Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

JOBS

My Swedish Career: ‘Food is a very strong vehicle for connecting people’

When Italian Federico Ronca moved to Stockholm, he seized the opportunity to change his career path to focus on making a positive social and environmental impact. In both his role at Sweden Foodtech and through his side-business Aperitivo Stockholm, he connects people and businesses through food.

Published: 18 February 2020 07:59 CET
My Swedish Career: 'Food is a very strong vehicle for connecting people'
"The food industry is huge, and we still have so few people working on food innovation and tech," says Federico Ronca. Photo: Private

After working at a startup incubator for Telecom Italia, Federico moved to Sweden with his girlfriend when she was offered a job in Stockholm.

“My first impression of Sweden was positive, people were very welcoming,” he recalls. “I started going to all the possible meetups related to startups and innovation, join events, try to meet people and create a network.

“Coming from Italy I was a bit scared. Because if you move to Italy without speaking Italian it will be quite tough to integrate. What was super important to me [in Stockholm] was that by just speaking English you get the opportunity to integrate. At the events, everything is with an international approach.”

But while the wide use of English in Sweden was an advantage in some ways, he also saw it as a disadvantage for integration into Swedish society. 

“For a few months I tried to learn the Swedish language, but then I dropped it because I decided to focus on other priorities,” he tells The Local.

“I can still survive here and feel integrated. But I've been here for three years, and I start to feel a bit bad and impolite not being able to speak Swedish. I know that there are some opportunities that I miss because I can't speak Swedish. I think if you want to go deeper and also learn more about the society and get closer to some Swedish people you need to know the language.”

After moving to Sweden, he faced the challenge of building a network from scratch, and decided to use the opportunity to take his career in a new direction.


Photo: Private

In Italy he had studied political science before working for an organization promoting social entrepreneurship and social impact.

“What we were doing was recruiting good ideas in order to create an impact on the Italian system from a business and political point of view, with the final goal of presenting a report with these ideas to the Italian government,” he says. “That gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of entrepreneurs and get in touch with the startup world. Trying to learn something about new solutions excited me a lot.”

But he adds: “I was getting bored with working with digital startups in general. Moving to Stockholm gave me the opportunity to look for a job that would connect me with something more social and sustainable.”

After connecting with Sweden Foodtech, an accelerator for companies driving innovation in the food industry, he first took a volunteer job at an event, which later turned into a consultant role. 

“This organization is changing the food system, connecting innovative businesses to make a positive political and environmental impact. The food industry is huge, and we still have so few people working on food innovation and tech,” Federico notes.

The most important lesson Federico has learned from working in tech in Sweden is the focus on sustainability. 

“When you work with startups and scale-ups you always focus on how to grow the business faster and how to make more money,” he says.

“In Stockholm, even in the tech world, there is a focus on how to grow in a sustainable way. Friendly for the environment, but also sustainable in terms of work and life balance and impact on the society. I think that's very interesting.”

But as for what Swedes could learn from Italians, he believes they could benefit from some Mediterranean spontaneity. 

“In Sweden everything is planned and structured. Even with friends, everything should be planned in advance,” he notes.

“That is one of the reasons why I started my side-project. It is named Aperitivo Stockholm, an afterwork event in Italian style. It is something that you don't need to plan. Together with some other Italian friends, we are bringing the Italian aperitivo vibes to Sweden.”

Every two weeks the event is organized in a different venue with different Italian products.

“Our idea was to not only focus on the food, but as well on the social aspect. Using the food as an excuse of integration, meeting people and socialize. The main purpose was to create a community of people sharing the same values around good food, drinks and friends. Food is a very strong vehicle to connect people,” he says.

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