WORK, BUSINESS AND
INVESTMENT
ON THIS PAGE
A WORD OF WARNING
WORKING IN SWEDEN
USEFUL ADDRESSES
ONLINE RECRUITMENT
TEMP & EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
NETWORKING
BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT
WORKING HOLIDAYS
A WORD OF
WARNING
In reaction to the many questions I get
asked about working possibilities for foreigners, I offer you a link to a
report on the position of foreigners in Sweden.
ECRI
Report
At this link from the European Commission on Racial Intolerance you will find
information on all European countries. Foreigners' situation is not perfect in
any country. But the Council of Europe labels only a few minority groups as 'vulnerable
groups' in countries with large and varied minority groups (e.g. in the former
colonial 'powers'). However, you will note that in Sweden most minority groups are
labelled as vulnerable.
Plus there was an article dealing with this
in the big morning daily, Dagens Nyheter in August
2003. Unfortunately, I was unable to find an English translation. For those who
don’t read Swedish, the article basically says that Sweden is worst of all western
countries in making use of the immigrant work force. The best ones are Canada, USA and Australia. In
those countries, the risk of becoming unemployed is not higher than that of the
natives.
Some Swedish officials were asked to
comment on the above situation and came with several excuses (different
backgrounds in their countries, difficult economic situation, Sweden not
being very used to immigration yet). The same theme was taken up again in
February 2005 with an article in the English language online newspaper, The Local.
It is not my intention to paint a negative
picture, but work is very hard to obtain. The most common mistake Australians
make when they arrive here is to underestimate the much smaller population base
and market compared to home. Sweden
is a small country and has a well-educated and extremely competitive job
market. There is tough competition here even for jobs that you would consider
low status and low pay back home.
If you are set on
working in a particular area, then you need to do a lot of research. Check if
the market is oversaturated. Do you need to speak Swedish and if so, forget
about applying if your Swedish is poor as you will not even get an interview
for that position. Speaking
English is not such a big advantage here as most Swedes have a good grasp of
English. Remember your lack of
language skills will eliminate a large number of jobs.
When searching the links below, try typing “Engelska”
or “English” into the search criteria for jobs that specify English skills.
Many will also require Swedish, though.
Initially, you could investigate niches such as English-speaking embassy work,
English-speaking schools. But remember you need to be qualified and to bring
proof of that qualification with you. Do not assume that because you are a
native English speaker that you can just teach English “for a while”. It
doesn’t work like that. Same with jobs involving customer service (eg waiter/bar work). How can you take an order if you don’t
understand the language? Find out if there are Australian companies established
here and contact them to see if there are positions you could fill.
People are sometimes resentful that the Australians already established here
don’t help them out more. But it is really hard for us as well. We can’t write
you references if we don’t know you! And it is really not a good idea to apply
for jobs without much experience or any qualifications. Swedes generally will
only hire the person with the best qualifications and the most experience and
often the ability to speak Swedish. The magic word in Sweden is
networking. In many fields, positions are filled almost exclusively through
contacts. So you need to be out there making those valuable contacts.
I make every effort to
keep this up to date, but note that site addresses frequently change, so you
may need to search the company name if the link does not work. Sometimes not
all of the information is current or applicable all of the time. Some of these
sites are employment recruiter sites. Some sites simply list current jobs
available. Some sites provide a little “employment coaching”. It’s important to
read through the sites see if and how the information within the sites meets
your particular needs.
WORKING IN SWEDEN
General information You can
only work here if you have a work permit. These are available BEFORE you get to
Sweden
by applying through your local Swedish
Embassy. If your employer is bringing you to Sweden, they can usually take care
of that. You can apply for a permit once you are here, but it can be difficult
to obtain if you are say here on a tourist visa. In that case you need to
contact Migrationsverket There is an interesting article and
some links about expats finding work in Sweden at Stockholm
Bulletin (E).
Once you
arrive, you must register at the local taxation office or Skattemyndigheten
within three days and get your all important personnummer
which you will need to even scratch yourself in Sweden. You can check out your
responsibilities at this RSV
brochure. There are a good articles on tax for expats working here at Stockholm
Bulletin (E).
