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What’s it like to work in Denmark as a foreigner? Here’s what you told us

We asked last week for your thoughts on working in Denmark.

What’s it like to work in Denmark as a foreigner? Here's what you told us
File photo: Mads Joakim Rimer Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

We had a huge number of responses and a range of interesting, helpful insights and experiences. Thank you to everyone who took the time to get back to us.

“Almost all jobs require fluent Danish”

In our questionnaire, we asked what you felt was the hardest aspect of working in Denmark. One common theme that came through strongly in your responses was the importance of learning Danish.

“(The) hardest (thing) I can think of is you do seem to miss out a lot when you don't know the local language,” Siddharth Selvarajan wrote.

Cathy Chen, who lives in Copenhagen, offered similar sentiments.

“Almost all jobs require fluent Danish or one of the Scandinavian languages, and, of course English. Even if you are good enough for the job, the company will always consider the Danish-speaking candidates first,” Chen wrote.

Many readers simply noted “the Danish language” as being the most difficult aspect of working in Denmark.

Others commented on the social side of working with Danes.

“Just because you work well and closely with your colleagues does not mean you are friends. For example, they will not acknowledge you passing in the corridor,” commented Aliastair Gough, who lives on Zealand.

“To resolve this always say ‘hi’, and use their name. They will quickly learn to say ‘hi’ in future, often taking the initiative. They'll still ignore everyone else of course, but it is a little thing that will help make life familiar to you,” Gough added.

“Making acquaintances and colleagues is easy but crossing over to being a friend is extremely difficult,” agreed Anjali Manu, who lives in Copenhagen.

For others, pressure to be sociable in a working context with colleagues was a negative factor.

“Working in Denmark was not really hard, but all of the ‘social’ after work gatherings irritated me. Not one for group work, I typically gave the ‘tak, men nej tak’ [‘thanks, but no thanks’ – ed.] answer,” Brian Dibblee of Aarhus wrote.

Others cited the long, cold and grey Danish winters and their effect on morale as the hardest part of working in Denmark.

Browse thousands of English-language jobs in Denmark


Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

For some, simply finding work at all was the toughest challenge, with months of persistence and dozens of applications often failing to bear fruit. Two readers also said they had lost their jobs suddenly and had been hit hard by the unexpected lack of job security.

A number of readers said they felt superiors had treated them differently to Danish colleagues.

“As a Romanian, my employers expected me to work harder than Danes,” Paul-Gabriel Andries wrote.

‘Life other than work’

We asked for the most positive thing about working in Denmark, and the country’s well-documented high standard of work-life balance was by far the most commonly-mentioned answer.

“The 37-hour working week gives you opportunities of finding life other than work as there is so much to do,” Faisal Hameed Khan of Søborg wrote, citing going out for a walk, going to the gym, and bicycling as parts of “the true Danish lifestyle”, as well as “spending quality time with your family.”

José Antonio García, who lives in Copenhagen, mentioned “flat hierarchy, good conditions and work-life balance” as the best things about working in Denmark.

“There is no staying in the office to impress the boss. This goes hand in hand with trust. In 12 years working here, I've never been aware of anybody ‘pulling a sicky’,” Gough wrote.

Other comments also noted high salaries, competent and likeable Danish colleagues and relaxed atmospheres at workplaces.

Work hard, learn the language and don’t give up

We asked for your best piece of advice for those working or hoping to work in Denmark.

Here, your answers were quite varied, but the difficulty of securing work was a theme touched upon by many.

Abdullah Shafique, who lives in Aalborg, recommended a short CV and calling personally on managers responsible for hiring.

Experience is also a major factor when trying to impress a Danish employer.


Photo: Dennis Lehmann/Scanpix 2013

“Simply getting the first job, especially if you don’t have experience” is the hardest part of working in Denmark according to Haderslev’s Ahmad Temsah, who said experience was “much more important than a degree. It's all about selling yourself on what you can do for the employer.”

Other readers said that it was important not to give up. “There is always an opportunity around,” Shyam Puri, who lives on the island of Bornholm, wrote encouragingly.

Once you’re in the job, down-to-earth Danes are unlikely to be swayed by showmanship.

“Be yourself. Colleagues will appreciate (you) more if you are truthful of who you are, (rather than) trying to be someone else just because you want to fit in,” Victor Dobrescu of Lejre wrote.

That is not to say it isn’t a good idea to make an effort to get along with others.

“Adopt and show interest in Danish things. If you ride a bike to work and assemble a culturally acceptable topping to your rye bread at lunch, your Danish language failings will be forgiven,” Gough said.

Networking, the importance of learning Danish, working hard and not accepting being treated differently to others were also pieces of advice that were stressed by our readers.

“Make sure to have a network. That works superbly, even if you don't know the language, (but) secondly, learn Danish. Don't delay it if you want to live in Denmark,” wrote Suneet Rastogi of Copenhagen.

READ ALSO: I quit Microsoft and moved to Denmark for love, but finding work was tough. Here's how I adapted

If you wrote back to us but don’t see any of your comments here – we read what you wrote and appreciate your thoughts just as much as the others. Rest assured, we will be asking for your views again in future, so please look out for, and keep replying to, more call-outs from us. Thank you for your input!

