AUSSIES IN SWEDEN - Employment

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 (4^th 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.