As in Australia,
when you are searching for a job you do as much research as you can on a
potential company. This involves doing a search of the company website to learn
about their products, services, financial information and also who are the decision makers who may be
in a position to offer you a job. Once you have learned as much as you can
about a company, send in you CV even if a job is not posted yet. It is
important to be proactive.
Working Holidays Yes, this is possible, generally for under 30’s. Check out the Southern
Cross information page and the Working
Holiday Guru and the new section here on Working Holidays in
Sweden.
Language Test Want to test your Swedish proficiency? You can test your
“employability” in Swedish at Arbetsförmedlingen
(S).
Current conditions Sweden
has suffered a recession recently and unemployment rose quickly. However, the
country remains prosperous and seems to be recovering well with lots of new
incentives to encourage foreign investors. Although the foreign labour force
makes up 5% of the market, the Swedish authorities are cautious of employing
foreigners.
Working hours A 40 hour week is standard, and most staff receive
at least 5 weeks of holiday and a further 12 public holidays.
General conditions Employment legislation is very thorough and protects both employer
and employee. Fringe benefits are good also, with contributions made by
employers to subsidise canteens, transport, health and
leisure facilities. Many are also obliged to help foreign employees with
learning Swedish and accommodation.
Salary
Salaries are good although the cost of living is very high. Tax is claimed at
both a national and regional level, although many foreign employees can avoid
paying national tax, which is currently 20% above a set level. Even so, tax is
quite high, spanning a broad band from 30% to 70%.
C.V’s and
Covering Letters There are of course different
conventions in Sweden
about what to include on a CV and covering letter. There is a good guide in
English about what is expected in a Swedish CV at How to Write a
Swedish CV or résumé. It is wise to check out the tips offered at iWork.com,
Going Global
and Jobera about writing a resume and cover letter for the
Swedish market. On the Supreme recruiting
website there is a downloadable pdf file in English on how to write a CV. There is also some tips and several examples at CV-Guiden, but it is only in Swedish. There is also a
place that will do an on-line resume
translation service. It’s not cheap, though!
USEFUL ADDRESSES
Arbetsförmedlingnen is the home
page of the Swedish Labour Market. Information about what you need to work
here and some jobs are listed as well. (E) You can also test out your
employability with their online language test. One
tip is to put English or 'Engelska' into your search
criteria to bring up any jobs specifying English speaking skills.
International Academics There is a branch of Arbetsförmedlingnen
(Internationella
Akademiker) which specifically caters for
academics seeking work in Stockholm.
They are located at Strandbergsgatan 61 (4th floor) and are open
weekdays between 9 and 3. Remember that you will need to make sure that your
foreign qualifications are first evaluated and translated by HSV
before you approach them. You are free to email them for
further details.
Skatteverket The Income Tax Department
It offers some material translated into English. Here you can information on
Working in Sweden,
Tax Account Brochure, the Swedish tax system - income
from wages and capital, and Excise duties. If you look in the top right corner, there is an icon showing links to
other languages, including English. There is also an interesting advice about
payroll tax responsibilities in Sweden
at Aurenav
for those individuals working here freelance. (S) (E)
JobsinStockholm This great new website is specifically designed for English
speaking professionals. It is run by an energetic American woman, who provides
a wealth of tips and links for those looking for work in Sweden as well
as a listing of available jobs in a wide range of professions which require
English. Check out JobsinStockholm, which despite its name, covers all of Sweden.
The Scandinavian Recruitment World website
offers an extensive list of many companies involved in the recruitment industry
with links to their websites, contact information - and ALL in English! (E)
Going Global A site designed to support international job seekers
and professionals with an extensive array of original country-specific career
information. Information is in all in English and covers the whole range of
services here, plus great tips on handling CVs and interviewing here in Sweden.
Invest in Sweden Agency The ISA has some great practical
information about living and working in Sweden - in English.
