Let's start with a confession: this week, I'm feeling pretty negative and deeply frustrated with my ongoing job hunt here in Sweden. It all feels very difficult, and at the moment I'm struggling to see how I can catch a break. I also have a fear that I'm going to end up working in a mcJob waiting tables, washing up, or that sort of thing. Quite a dent to the ego really.
My last visit with the Jobcoach was a big struggle for me, I felt I was biting my tongue for most of the session. Pretty much all of the advice that I was given seemed pretty facile and betrayed how little I feel my coach actually knows about the industry I work in. At least she picked up how irritated and frustrated I felt in the session. Then again I have always been terrible at hiding my body language and emotions.
Yes, I said, I know being frustrated and negative isn't helpful, but it is a fairly common part of the unemployment experience. It's easy to give advice like that from the comfort of a full time position. Had she ever been through being out of work?
Her next great plan for me to find work is to fire my CV at 'international' companies in Malmö / Lund and in Copenhagen. I struggled not to groan at the suggestion (see I had already adopted a positive attitude!) straight out of a 'how to find a job in ten easy steps' book.
Yes, it could work, but frankly it's highly unlikely as the labour market just doesn't, sadly, work that way any more. Surely working for a recruitment agency, those despicable middlemen and labour market pimps, she'd know that? But how do I know this, well I used to hire staff and have worked in quite a few companies over the years. Companies by and large hire based on having a vacancy. At that point they'll advertise (normally on job websites) and / or use a recruitment company to produce a short-list of suitable candidates. That short list (including internal candidates) is then passed on the person who has a vacancy in their team. The other problem is that most large 'international' companies also allow you to log your CV on an HR database. At what point a search for matches against suitable positions is done (if at all) is anyone's guess. The days of being able to make sure your CV lands on the desk of Mr. John Smith (or perhaps in this case Jan Johansson) are long gone.
So it seems like an exercise in utter futility to me. But wait, you may counter, surely there's nothing to be lost? Well, yes, if you're an optimist, but then again I'm a pessimist and regrettably a cynic too. At least a rejection from an actual job is some indication that you were at least considered.
In other news I've applied for a SAS (Svenska som andra språk) course. It starts in October, and I pray I get a place on it. At least being a student gives you the feeling your achieving something and some structure to your existence.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Swedish CVs
This clearly isn't the sexiest of topics, but perhaps it'll help some other poor soul struggling in the Swedish labour market as a poor downtrodden invandare.
I thought I'd list some of the advice given to me by my job coach so far:
1. Your CV must be short, and no more than three sides of A4. Apparently the details of what you've done, where, and what useful experience you've had is all teased out at interview.
2. It should start with your name and contact information aligned on the left hand side.
3. It is common for Swedish CVs to include a picture of the person. This is usually opposite the personal information
4. You should have a personal / professional summary paragraph which should be between 4-8 sentences long. It should summarize your approach to work and your most noteworthy personal attributes.
5. List any professional qualifications
6. List technical skills and rate your experience or ability
7. Next list your employment history from your most recent position. For each job:
If you've been working a few years, you'll find you feel that you've maimed your CV and it seems devoid of any substantial information. I've been told not to include details of any projects I work on (standard practice for both technical and project management CVs back in the UK), which makes me wonder how anyone could judge suitability for a position based solely on the rough description of what you did in each role?
I thought I'd list some of the advice given to me by my job coach so far:
1. Your CV must be short, and no more than three sides of A4. Apparently the details of what you've done, where, and what useful experience you've had is all teased out at interview.
2. It should start with your name and contact information aligned on the left hand side.
3. It is common for Swedish CVs to include a picture of the person. This is usually opposite the personal information
4. You should have a personal / professional summary paragraph which should be between 4-8 sentences long. It should summarize your approach to work and your most noteworthy personal attributes.
5. List any professional qualifications
6. List technical skills and rate your experience or ability
7. Next list your employment history from your most recent position. For each job:
- state the length of time you were employed there (as month year e.g. October 2004 - March 2008),
- your job title
- the city or location of the job
- a summary of your job's key responsibilities
- Institution
- Course name
- length of course
- Grade
If you've been working a few years, you'll find you feel that you've maimed your CV and it seems devoid of any substantial information. I've been told not to include details of any projects I work on (standard practice for both technical and project management CVs back in the UK), which makes me wonder how anyone could judge suitability for a position based solely on the rough description of what you did in each role?
