Stockholm approach to networking, click here.

The tools to open up opportunities

So, what tools can you use to build your digital connections? Social media is likely to be key, of course, whether your preference is Facebook, Twitter, a younger rival or a dedicated professional network like LinkedIn.

Last year LinkedIn introduced an “Open to Work” setting. This means you can easily show on your profile page that you’re job-hunting – sharing this either with recruiters only or with all members. Those able and willing to pay a monthly subscription for LinkedIn Premium can also gain access to LinkedIn Learning, which offers a vast range of courses to help users upskill or reskill. 

If you’re not sure what you want to do next, many websites and apps offer personality tests that will offer quick advice on your aptitude for different careers. And don’t forget to Google yourself and look at the results with the critical eye of an employer!

What if you’re moving because your spouse or partner has landed a new job? Many major cities offer support networks for people in this situation, so it’s worth doing a search. 

Find out the tips and tricks that could help you land a top job in Stockholm

Employment sites 

Major international sites with listings across industries include Monster, Indeed and Glassdoor (where you’ll also find reviews of companies by current or previous employees). Want to focus on jobs where you can work in English? The Local’s job site is Europe’s foremost hub for English-language jobs, reaching 50,000 jobseekers across Europe every week.

Keen to impress with your language skills and international experience? You could try Europe Language Jobs, which specialises in matching multilingual candidates with multinational companies and has job offers in more than 40 languages.

You may also want to look at job listings and support from public employment agencies. EURES is an EU agency set up specifically to help jobseekers find work and employers to recruit across Europe. It aims to ensure career opportunities for European citizens aren’t held back by issues such as language barriers, bureaucratic challenges, and local employment laws.

On the site, you’ll find jobs from public employment agencies in EU and EEA countries, as well as Switzerland, and as of January 2021, more than 2.3 million jobs are listed. Companies in Germany place the most adverts, followed by the Netherlands and France.

You’ll find a wide range of job sites to search wherever you are. But sometimes the choice can prove confusing. Narrowing the search by focusing on specialist sites related to your industry may work for some. Stack Overflow, for example, is one of the world’s largest communities for programmers.

Finding work in Stockholm

Stockholm has an exciting start-up scene and is recognised as one of the most innovative cities in the world. Finding a job can be tricky, however, if you move to the city without an offer.

You’ll need to speak Swedish for most jobs advertised in Stockholm. Swedish isn’t required in many start-ups and large international companies where English is preferred, however. One site specifically for English-speaking jobseekers is www.jobsinstockholm.com, which also includes professional jobs in other parts of Sweden and useful tips for English-speaking job-hunters. Many jobs with start-ups appear in forums and networks, including Startupjobs.se and The Hub.

If you’re on Twitter, follow @movetostockholm and the activity on the hashtag #movetostockholm to hear about the latest opportunities. You could also join Invest Stockholm’s Move to Stockholm group on LinkedIn for work opportunities, practical advice on settling in, and to make new connections.

The Swedish Migration Agency and the Public Employment Agency regularly put together a labour shortage list (in Swedish) of occupations in high demand. If you’re offered a job on the list, you can then apply for a work permit from Sweden without following the usual requirement to apply from your home country.

Finally, what if you’re ready to start your own business? It’s straightforward in Stockholm, especially if you choose to register as a “sole trader”. Could this be the time to challenge yourself by going it alone as a freelancer?

Get the official advice on how to go about finding a job in Stockholm – or alternatively read more about your options for starting your own company in the city

 
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