Olsten Personalkraft has links to a variety of job sites
in a lot of areas, including summer and part time work. There is information in
English. (S) (E)
Phone Book You can also search the Swedish
Yellow Pages online. Go to Gula Sidorna and enter the word Personaluthyrning in
the box marked “Rubrik/sökord”. You will get a list
of companies who are looking for workers.
Resumé AB has a kink on
the left hand side (“Jobb”)
that opens a pop-up window with links to a range of available jobs. (S)
International Communications Group is co-run by fellow Aussie John Ellard. ICG offers services geared to Scandinavian business
wanting improved skills in English. They are based in the Mälardalen
area and are always looking for people with good English skills to work there.
Check it out.
EF Corporate Language Training is another
place that does advertise for native English speakers with teacher training
to do in-house language training for businesses. (E) (S)
Mother Goose is a private, non-profit international pre-school and elementary
school that caters for children from nursery level to elementary grades. They
often have employment opportunities for English speakers. (E)
Planet Kids is a nursery school in Stockholm which also has employment
opportunities for English speakers who are qualified and have some experience
in pre-school education. CVs can be sent to the head teacher. (E)
English i2i is a Swedish company based in Stockholm and set up in
1999 to teach English to business clients. They are always looking for suitably
qualified English teachers
for all over Scandinavia.
Craig’s List There are sometimes jobs posted
on the Stockholm version of Craig’s
List. They range from simple part time or casual positions like dog
walking, cat sitting etc which may help you make ends meet to full time jobs.
There are all kinds of positions, so it is worthwhile checking from time to
time.
Marcus Evans I get a few queries about this
firm and it’s a tricky one to answer. Marcus
Evans advertises for people in the English news site, The Local. They seem to be continuously hiring people. They
offer a very low base salary with the promise of big commissions and the work
involves high pressure sales pitches to companies. If that’s your thing, you
may do well there.
ONLINE RECRUITMENT
Platsbanken is the official labour market site and has around 16,000 current job
listings in Swedish.
Job Safari The website at Job
Safari is one of the more useful of the job sites. It is only in Swedish,
but it does offer the possibility to search in the various counties for
available jobs. Some jobs are listed in English and the advanced search feature
combs through all of the other sites for you.
Offentlig Jobb If you are looking for a
public sector job, you can search through the pages at Offentlig Jobb or alternatively submit your CV there for
consideration (S)
I See Headhunting and Consultancy has a Swedish office for those
looking in IT, telecommunications, media and
manufacturing sectors. (S)
100.nu is a website of links and on this
page, you will find links to 10 job websites in Sweden.
Job Help There are many listings on Jobhelp
as well as some good tips, but the site is in Swedish only. (S)
Jobline - Monster Has listings of many jobs in Sweden, both in Swedish and
English. Check out the monster site.
SUNET’S
Web Catalogue has a section
with many links to work related sites. It may be slightly out
of date.
TEMP & EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
This
is a list of some general temping agencies and general employment services
available in Stockholm and some of the larger Swedish cities. I’ve sorted them
by rough categories for ease of deciding which ones to approach. Remember that
a lot of these will be in Swedish, but you can search and see if there are
English speaking jobs available or contact the agencies directly.
There is a long list of recruitment agencies at the Jobbguiden website as well.
General
& Office staff:
Access
Personnel is the Swedish branch of a large international
staffing agency. You can search the website for jobs on offer or submit your CV
for consideration. There is a temp-team section there as well. (S)
Adecco You can register with this employment site and browse through their
job listings. Most of them are in Swedish, but they do often have jobs in English,
especially in marketing and IT. (S)
Arena
Personal This is one of
Stockhom’s largest privately owned staffing agencies. They provide staff for
administration work, production staff and logistics (S)
Bemannia is another agency which seeks to contract worker out
to various industries. Again there is a list of available jobs on their books
plus the offer to consider your cv. (S)
First
Reserve offers temping contracts in general office jobs -
economics, personnel, administration, reception, clerks etc (S)
Kontorsfixarna also offers a wide range of contracts in general office work, with offices in
Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö,
Sundsvall, Vaxjö and Fränsta.
