mefreeman

Hi there!!!

As the title of the thread shows, I have recently moved to Sweden.

I am living with my partner and her family and was told before I came here that there was a job waiting for me... This kind of turns out to be an exagerration on her behalf as the job is not starting until end of June at the earliest. So need some advice please!!!

I have a few questions that are beginning to frustrate me at the moment!!!

Firstly I have had loads of trouble obtaining in the required paperwork to live here so would appreciate any info on that side of things that anyone might have. I have been told that I need an employer to endorse the fact that I am living here and am able to support myself, but obviously cant have that until my job starts! I have looked at some threads on here regarding this but just seem to get confused by all the posts!!!

Secondly, I have heard that the swedish council operates some sort of swedish for beginners class through the colleges that is free... but upon enquiring about this, I am told that I need my swedish residency number... see first question.... Does anyone have any info on these classes...

Thirdly, although my Swedish is still really basic (which I completely understand is going to hinder work opportunities and I am trying to remedy that) I am desperately in need of work, not just from a financial aspect, but also out of complete boredom! Does anyone know of any employment agencies that deal with english speaking job seekers. All the ones that I have found online deal with IT specialists etc and that is not me! I am only looking for a job in a warehouse or doing some labouring that doesnt require language skills!!! I know there is only a very small chance of someone knowing something, but heres hoping!!!

Thanks for reading, I look forward to any comments and advice anyone can give.

Regards,


MF

Sue

Hi mefreeman,

Welcome to BE. I hope you enjoy being part of our community.

Sorry to read your start in Sweden hasn't been as anticipated, but I've moved your thread into our Scandinavia forum for you, and I'm sure some of our members will be along soon to give you some pointers.

The best of luck with it all.

mefreeman

Cheers Sue!!!

Beccarose

Welcome to BE and to Sweden!

Unfortunately you seem to be off to a rough start. Hopefully it clears up soon.
You don't mention where you are from but in all my years of research on the matter is it clear it is necessary to obtain all of the appropriate permits to live there before living there. They actually outright state that you must apply for residency before moving to Sweden.
But check out http://www.migrationsverket.se/ as it has all of the info you need on applying for your permits. (the site does offer an English option)
I do know some people who have applied for their permits after having moved to Sweden but it is not common and does not always work out well and they have all been married.
But you don't necessarily have to be married to apply for the permits, Sweden has great laws on 'partners' and you can apply for a partner permit. But you may be told to go back to your home country and apply from there- which I have seen happen before.

As for the SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) yes, you will need your residency permits before being able to start the language courses. No way around that one.

And as for a job, you will have to have obtained your residency before even applying for jobs. And getting an employer to provide residency options for general labor is almost unheard of. You will have to try to get the permit via the partner options.

I know it does not help you now, but for anyone wanting to move just about anywhere it is of course always best to try to figure out your plans and the necessary actions to fulfill those plans before doing them. Ie obtaining any residency permits before moving, making sure jobs are secure, finding out about language courses etc etc.

Best of luck to you, I hope it all works out.

Blackladder

Hi there,

An interesting quote for you:

'Wrong name, wrong appearance, wrong language. These three factors often result in a closed Swedish labour market. The key word is "Swedish": in other countries the situation is not the same...' Not my words, but a quote from the leader column in my local paper (my translation, but readers are welcome to check for themselves on leader article, Skånska Dagbladet, 26 February 2012).

You notice how the journalist skated cautiously around the words 'skin colour' and put in 'wrong appearance' instead, but it amounts to much the same thing. Now, discrimination on the grounds of race, creed, skin colour or sexual preference is just as illegal in Sweden as in the rest of the EU, and given the Swedish pathological desire to be best in the class, it's probably more illegal here than anywhere else (!), but racism is alive and well, thank you very much, in Sweden and is practiced covertly in both the public and private sectors. So unless you've already got a job or exchange study post already lined up before you get here, you might as well spend your air fair on going somewhere more pleasant.

Unemployment among immigrant females is as much 50%, among young immigrant males around 35% and even among Swedish youngsters the level is a staggering 20 to 25%. In that sort of competition an outsider doesn't stand a popcorn in hell's chance of getting a job.
Blackie

mefreeman

cheers beccarose, although rough start to begin with, I always look on the bright side!!! in this case, I am in a beautiful part of the world, the people are friendly and I have a job lined up in the near future so all good!!! Beats the dour miserable grey faces of London any day of the week!!! Got time to sort out my papers so all good!!!

