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‘Incredible’: The Swedish course that is opening up career opportunities for professionals

There is a significant difference between working abroad using your mother tongue, and the ability to do your job in another language entirely. Language proficiency opens up many more opportunities for career fulfilment in a new country. Here's how one migrant to Sweden powered up her teaching career with an intensive language course.

Published: 22 December 2022 15:57 CET
'Incredible': The Swedish course that is opening up career opportunities for professionals
Katerina and her peers prepare for careers in Swedish schools at the SIFA campus at Campus Åsö, in Södermalm Photo: Supplied

Katerina Koulla, from Cyprus, had worked in Sweden for eight years before she decided to seriously study Swedish. 

“I moved to Sweden because of my studies. I’d trained to be a preschool teacher in Greece, then I did my thesis on Scandinavian education. After that, I worked for a couple of years in an international preschool in Stockholm.

“I had wanted to learn Swedish from the very beginning but couldn’t between working and studying. After I bought my house here, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, now I really need to learn Swedish!’

“Even after years of living here, I was still taking my phone to the supermarket to get translations for food names, and ingredients. It was time!”

After some searching, Katerina came across SIFA, offered by the City of Stockholm. SIFA offers a range of intensive courses aimed at international professionals, known as ‘SFX‘.

These courses are free of charge, and applications can be made by those with a university degree across several key fields, such as law, engineering, architecture or teaching. 

SIFA provides classes targeted at specific professions, such as teachers. Photo: Supplied

Hitting the ground running 

Within weeks Katerina was part of a close group of students, that met for four hours of intensive Swedish each weekday in Södermalm.

Not only did she find herself rapidly learning the language as the weeks progressed, but she also found herself receiving a unique and in-depth introduction to Swedish culture. For the first time, she was seeing new meaning and nuance behind familiar words. 

“As a teacher, I understand how people learn – and this course really does work. Within our class, everyone is placed at the same level, and we all have a similar background, making it easy to work together.

“The classes use a wide variety of techniques to motivate you. It’s really interactive, and we use a lot of technology to learn. We have regular tests, and I always know how I’m progressing.

“I also get time with my teacher regularly, both individually and in a group setting, That means I get the time and attention that I need to learn in-depth.

“Importantly, if you’re learning a language, you need to understand the culture behind the words. We get to see how people express themselves and their opinions, and learn a lot about Sweden from how our teachers talk about their experiences. It’s not just ‘Let’s learn the grammar.'”

Your journey towards a successful professional Swedish career starts with a SIFA SFX course. Find out how to apply now.

Working the Swedish way 

Katerina is not simply improving her spoken Swedish, however. The SIFA course she is taking – Intensive Swedish for educators (SFP) – is specifically designed to give her a comprehensive overview of the education system in Sweden, delivered in several nine-week courses over 18 months.

Her course sits alongside two other SFX profession-focused courses, Intensive Swedish for engineers and architects (SFINX), and Intensive Swedish for economists, lawyers and other social scientists (SFEJ). Each of these coursea gives students the kind of workplace understanding it may take years to accumulate otherwise, and classes are taught at the adult education hub, Campus Åsö.

Two more courses – Intensive studies in Swedish – classroom and Intensive Swedish – distance learning – are designed for those without a vocational need, but who want an immersive Swedish language learning experience. 

“There’s also a practical component later in the programme. You have the opportunity to go into schools and observe how lessons are taught, both in English and Swedish. It’s really great teacher training.”

Building connections and confidence

Being able to visit workplaces as part of her SFP course – with similar opportunities in the SFINX and SFEJ courses – is also a great opportunity to network and build the connections needed to thrive in Swedish careers.

“It’s hard when you come from another country and you try to build your own network. That’s why my course is so great. When I got here, I didn’t know anybody. Now I know more than ten other preschool teachers. Soon we’ll all be out in the workplace in different schools, and I’ll be able to connect with them.

“This gives me so many more options when I go for my teaching licence, where I work and where I can choose to live.”

As for now, Katerina is already extremely pleased with her SIFA experience – and thinks it has already made a big difference on a personal level.

“Learning a language is great personal development, and through SIFA I’m already feeling more comfortable and able to communicate with other people. I feel involved here because everyone at SIFA makes me feel like I’m part of this country, Sweden.

“If I had to sum it up in one word: It’s been incredible!”

Ready for an immersive Swedish language course that specifically prepares you for the workplace? Apply for a place in one of SIFA’s SFX courses. 

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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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