They advertise positions in accounts, reception, admin, marketing, IT and
transport. (S)
Multimind is a Stockholm temp agency. Most of their recruiting is
in Marketing/Sales, Financial Control/Accounting, Administration, Human
Resources, and IT and Engineering. You can enter your CV at the site in English
or in Swedish
Manpower This is the Swedish branch of Manpower which provides temporary staffing
and recruiting services to Swedish businesses. Many jobs offered, so it’s
worthwhile to register with them. (S)
Poolia is a large, international job
listings and placement site. Information is in English
and Swedish. They handle both temporary staffing as well as
permanent recruitment within accounting, banking, finance, healthcare, human
resources, IT, legal, management, office support, sales, marketing and
technology.
Proffice You can search the Swedish site for jobs on offer. Proffice
operates in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and offers temporary staffing,
recruiting, outsourcing and career and development programs. The jobs are
listed in Swedish only.
Resurs
Bemanning is one of the
fastest growing of the new agencies. You can search the site for
available work or contact them to submit your details. (S)
Sikta
Urval offers a recruiting service as well. Their website
is in a variety of languages, including English.
Stepstone Here you can browse through over 1100
current Job listings in both Swedish and English
Student
Workers:
Academic
Work is the largest employer for students at university in
Sweden with offices in Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö and Linköping. They offer the
chance to apply for hourly contracts across a wide number of sectors and have
an English section as well. (S) (E)
Academic
Search for jobs in the academic field. There are some part time
jobs available in English occasionally, as well as work for students while they
are studying. (S)
Brain
Bemanning is based in Stockholm and provides university
students to business who need temporary staff. (S)
Job
Finder This page is part of Ny Teknik has jobs for students available
in Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö and Lund (S).
Nordjobb is an agency that covers summer work in Norway,
Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Faroe, Iceland and Greenland. You will need to be
aged between 18 and 26 and to able to read Swedish to navigate the site as
there is no English page there.
Student
Consulting offers students
both full and part time positions in a wide
variety of industries. It operates throughout Sweden and while there is an
English summary, the applications must be in Swedish. (S) (E)
tng is a recruiting firm that
specialises in placing university students, young academics as well as those
who are aged 50? in positions. Their positions cover
economics, computing, administration and sales.
Industry,
Finance, Logistics, Engineering Real Estate and Technical:
Ranstad is part of an international staffing agency which services office,
industrial, professional, creative, and technical fields. There is a list of
available jobs on the site plus a section to submit your CV. (S)
IRG
International Recruitment Group
This recruitment firm has offices in both
Stockholm and Göteborg and supplies staff to a wide range of industries across
Sweden, including real estate. (S)
Skandinaviska
Jour & Rekryteringsbyrån
or SJR offers contract work in economics,
banking and finance within Sweden. They have offices in Stockholm, Göteborg and
Malmö. (S) (E).
Techlog
Personal supplies staff for the building,
automotive and property markets. (S)
Logistikresurs is a firm with offices in
Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö and Örebro and recruits staff for various sectors in the
building and horticulture industries. (S)
Advertising
and Media:
Bohmans
Nätverk is one
of the leading executive search firms focusing mainly
on market communication, advertising, sales and PR. They also help clients within finance/IT.
They have offices in Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö and Copenhagen, with
partners in Finland
and Norway. (S) (E)
Hyrverket is a leading recruiter of qualified staff in
the fields of advertising, marketing, PR and business services. There are short
and long term contracts as well as freelance opportunities. (S)
Hammer
& Hanborg is another of
the large temp recruiting firms specialising in advertising,
PR, marketing and information services with offices in Stockholm, Göteborg,
Malmö and Oslo.
Just
Go Check out the guide at Just Go which is published as the
journalists’ Stockholm guide and despite it not being updated for some time, it
still has some great tips and contacts in the city for those looking for media
work. (E).
Weblabs is the advertising firm started by enterprising
and experienced Australian Hayley Bringdal. She is always on the lookout for
Aussies who are experienced, motivated, and energetic to work freelance in the design
team, admin team and account management team. There are openings as well for website designers, graphic designers
and marketing managers. These can be based in cities all over Sweden.