Thursday, 12 August 2010
The trials and tribulations of finding a job in Sweden
Back in England I worked in IT, I was a software developer, but ended being promoted up the management food chain in the highly dysfunctional organisation I used to work for. Whilst my sambo and I were discussing moving over to Sweden, we both assumed, perhaps pretty naively, that it wouldn't be that hard for me to find work. After all, most Swedes, we reasoned speak excellent English and I worked in a career where English is the lingua franca. In fact, we chose Malmö as a migration beachhead, as the area supposedly has a thriving IT industry, and Copenhagen was just over the bridge. So that being the case we thought even with little or no Swedish I could continue to work in my career over here.How wrong we both were.
I suppose I should also admit that I have had quite a bit of experience interviewing and recruiting staff over the last 13 or so years of my career, so I had some preconceptions of how to approach job hunting over here. But again, it turns out I was wrong. Here for the benefit of anyone that's interested is what I've found out so far.
The first and obvious challenge you face when searching for a job in Sweden is that at least 90% of the jobs are, of course, advertised in Swedish. So to even understand the advert you need a reasonable grasp of the language. A selection of sites I trawl for jobs are:
monster
Arbetsförmedlingan
JobIndex (Danish)
JobSafari
Oh, and then if it's a Danish site, you have the complication of little Danish language differences, or just copy and paste into googletranslate.
Ok, so you found a job you think sounds interesting, the next step is responding. Now whilst the usual covering letter and CV are used, there are some subtleties. According to all the advice I've had so far (partner, partner's brother, Job coach at Arbetsförmedlingan) your covering letter must be less formal than in the UK / US and your CV must only be three pages. So once you've taken a chainsaw to your CV (if you've been working at least a decade you'll have plenty of information you want to explain about previous jobs), you're left with something that seems...well quite basic. Almost so you wonder how anyone would get excited by the lack of information and how they'd draw any meaningful information about your suitability for interview.
So once you've fired off your nice concise letter and CV you wait...and wait...and wait. One of the cultural differences that has really annoyed me is the lack of feedback. It's often not uncommon for you to receive absolutely no feedback. So perhaps the company / organization you applied for didn't feel you were suitable for the job, how about a quick email thanking you for your interest in the role? Nope not in Sweden it seems.
Recently, I bit the bullet and went in and spoke to someone at the Arbetsförmedlingen. I'd read (mainly the embittered postings on the thelocal.se forums) about how useful they normally are, but I decided to see what they could do for me. Once I'd been sent to the correct office (again each sector seems to have it's own office), I was told before anyone would speak to me I'd have to register on their website. So I went home and did just that....twice, as it seems there's two systems, one which signs you in, mainly it seems for those claiming A kassa (unemployment benefit), and another which is a bit more like your traditional job posting / cv posting site. Once that was completed I went in to the office and met with a staff member. Perhaps I had the wrong idea, but I thought they would actually be a bit more focused in terms of directing me to jobs or opportunities, but the meeting itself just really seemed about telling me the jobcoach programme.
As little else seemed on offer, and the way it was described to me was that they'd help me with my CV (perhaps it needed Swedifying?, and likewise my covering letter). I was also told they may even help me find jobs using their industry contacts. So once I'd agreed, I went home, battled through the labyrinthine Arbetsförmedlingen website and found the list of jobcoaches in Malmö, I picked one. A couple of weeks later we arranged to meet after my summer vacation (you see even the unemployed need to get away now and again).
My experience of the jobcoach hasn't been hugely impressive so far. I've had two meetings with my coach, the first consisted of agreeing what we'd work on (CV, covering letter, interview stuff, how to look for jobs). One thing I haven't been overly impressed with is that I chose the coach based on their knowledge of the IT sector. Sadly my coach seems to know next to nothing about the IT sector. I can only guess that the agency itself (the job coaching is all outsourced) deals with IT, but not her. Although my coach is very pleasant, it does feel like simply polishing a CV is pissing in the ocean somewhat.
A rambling post, but really the point I wanted to make is, if you're reading this and thinking of moving here, my advice is make sure you have some savings behind you. Don't expect to find work as an english speaker quickly, unless you have a highly sought after skill or you can transfer to a large multinational. In the smaller cities you'll need Swedish language skills, which means passing SFI D at the very least. The reason I mention this is that's the first question the Arbetsförmedlingen will ask you when you meet with them.
Sweden loves documentation too, make sure you have details of your education / professional certification, again they'll ask for it.
I suppose I should also admit that I have had quite a bit of experience interviewing and recruiting staff over the last 13 or so years of my career, so I had some preconceptions of how to approach job hunting over here. But again, it turns out I was wrong. Here for the benefit of anyone that's interested is what I've found out so far.
