It’s not easy. Finding a job. Trying to enter the workforce after studying, after unemployment, after a child, it doesn’t matter, it can be a shock to the system. Especially if you’re moving to a new country. Especially if you don’t speak the language. That being said, it is doable. It’s hard work, but it is doable.
The following is by no means the only way to find a job, it is not meant to even be a guarantee at finding a job. It’s a start. And when you’re moving to a new country, just knowing where to start can be huge.
Pay attention to all that job hunting advice. Especially the stuff that tells you to treat your job search as a job in and of itself. Sit down, search, write, contact, polish. It will help. Remember that not speaking the language is a problem, remember also though that whatever language you do speak natively is not. In fact, it may be what sets you apart from others. This isn’t a pick-me-up post though about life lessons, so without further ado, a few suggestions followed by a few concrete places to search.
Use every media source available to you. The internet, newspapers, Facebook Twitter, LinkedIn. Everything that might lead you to a contact is worth exploring. Of course, I used a whole lot of online sources.
The following is quite simply just a list of places to start:
http://www.monster.se/
http://www.manpower.se/
http://www.thelocal.se/
http://www.workey.se/
http://www.academicwork.se/
http://www.arbetsformedlingen.se/
http://www.dn.se/
http://www.svd.se/
You might recognize a few of the above. A couple (DN and SVD) are the big newspapers in Sweden. Monster and Manpower are pretty international. Some you might not recognize, Workey for example. Some have English options, others don’t. A tip for those of you who are still learning Swedish. Find the search bar and type in “English.” All the job announcements that want you to speak English will pop up, usually in English. I’ll be honest, I haven’t tried this with other languages, but give it a shot with your language. Use those skills that you have. Language skills count. Find jobs that seem interesting and that you are qualified for and go for it.
Try Arbetsförmedlingen. They are the employment office Sweden. I’ll be honest, I haven’t had the best experiences with them as I wrote a while back, but they do their job and I know a few people who have been quite pleased with their work. Their website can be found above, and while I was not pleased with my experience at one of their physical offices, their website is great for finding job opportunities.
Talk to everyone you know. Seriously. Everyone. It doesn’t matter if they have any connection with Sweden, someone they know might. It’s worth making it known that you are planning on moving and that you appreciate any advice, suggestions, or job offers that might come out of mentioning that.
The next suggestion is one that I have heard you shouldn’t do. It’s also the one that got me my first part-time job in Sweden and my first full-time job in Sweden. Cold applications. Find companies or organizations that you are interested in. That interest and passion comes through in resumes, cover letters, emails, phone calls. Try to find the person who is in charge of hiring for the department you want to work in. Marketing? Find the marketing manager. Scour the internet for this information. Be specific and say exactly what you can bring to the table, exactly why you are worth hiring for a position they weren’t looking to hire for. Be warned that you will be ignored. A lot. People are busy and did not ask for your CV. That’s ok. You are unemployed, you have nothing to lose.
Looking for a job is miserable. It’s a process fraught with rejection and rejection is never good for the self-esteem. It’s lonely, it’s hard, it’s boring, it’s exciting, it’s a roller coaster of hope and dejection. Plenty of people have been there. I definitely have. It does get better. I promise, but keep trying. The above might not be too much new information, but I hope that the websites can be of some help and that you find yourself with a better idea of where to start.
If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments section.
And finally, good luck!