Hospitals/Medical
sector:
E-Quality
Personalkraft is a leading temp agency for staff in health care,
hospitals, elderly care and company health centres. (S)
Plus
Care is another firm that
provides doctors and other health care professionals
within the hospital system. (S)
Resurs
Care has offers positions for qualified doctors,
nurses, specialist nurses, assistant nurses, nurse’s aides and hospital
administrators (S)
Vikariepoolen is a large agency that places people in
temporary contracts. mostly in the fields of teaching, childcare, nursing and
elder care. (S)
Wallace
& Co is an executive recruiter for the medical industry
covering all jobs from reception work, researchers, doctors, managers and other
key personnel. (S)
Catering,
Hotel and Restaurant:
Atrax
Service Team is based in
Tyresö, a south eastern section of Stockholm. They recruit in the hotel and restaurant trade,
covering jobs such as cooks, chefs, bartenders, waiting staff, housekeepers,
kitchen staff, receptionists etc. (S)
Four
Service is another large,
well established firm which supplies staff to the restaurant industry. (S)
Memu
Svensk is a firm that
specialises in providing temporary staff for trade fairs and other
large events. There is an English section of the site as well. (S) (E)
Mässrestauranger is linked to the big Stockholm
trade fair centre and they are always looking for experienced staff for their restaurant and
cafeteria outlets. (S)
Information
Technology (IT) work:
Ajilon is a leading information technology
services provider of IT consulting, managed services and
software quality assurance and testing services.
Alumni is a consulting firm with links to IT, media,
banking and finance. (E)
Andersson
& Korn is one of Sweden’s
leading recruiters in the
telecommunications and IT world. (S) (E)
Bonitor is also a place offering recruitment contracts in the IT field in
Sweden. (S)
Contract
Partners This site is among Sweden’s biggest
marketplace for IT-contracts. (S) (E)
CS
Jobb has a huge number of IT jobs listed, but most of these are in
Swedish and require a knowledge of the Swedish language for the work involved.
IFS
Applications is another place that is often hiring good,
professional English speakers in IT. They have offices in Stockholm,
Göteborg, Malmö, Linköping, Karlstad, Jönköping, Uppsala, Sundsvall, Luleå and
Värnamo.
IT-Resurs is a Swedish recruitment firm which specialises in all
aspects of the IT market. (S)
Job
Serve is a UK based service but offers some jobs in
Scandinavia, particularly in IT. (E)
Qube
Search Network (formerly
Hundraprocent) also offers contracts within telecommunications and IT
in Sweden. (S)
Sales:
Affärskompetens is a large firm with offices all
over Sweden and recruits chiefly in the sales and
marketing fields.
JobNet is a headhunting and human resources firm that specialises in
sales over a range of company types (E) (S).
Salesearch.se is a recruitment firm in the sales industry. You can send in a CV
online.
Säljkompetens
is a Swedish based consultancy firm placing staff in the
fields of sales recruitment,
sales staffing, sales education and sales consulting. (S)
School/Education:
Lärarförmedlarna helps place staff in pre-schools, primary and secondary
schools. (S)
Vikariepoolen has offices in Stockholm, Göteborg
and Malmö and recruits teaching staff throughout the region. (S)
Entertainment:
Fantastiska Nöjen is an agency that contracts out entertainers in many fields
(S)
Nöjeskällan hires out bands and entertainers for various events around
Sweden (S)
Management and specialist positions:
Capitel Rekrytering
seeks those looking for work in managerial positions in Engineering/IT,
Finance/Marketing, Pharmaceuticals/Biotechnology, Medicine. (S)
Creative
Search is the Swedish branch
of a large international firm placing management
level people in the workforce. The site is available in both English and
Swedish.
Fokus
rekrytering och utveckling is based in Gotebörg and recruits in the Nordic region on behalf of
firms looking for management personel. (S)
Inter
Search offers global recruiting in management positions
in over 38 countries (S) (E).