The first and obvious challenge you face when searching for a job in Sweden is that at least 90% of the jobs are, of course, advertised in Swedish. So to even understand the advert you need a reasonable grasp of the language. A selection of sites I trawl for jobs are:
monster
Arbetsförmedlingan
JobIndex (Danish)
JobSafari
Oh, and then if it's a Danish site, you have the complication of little Danish language differences, or just copy and paste into googletranslate.
Ok, so you found a job you think sounds interesting, the next step is responding. Now whilst the usual covering letter and CV are used, there are some subtleties. According to all the advice I've had so far (partner, partner's brother, Job coach at Arbetsförmedlingan) your covering letter must be less formal than in the UK / US and your CV must only be three pages. So once you've taken a chainsaw to your CV (if you've been working at least a decade you'll have plenty of information you want to explain about previous jobs), you're left with something that seems...well quite basic. Almost so you wonder how anyone would get excited by the lack of information and how they'd draw any meaningful information about your suitability for interview.
So once you've fired off your nice concise letter and CV you wait...and wait...and wait. One of the cultural differences that has really annoyed me is the lack of feedback. It's often not uncommon for you to receive absolutely no feedback. So perhaps the company / organization you applied for didn't feel you were suitable for the job, how about a quick email thanking you for your interest in the role? Nope not in Sweden it seems.
Recently, I bit the bullet and went in and spoke to someone at the Arbetsförmedlingen. I'd read (mainly the embittered postings on the thelocal.se forums) about how useful they normally are, but I decided to see what they could do for me. Once I'd been sent to the correct office (again each sector seems to have it's own office), I was told before anyone would speak to me I'd have to register on their website. So I went home and did just that....twice, as it seems there's two systems, one which signs you in, mainly it seems for those claiming A kassa (unemployment benefit), and another which is a bit more like your traditional job posting / cv posting site. Once that was completed I went in to the office and met with a staff member. Perhaps I had the wrong idea, but I thought they would actually be a bit more focused in terms of directing me to jobs or opportunities, but the meeting itself just really seemed about telling me the jobcoach programme.
As little else seemed on offer, and the way it was described to me was that they'd help me with my CV (perhaps it needed Swedifying?, and likewise my covering letter). I was also told they may even help me find jobs using their industry contacts. So once I'd agreed, I went home, battled through the labyrinthine Arbetsförmedlingen website and found the list of jobcoaches in Malmö, I picked one. A couple of weeks later we arranged to meet after my summer vacation (you see even the unemployed need to get away now and again).
My experience of the jobcoach hasn't been hugely impressive so far. I've had two meetings with my coach, the first consisted of agreeing what we'd work on (CV, covering letter, interview stuff, how to look for jobs). One thing I haven't been overly impressed with is that I chose the coach based on their knowledge of the IT sector. Sadly my coach seems to know next to nothing about the IT sector. I can only guess that the agency itself (the job coaching is all outsourced) deals with IT, but not her. Although my coach is very pleasant, it does feel like simply polishing a CV is pissing in the ocean somewhat.
A rambling post, but really the point I wanted to make is, if you're reading this and thinking of moving here, my advice is make sure you have some savings behind you. Don't expect to find work as an english speaker quickly, unless you have a highly sought after skill or you can transfer to a large multinational. In the smaller cities you'll need Swedish language skills, which means passing SFI D at the very least. The reason I mention this is that's the first question the Arbetsförmedlingen will ask you when you meet with them.
Sweden loves documentation too, make sure you have details of your education / professional certification, again they'll ask for it.
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Swedish Summer Tans
As the summer continues, I've begun to notice that everyone is bronzed. Men, woman, children, the elderly, everyone has taken on a rich mahogany colour. The weather in July so far has been pretty glorious, the sun has shone and Sweden has basked in 25 - 30c temperatures. I've never seen anything like it, it seems everyone in this nation is a sun lover.
I must admit I'm not someone who actively goes out to sit in the sunshine. A combination of growing up in the middle east, where my father worked as an engineer when the oil money poured in during the early eighties, and an inability to sit still too long, means this isn't an activity I'm too bothered about doing. Even so, I have managed to get quite a tan (for me anyway) during the last month. This is however nothing to most of the people I observe out and about in town. It's also in stark contrast to the UK, where we get a few scattered days here and there of nice summer weather. During this time you normally see two colours: pale and pasty, or parboiled lobster red.
Interestingly, despite this rampant sun worshipping, the rate of skin cancer isn't that high, but it is rising. Unsurprisingly, there are more reported cases down south than in the north of the country, and Skåne has the most reported cases in the data collected from 1970 to 2005.
