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‘Don’t move to Sweden just looking for a job, move for the whole experience’

Not many people can say that their time in Sweden started with being in the same room as Paul Simon, First Aid Kit, Yo-Yo Ma and Swedish royalty, but that's exactly how Georg Bungard's move to the Nordic nation got under way, with his now wife Mia Salazar eventually following.

Published: 5 June 2017 06:59 CEST
'Don't move to Sweden just looking for a job, move for the whole experience'
Filmmakers Mia Salazar and Georg Bungard in Stockholm. Photo: Personal

Originally from Cologne and Barcelona respectively, Bungard and Salazar have the dream jobs of producing videos for a living. Yet neither were in that industry when they first met in the Catalan capital, where the German had befriended some Swedish filmmakers. It sparked a chain of events that would eventually lead to music royalty, real royalty, and Stockholm.

“My friend who had moved back to Stockholm called and asked me to come and film something with him here, behind the scenes at the Polar Music Prize. I said sure, booked a flight for a week, and in my second day in Stockholm in 2012 I ended up at Marie Ledin’s house – the daughter of Abba manager Stig Anderson – with Yo-Yo Ma and Paul Simon,” he laughs.

“We got to be backstage at Konserthuset, the King and Queen were there. It was a very idyllic, intense experience. Amazing. We also got to know First Aid Kit, I was sitting with my camera somewhere at the top of the Konserthuset filming their performance and got goosebumps, I’ll never forget it.”

After returning home, he excitedly told Salazar that he wanted to move to Sweden. She wasn't so keen to abandon her beloved Barcelona at the drop of a hat, however.

“He told me Sweden was amazing, he got to know it in the summer, and with all that stuff happening he thought it was the best place ever, so he decided he wanted to move here. Which I campaigned against because I love Barcelona,” she recalls.

“Then I came to visit in the summer and thought ‘OK, this is nice’. When I finally moved it was winter here of course, which was horrible.”

Salazar was previously a musician in the Catalan city, but wanted something new in life, and ultimately the move to Stockholm proved to be the right option:

“I had quit music in Barcelona and needed a change. I decided to change my life radically, move to Sweden and start working in film and challenge myself.”

In Stockholm, the duo soon got involved in forming filmmaking collective Nuet, which led to the completely different challenge of renovating a new work space – finding an office isn't easy in Sweden's capital, where space comes at a premium.

“We had been working together in different projects as freelancers and we found this crazy big warehouse space in Örnsberg. It was a run-down building from the 1960s in this area that’s being gentrified, and one of the last rough buildings there. We decided to renovate it. We spent four months on that,” Bungard details.

“We literally tore everything down and turned it into a new place. We built a dark room, a sound studio, a place for painting, photography. It was such a nice place. A lot of people tell us they miss it so much,” his partner adds.


Bungard flying a drone in Norway. Photo: Personal

“Nuet was the place where we started to feel like real locals, that we’re from Sweden now. It was multicultural but everyone became Swedish too, I started to feel like a part of Sweden and began working with beautiful people,” she continues.

The collective eventually grew, so they decided to move on and leave the space, with Salazar and Bungard now going it on their own through new company Bungard Film, but the members still work together occasionally on different projects. Nuet helped them a great deal in their growth as filmmakers, they believe, as well as though the challenging first couple of years in the Swedish capital.

“It's definitely tricky to get in the door at the beginning. You meet a lot of people wanting to get into film here, and it’s hard for everyone. In the first two years we managed to get investment, and after those two years we started to see a return. But it was a risk,” Bungard notes.

“We basically said yes to any job that came our way. That included events, business videos. I even filmed a training video at a prison once!” he adds.

The spirit of collaboration also continues in the way the duo work on their projects: jobs are alternated depending on the budget and needs. So for example, while one person edits one project, they may also direct a different one.

“I'm usually involved in the creative part, but according to the production budget we balance things. So in Cuba for example four of us got to do a little bit of everything here and there,” Salazar explains, referring to a new documentary on Cuba, directed by Maceo Forst, that they are particularly excited about.

Then there is another documentary, this time on Norway, which they’re also desperate to show the world.

“That's about a musician from a well known band in Spain called La Habitación Roja. One of the guys lives in Norway leading this double life – he tours during the summer in Spain, and spends the winter in Norway working in a hospital where people go to die. We’ll publish that documentary in a couple of months,” she reveals.

As for Bungard, one project he remembers fondly was working on Eurovision in 2016:

“We made postcard films, travelling to eight different countries like Slovenia, Belarus, Croatia, Bosnia. That was so cool.”

Looking to the future, Salazar has recently been given the title of creative assistant to director Pablo Maestres, who is based back in her home city of Barcelona.

“He makes these incredible music videos, and I write treatments with him. I help him with the writing of treatments for adds, music videos, he’s a genius. Anything he makes is gold and I’m so happy to be involved,” she beams.


Not quite Barcelona weather. Photo: Personal

She and her husband also have the goal of making more films together, in particular on social issues:

“We want to do more work together with just the two of us. We're both very interested in politics for example, are constantly reading and taking in information, we really want to make a political film. Hopefully we can do that”.

The plan is to stay in Sweden for the time being, but when asked if they would recommend aspiring filmmakers come to the Nordic nation to pursue their dream, Bungard points out that it’s no walk in the park.

“I've seen people fail here before, it’s really tough. I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody, you have to be very hungry. You can't just send e-mails, you have to turn up at different places and advertise yourselves. Swedish people like to speak in person, but if you write e-mails it doesn't work. Freelance filmmakers here really work their ass off.”

“I wouldn't recommend people to move here just looking for a job. I’d recommend you move here for the whole experience, to challenge yourself. Move here if you’re ready to take on what it takes to do it,” Salazar concludes.

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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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