PAf
Rekrytering has offices in Stockholm,
Göteborg, Malmö, Uppsala and Sundsvall. PAf recruits in a wide range of
industries.
Teknikkompetens
is another employment agency that seeks staff in
management level positions in the fields of IT, telecom, technique, logistics, management, economy and
administration. (S)
Thulin
Rekrytering recruits
managers and specialists. They have an
extensive net of contacts in Swedish trade and industry.
Their
offices are in Malmö and Växjö.
Translators:
Interverbum
offers job opportunities for those interested in
translation and language school work (E)
Konferenstolkning
AB or TolkJourern offers translators for
conferences and meetings, business ans government work, guides and general
translation work. (S) (E)
NETWORKING
Ampersand is an informal Stockholm-based network
for editors, copywriters, technical writers, translators, journalists, teachers
and communication consultants who pretty much work exclusively in English. They
offer networking events, professional development seminars and issue job
bulletins as they come into headquarters. To join the mailing list, just send
an email address to AMPERSAND@battisonpartners.com (E)
EuroCircle
Stockholm is a European based
networking community that organises many
social events in cities around Europe. The Stockholm group was launched in June
2005. It is useful if you are interested in expanding your business and/or
private social
network
in Stockholm. The club language is English. (E)
OpenBC is another of the growing number
of networking organisations in Sweden. They
are to be found in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö and have regular get
togethers, meetings and a chance to network with others in your field. (E) (S)
BCA Open Network The BCA has a
networking section, Open Network,
which arranges activities and provides information to its members to help
people ease into settling, living and working in Sweden.
BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT
ISA
The Invest in Sweden Agency has excellent information
regarding the business environment in Sweden. Information in both Swedish and
English .
Business
Culture From Swedish Smörgåsbord Good guide to the
business culture here. What do Swedes expect? There is also a comprehensive
“business etiquette” guide to Sweden in Worldwide Business Briefings.(E)
Patent-
och registreringsverket PRV site is a good resource for when
you want to start up a business in Sweden (S) (E)
Kommerskollegium This site is a mixture of government and
private sector and is the central administrative body in Sweden dealing with
foreign trade and trade policy. (S) (E)
Swedish
Trade Exportrådet Gives information on Swedish
companies, business sectors, business opportunities, fairs and events,
finances, imports, exports and investment in Sweden. The directory has a guide
to Swedish companies and their products and includes name, address, phone, fax,
e-mail, management, turnover, equity, area of operation and information about
the products.(E)
Swedish
Chamber of Commerce Svenska Handelskammarförbundet represents
over 10 000 businesses of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy (S) (E)
Swedish
Stock Exchange Stockholms Borsen News and trends (S) (E)
IT
in Sweden This site has presentations from itsweden
about Sweden as an IT-country. (E)
Riksbanken Go here for economic and financial data for
Sweden (E)
Svensktnäringsliv Site for the Confederation of Swedish
enterprise (E)
Företagnarna Federation of Private Enterprise
is a forum for small business in Sweden.(E)
WORKING HOLIDAYS
Australia
and Sweden have a bi-lateral arrangement covering working holidays. Please note
that you will also have to get a visa to be able to work here, so allow plenty
of time for that. Jobs are not that easy to find, though, so I've suggested a
few places to have a look. The other suggestion is to ask at the forums here in
Sweden listed in the Expats section. I have also added another
section that is a guide to working holidays here, thanks to
feedback from people who know the ropes.
Work Permits
Check details at Migrationsverket site (in English) Click
on Work Permits to see the current requirements. You can then apply from the
Swedish Embassy in Australia. Note: You must obtain a residence and work permit
first, before coming here.
Swedish
Embassy in Australia You need
to apply for a visa. Here is the address of the main embassy in
Canberra and there you’ll find a list of consuls in each state. (E) If you are
not in Australia, you’ll find a list of Sweden’s embassies world-wide here. (E)
Working
Holiday AWHP
has information and a message board (E)
Basic
unskilled jobs The link at
AMS for these types of jobs - cleaning, au pair, waitress etc can be found here. Note that the site is in Swedish,
though.