I must admit I'm not someone who actively goes out to sit in the sunshine. A combination of growing up in the middle east, where my father worked as an engineer when the oil money poured in during the early eighties, and an inability to sit still too long, means this isn't an activity I'm too bothered about doing. Even so, I have managed to get quite a tan (for me anyway) during the last month. This is however nothing to most of the people I observe out and about in town. It's also in stark contrast to the UK, where we get a few scattered days here and there of nice summer weather. During this time you normally see two colours: pale and pasty, or parboiled lobster red.
Interestingly, despite this rampant sun worshipping, the rate of skin cancer isn't that high, but it is rising. Unsurprisingly, there are more reported cases down south than in the north of the country, and Skåne has the most reported cases in the data collected from 1970 to 2005.
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Sweden's holiday shutdown
One of the major things you notice about summer in Sweden is the country pretty much grinds to a halt in the month of July. This is because July is holiday month here in Sweden, and most companies and public facilities run on a skeleton staffing. The buses into town are less regular, opening times shorten, in smaller towns cinemas close. When I first started coming to Sweden I was a bit baffled by the holiday month phenomenon. This was because I was working in central London and the British corporate working culture, although not as terrible as the US, doesn't have much consideration that an employee has priorities outside of the workplace. In the UK, people take holiday from the beginning of June through to mid September but there's no real point where employees down tools and relax at the same time. It would also be unthinkable for them to take three glorious consecutive weeks of holiday in the way they do here.
In the companies I've worked for, there's always been this need to make sure that the service you provide is always available. Personally, I've always found that a strange idea. I didn't work in the high availability part of IT, building systems isn't like being responsible for server uptime or making sure John Smith can send email to his boss to pretend he's doing something productive. It was mainly project based work and as such ebbed and flowed throughout the year. As there was no common holiday period, you'd just be faced with losing someone working on a project for a week or two and you'd limp through working on the task. If you were sensible, you'd just admit that the sun is shining, motivation is zero, so why not take the time off?
So July is here, and so are holidays, sunshine and warm weather. Here in Malmö, I've enjoyed being able to cycle to a beach in 15 minutes, and having a nice cooling breeze blow in from the Öresund. The other noticeable thing is how important simply being outdoors is during the summer. Practically every apartment has a balcony. The balcony becomes the most important part of the dwelling, the sun is worshipped, bodies tanned, meals are eaten. If you have a house, it's practically a law here that you must possess a barbecue, something like this at the very least:
If you're really serious you have something monstrous lurking under a protective plastic sheeting growling for pre-marinated cuts of meat and korv.You'll also notice that everyone here has developed a deep bronzed tan. There's no sign of the British steamed lobster look here.
Right, the beach calls, where's my flip flops?
In the companies I've worked for, there's always been this need to make sure that the service you provide is always available. Personally, I've always found that a strange idea. I didn't work in the high availability part of IT, building systems isn't like being responsible for server uptime or making sure John Smith can send email to his boss to pretend he's doing something productive. It was mainly project based work and as such ebbed and flowed throughout the year. As there was no common holiday period, you'd just be faced with losing someone working on a project for a week or two and you'd limp through working on the task. If you were sensible, you'd just admit that the sun is shining, motivation is zero, so why not take the time off?
So July is here, and so are holidays, sunshine and warm weather. Here in Malmö, I've enjoyed being able to cycle to a beach in 15 minutes, and having a nice cooling breeze blow in from the Öresund. The other noticeable thing is how important simply being outdoors is during the summer. Practically every apartment has a balcony. The balcony becomes the most important part of the dwelling, the sun is worshipped, bodies tanned, meals are eaten. If you have a house, it's practically a law here that you must possess a barbecue, something like this at the very least:
If you're really serious you have something monstrous lurking under a protective plastic sheeting growling for pre-marinated cuts of meat and korv.You'll also notice that everyone here has developed a deep bronzed tan. There's no sign of the British steamed lobster look here.
Right, the beach calls, where's my flip flops?
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Haunted by the Duke of Västergötland
Yesterday, after what feels like a media frenzy that has lasted an eternity, the Swedish royal wedding took place. The marriage was notable as the princess chose to marry her former personal trainer.
The Swedish tabloid press have been relentless the last couple of weeks and it's seemed that every time I've seen a front page I've been greeted with the same picture of the now Prince Daniel: hair slicked back, curiously weedy, and wearing a pair of glasses that would put Clark Kent to shame. In every picture he appears almost frozen, his mouth fixed in a thin smile, his eyes scream "what have I got myself into", and his wardrobe looks like the aristocracy are trying to assimilate him. After all, who else other than the upper class wear a blazer with jeans? Well, at least they weren't red.