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WORKING IN DENMARK

‘I can only say ‘tak’: What you need to get a job at a high-end restaurant in Denmark

The Local asked readers working at high-end restaurants in Denmark for their best tips on getting jobs or internships. This is what they said.

'I can only say 'tak': What you need to get a job at a high-end restaurant in Denmark

There’s been quite a few recent articles, both in Danish newspapers such as Politiken and in international newspapers like the Financial Times, that have highlighted the darker aspects of the restaurant scene in Copenhagen, with excessive use of unpaid interns, borderline inhumane working hours, and reports of workplace abuse. 

But the truth is, this characterises top-level restaurants the world over, and want-to-be chefs and front-of-house staff still stream to Copenhagen looking to get an illustrious name on their CV. 

So what do you need? 

First things first, speaking Danish, particularly if you work in the kitchen, is not at all necessary. 

“There’s no Danish needed,” said an American who had worked at Noma, one of the three restaurants in Copenhagen with three Michelin stars. “90 percent of people there are not Danish. Some people have been there over 10 years and don’t speak it.”

“You absolutely don’t need Danish,” agreed Antoine, a French respondent. “I’m working in a Michelin and the only thing I can say is ‘tak’.” 

It’s not even always necessary if you’re working as a waiter or sommelier. 

“The front-of-house language is English and/or Danish, at least in Copenhagen,” said Max, who works as a restaurant manager at a top-end hotel. “If you have extra languages that’s a big bonus.”

What you might need is specialist kitchen terminology in English, although as you also need some experience, you will probably have picked that up on the way. 

“Do you need Danish? No, but you need to know the kitchen lingo,” said Dominik from Poland, who works for a supplier to the food industry. 

READ ALSO:

What is necessary is experience. If you’ve never set foot in a kitchen or worked tables ever before, you’re unlikely to get a try-out at a Michelin star restaurant in Denmark, even as an unpaid intern. 

“What sort of experence you need depends on what role you are aiming for: front of house will have different expectations compared to the kitchen,” Dominik said. “To get your foot through the door, you need experience and references.” 

The main restaurants encourage applicants to get in touch over email, with people seeking work at Geranium encouraged to send applications to Alessandra Andrioli at [email protected]. Jordnær, the latest addition to the three-star club, has no information on application, but its email is [email protected]

Noma, the most famous of the three, has a careers page here, which currently has no jobs on offer. 

Very often though, hiring even at Denmark’s top-end restaurants can be informal, with news on job vacancies shared word of mouth, or on in posts on Instagram or other social media, and jobs filled through personal recommendations, or even simply given to the person who happens to turn up and ask at the right time. 

“To get in as an intern, you just need to be young, and have a background in cooking, ideally at a high-end kind of place,” said the American respondent who had previously worked at Noma.

“Some just show up and ask if they can volunteer, and quite a few get internship positions. Especially if the place is very low on labour. Young chefs would just show up, ask to give their CV in person and if the timing was right, get a position.” 

A Nepalese chef with experience in London, Paris, and Dubai, said he had been given an hour-long interview and then “four hours of unpaid trials starting from cutting tomatoes and going up to plating dishes”, before being offered a position at just 130 kroner an hour. His main tip for getting a job was simply to accept the low wage offered and not try to negotiate anything higher. 

Max also recommended “going to the restaurant itself and asking to speak to the manager”, although he said this worked best at “smaller restaurants and non-chains”. 

“Hospitality is still old school in many places. I get too many CVs which don’t tell me much. Many times I hire purely based on the person’s character and attitude and train the skills I need. Sending a copy/paste email doesnt really cut it for good quality places.” 

Laura, from France, a former head waiter at a Michelin restaurant in Copenhagen, said that networking was a good way into a job, recommending that those seeking a position regularly attend events like cocktail-making competitions, other industry nights, and hang out in bars frequented by restaurant personnel. 

Events like the Mad Symposium or the Copenhagen Cooking and Food festival might be worth a visit. 

Max argued that to get a job at a high-end restaurant in Copenhagen, waiters needed at the minimum a “basic understanding of wine, spirits, barista, mixology skills,” as well as “basic stock/inventory control”.

He said that if they could add to that specialist expertise in either working as a waiter, sommelier, barista, or mixologist this would make it “much easier”. 

For chefs and waiting staff who want to move to Copenhagen from elsewhere, he suggested getting a job in a major hotel chain in their own country, and then transferring to one of their hotels in Denmark. Once you have some experience in a Danish hotel, it will then be easier to move to an independent restaurant. 

So is it worth it? 

“It’s hard work but definitely much easier than in France, Italy or Spain, for exemple,” Laura argued. “Overall fair pay, but it widely differs from one restaurant to another.” 

Others were less positive. 

“Be ready for 14 hour shifts in an extremely competitive and more often that not toxic environment,” Dominik warned. 

Have you worked at a top-end restaurant in Denmark? Please tell us about it by filling in the form at this link (or below) and we’ll add you comments to this article. 

 

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