Au
Pair Work The biggest site
here is the one at Scandinavian Au Pair Service Centre. You
can sign up on-line and they are really helpful in matching you to a suitable
family.
Check
out places like eAupair.com. This is a world-wide site,
but with LOADS of ads for Swedish families. Go to 'Quick Family Search' (bottom
left), click S to get Sweden as country, then your gender and enter. You can
also try Au Pair World. Click on 'Find A Family',
fill in the details, and you’ll get a list of families in Sweden looking for an
au pair - and only families that have logged in during the last 30 days, so
it’ll be relatively up-to-date.
Another
site is Great Au Pair. You simply click on
“Sweden” to get the full list of families looking for an au pair.
And
another world-wide agency is Au Pair Connect. You can register at the
site for free as an au pair or nanny and become listed in their world wide
aupair database. You can search for free among registered families, but you must
pay when you find a match. You will receive daily match emails when someone in
your criteria signs up.
Casual
work Anyworkanywhere has listings of casual, seasonal
and short term job opportunities world wide - including a few here in Sweden.
You can also send in your details and they try and match work for you.
EURopean
Employment Service EURES Enter “Sweden” under location to get
a full list here. Many jobs are professional, but they do have au pair, bar
work and farm jobs listed as well. Not all require Swedish.(S) (E)
Summer
Jobs Swedes love to have the
summer off, so you can sometimes find so called “summer jobs” which are
replacement of personnel who are away in July. You can search the database at Sommarjobb under the area or type of work
wanted. You may need Swedish for many of these jobs, though. You can also
search at the amv site.
Some
tips from an Aussie, Julie Carruthers, who has been here on a working holiday
permit.
If anybody else can add to this collective knowledge, please email me here and
I’ll include any tips.
Do
I need to speak Swedish? Julie writes: I'm only learning Swedish at the
moment at Folksuniversitet, but I had an advantage
in coming to Sweden in that I spoke some Norwegian from an exchange program
years ago. Most office jobs do require Swedish, but I know several waitresses
who know only basic Swedish. I'm working 2 jobs at the moment, one as a
babysitter to a Swedish family wanting to improve their kids English, and
secondly as a blackjack dealer, speaking in Swedish, but once you get the
numbers and other phrases down, no problems with the language.
Is
accommodation hard to find? I
lucked out with apartments so a friend arranged something for me here.
Accommodation is reputed to be very hard to find. There are places that will
find accommodation for you on a temporary basis. I know one is in Södermalm (I
think Östgötgatan, but not sure). There are also places like City Backpackers Hostel, or check the Bootsnall website.
Should
I get work before I get to Sweden? If you can arrange a job before you get here, it could be good,
especially in multinational organisations that use English as their business
language, eg, Ericsson. Newspapers are good - that's how I got my jobs, some
are advertised in English. Otherwise somewhere like Mässrestauranger, where they take lots of
non-Swedish speakers. Also, Arbetsförmedlingen but don't be surprised
if it takes them up to a month to reply. They have a web site, but you can also
go in personally and use their computers for free. Have heaps of casual
positions.
Would
you recommend Sweden as a place to come? I've not really had any problems here, so I definitely
recommend it if people are interested. It is very expensive if travelling on
the Aussie dollar, but once you're earning, it is more cost effective than UK.
People are friendly and Australia is definitely a huge hit over here. The
transport system is simple to work out and very effective. More importantly,
once you've got your visa, the tax system is extremely easy to manage. WHV's
just go to the tax office, the lady that handles foreigners speaks fluent
English, show your passport, she'll help with the form and you get your
personal identity number and from there it covers everything from taxes to
renting videos.
Food is the same and you can even buy Vegemite at The English Shop\0022 "'>The English Shop. Everything is very
straightforward to work out. Overall, for a working holiday visa that is
different than doing the average UK or Irish (done those too!!) ones, Sweden is
great because you can choose how much you want to get involved language wise,
etc. But if you are hesitant about your ability to cope with the foreign
language, everyone here speaks English.