So now the circus has finally finished, I hope that I will get a few days respite. I've found it strange that in a country so committed to equality that the wedding took place without that much critical debate in the press. Although the King graciously announced he would foot half the bill (mainly for the reception), the Swedish tax payer still stumped up for the rest. This meant in excess of 80 million kronor spent on renovating the cathedral, hosting the international media and security for the event. The Swedish monarchy were stripped of any meaningful power back in 1970, and now they seem to operate largely as cheerleaders or boosters for Sweden.
Royalists have suggested that the wedding is / was great PR for Sweden, and it would boost both tourism and interest in Swedish brands. This however was debunked pretty quickly, there was plenty of empty hotel rooms in Stockholm over the weekend. They're also trying to spin the difference in social status between the couple of as an example of how in touch the Swedish monarchy are with the common person. Republicans have pointed out that marrying outside of the aristocracy was the only way to bring in some new blood into the line as rumour has it, the male side of the family aren't the sharpest tools in the box.
I can't help but suggest this: If public money was used to finance some other schmuck from Ocklebo's wedding wouldn't this be a gross misuse of public money and probably punishable with a custodial sentence?
The Swedish tabloid press have been relentless the last couple of weeks and it's seemed that every time I've seen a front page I've been greeted with the same picture of the now Prince Daniel: hair slicked back, curiously weedy, and wearing a pair of glasses that would put Clark Kent to shame. In every picture he appears almost frozen, his mouth fixed in a thin smile, his eyes scream "what have I got myself into", and his wardrobe looks like the aristocracy are trying to assimilate him. After all, who else other than the upper class wear a blazer with jeans? Well, at least they weren't red.
So now the circus has finally finished, I hope that I will get a few days respite. I've found it strange that in a country so committed to equality that the wedding took place without that much critical debate in the press. Although the King graciously announced he would foot half the bill (mainly for the reception), the Swedish tax payer still stumped up for the rest. This meant in excess of 80 million kronor spent on renovating the cathedral, hosting the international media and security for the event. The Swedish monarchy were stripped of any meaningful power back in 1970, and now they seem to operate largely as cheerleaders or boosters for Sweden.
Royalists have suggested that the wedding is / was great PR for Sweden, and it would boost both tourism and interest in Swedish brands. This however was debunked pretty quickly, there was plenty of empty hotel rooms in Stockholm over the weekend. They're also trying to spin the difference in social status between the couple of as an example of how in touch the Swedish monarchy are with the common person. Republicans have pointed out that marrying outside of the aristocracy was the only way to bring in some new blood into the line as rumour has it, the male side of the family aren't the sharpest tools in the box.
I can't help but suggest this: If public money was used to finance some other schmuck from Ocklebo's wedding wouldn't this be a gross misuse of public money and probably punishable with a custodial sentence?
Monday, 14 June 2010
End of the SFI Road
I picked up my the result of my D course exam just before the weekend, and I've very happy to report that I passed. I scored VG's on everything except the written paper. I wasn't too surprised, as I knew that I had some weaknesses in my grammar. I'd loved to have scored a VG overall, but that was the price of taking the exam earlier than originally planned.
Reflecting on the five months that have passed since I started the C course in January, I've enjoyed most of the experience and learnt a hell of a lot. I think later in the week I'll try and formulate those into a more coherent summary of what I thought worked, didn't work and hopefully a bit of advice for anyone who's learning a language or wants to know about the course in general.
Passing the exam now means I'm back stuck at home most days, which is pretty dull. Other than trying to find employment (hopefully I'll now have a better chance now my CV lists I have passed SFI and now have some quantifiable ability to speak Swedish) and resharpen my programming skills, there won't be an awful lot to keep me occupied. Still, I'll also have plenty of time now to get my apartment sold in London. It also means I'm going to have to battle through to the dreaded Arbetsförmedlingen and see if they can give me any help to find a job.
Reflecting on the five months that have passed since I started the C course in January, I've enjoyed most of the experience and learnt a hell of a lot. I think later in the week I'll try and formulate those into a more coherent summary of what I thought worked, didn't work and hopefully a bit of advice for anyone who's learning a language or wants to know about the course in general.
Passing the exam now means I'm back stuck at home most days, which is pretty dull. Other than trying to find employment (hopefully I'll now have a better chance now my CV lists I have passed SFI and now have some quantifiable ability to speak Swedish) and resharpen my programming skills, there won't be an awful lot to keep me occupied. Still, I'll also have plenty of time now to get my apartment sold in London. It also means I'm going to have to battle through to the dreaded Arbetsförmedlingen and see if they can give me any help to find a job.
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