Hi everyone!

By now you might be quite settled into your new life in Sweden and, as such, may want to start looking for a job! Finding a job in a new country is difficult but definitely not impossible. It is just a case of understanding where to look and who to ask. Usually, it is also required that you have a Personnummer in Sweden when registering for jobs too (see my previous blog post on applying for this).

Sweden is a very multicultural country and the majority of the people living here can speak good English. For this reason, it is not vital to be fluent in Swedish to get a job here. In particular, employers at some bars and cafes, tour companies and telecommunications companies may be just as likely to employ non-Swedish speakers as those that are fluent. However, if you do have the funds to support yourself without working for a few months, it could be worth signing up for an intensive Swedish course, as having a knowledge of the language will definitely widen the employment opportunities you will receive.

I have now been living in Sweden for almost a year and since June I have worked two part-time jobs, one with Renthia writing these blog posts, and one as a city tour guide. Because I am still not fluent in Swedish I looked for jobs where English was the only required language.

Finding a job definitely required a lot of time and research, but along the way I learnt many things that will hopefully make my next job search a little easier. Here are 4 of the best tips I learnt about looking for employment in Sweden.

1. Facebook groups – “Jobb i Stockholm” and “Lediga jobb i Stockholm” are especially great for this. You can post some information about yourself and your work experience or read and reply to some of the many job advertisements that are posted on there. Most of the job advertisements are in Swedish but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all looking for fluent Swedish speakers. Just copy the advertisement into Google Translate and see what each advert has to say. Facebook groups are a really great platform for job hunting as they allow you to quickly and informally exchange information with people without having to fill out any lengthy applications. I myself joined many Facebook groups when looking for jobs and actually found this job on the “Lediga jobb i Stockholm” group.
2. Handing out CV’s – many businesses, especially cafes and bars, will not have a dedicated online service for job applications. For this reason, it is often good to go and directly hand in your CV at places that are looking to hire new employees. The advantage of this method is that you can hand out your CV at many different places very quickly. Even walking just around the city centre, you could probably hand out your CV to hundreds of different places.
   To avoid wasting your time by handing out your CV to an unlikely employer, it’s good to have an idea of the kinds of places you wish to apply to. If you have past work experience relevant for particular jobs (like waitressing) or a particular feature that would fit in well somewhere (like being from the UK and applying to some “English pubs”) then make applying to these places your priority. Your CV should be well laid out, informative and contain a photograph of yourself to make your application more relatable.
   If you don’t receive any replies from dropping off your CV’s after a few weeks, it is worth calling up the places that you applied to, to remind them of who you are and show them you are interested.
3. Friends – especially when applying within the small(er) percentage of jobs that don’t require fluency in Swedish, using your contacts for referrals can be really useful – and at least a few of my friends have gotten jobs this way.
   This option is probably quite difficult if you’ve very recently arrived in Sweden and don’t yet know many people. However, if you’re dropping off your CV to different places as well, some people may be friendly enough to help you out with some information on employment opportunities, even if they themselves are unable to hire you at that time.
4. Arbetsförmedlingen – Here I’ve saved the best until last, as Arbetsförmedlingen is a really useful Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish public employment service) is a government run-organisation that contains thousands of job advertisements from employers and includes options for summer, part-time and full-time work.

After creating an account on Arbetsförmedlingen you can easily filter through the job advertisements, refining the search to your location and area of desired employment. There is even an option where you can select which employable skills you have to further tailor the advertisements to suit you. Jobs that you like the look of can be saved and returned to at a future date.
Clicking on each of the job advertisements brings you to a summary of the job and the employer’s contact details or application site. Arbetsförmedlingen is more of a platform than a centralised application service, therefore it is up to you to send off a CV and cover letter to the suggested location. As it is a popular site, it is likely that employers get many replies to each advertisement. For this reason, you shouldn’t expect a reply for all of the applications that you do send off.

So hopefully you now have a better idea of how to go about searching for a job in Sweden. It can definitely take a while to find employment, especially if you’re not confident with the Swedish language, but don’t be discouraged! As long as you are motivated and remain proactive in your job search you should end up finding something! And even if you don’t land your dream job at first it is good to be able to support yourself whilst building up to your ultimate goal.

Good luck and see you next week!

Hannah