Blackladder, I can understand what you mean, but in my experience its much the same anywhere apart from the uk where wrong name and wrong language is having an english surname and speaking english fluently!!! Seems that if in uk especially london, if you speak broken english you are qualified for any position... so if being here means that I have to fight for a job, I think I am ready for it as it is what im used to doing at home anyway!

Blackladder

Hi Mefreeman!

I congratulate you on your optimisim and go for it spirit and wish you every success in your job hunting! Pity I live 650 k away from Stockholm down in the deep south, or I would pass on any tips I get.
Anyway, good luck
Blackie

mefreeman

Hi Blackladder, whereabouts are you based in Sweden? Im not in Stockholm myself, down south too.

Blackladder

Hi
I'm in Österlen, the eastern part of Skåne close to the Baltic.

mefreeman

im in Broby. Whats it like in osterlen? is it a town or city? I like Broby, but where I am is right in the middle of nowhere!!!!!!!!!!
how far from Kristianstad is it?

Blackladder

Hi again,

Österlen is not a town or village, but a district of Skåne (probably less than a tenth of the total area) which runs from south of Kristianstad down along the Baltic coast to just north of Ystad. It's about 20 km wide and is very popular among both locals and Stockholmers (or 08s as we call them) and has some wonderful beaches and apple orchards. We are about 50 km south of Kristianstad.
Blackie

Catchafire

Hiya, I was just cruising and I saw this thread.

I lived in Eskilstuna for a couple of years and trying to get a "proper" job was impossible, basically due to language barriers.

So I went from high flying IT account manager to pot washer in a dodgy restaurant run by the Yugoslav mafia. I worked for cash for 18months in a variety of jobs, mostly in the restaurant trade, eventually working as a cook in a "good" restaurant.

It was good fun and unless you have swallowed a Swedish dictionary, probably one of the few avenues of work open to you. I also very quickly picked up Swedish by doing this, made my own set of friends and at times made more money than my social worker girlfriend (much to her annoyance).

Lycka till!

Paracletus

http://www.migrationsverket.se/info/148.html

As an EU/EEC citizen, you may work without any permits for up to 3 months (any type of job), in which within this period you must register with the Migrationsverket. I'm guessing this is what qualifies you to register for the number you need. Going through a similar process with my g/f in Norway (who is not an EU nation and she needs to leave every 6 months until she gets a job and that lovely NI number) who is also british but didn't have a job when she came over with me.



Language is of course a barrier..just as speaking English is a requirement to work in the UK. Pro tip: Spend some time just observing the natives and how they form their sounds. Helps me significantly.

edp

hi mefreeman,

how did you get on? i am in sweden too. I have been having a nightmare.

Sweden seems to be ruled by skatteverket. They won't give out personal numbers to EU citizens unless you fulfill relatively difficult criteria, only it will take you a long time running from office to office getting different stories. I eventually contacted the legal department of the European Union to see what my rights actually were. They wrote me back saying that sweden is very problematic for EU citizens because of the personal number issue. Its hard to get one and you can do very little without one. There is also a very strong policy of enforcing Swedish language skills - The EU states that you are not allowed to enforce language qualifications on jobs that don't require them. The Swedish system has invented the wonderful SFI which is more of a rights of passage as most will tell you that the actual course is not highly effective. You also can't do it without a personal number. I was offered a job in IT in stockholm a couple of years ago because of my specific skills and language wasn't important to them. I believe its a relatively benign way of keeping Sweden as Swedish as possible - serve your time, learn the language and then you may be considered.

I don't wish to come off as bitter, I have found work here and there here and the people on an individual level are nice but the system is not quite right. Its very exclusive of foreigners.

There is also, what i perceive to a problem, a huge issue of cronyism and 'gravy train-ism'. I get around quite a bit between various organizations who in one way or another get money from state or EU and I have never quite seen such a level of pointless employment. People look for cushy jobs with as little responsibility as possible and tick the fewest number of boxes necessary. Anything beyond that is very much too much like hard work.

Blackladder

Hi Edp,
Just wondering how you're getting on! We have been down in SW France for the last 3 weeks and have only a week left before heading off back north - gives me the shivers just to think of having to drive nearly 2,000 k just to get back there! But it may just be the last northbound trip we make - if we can get a couple to sign on the dotted line and pay a zillion crowns in tax, we may just be about to make the Great Escape!
Take care
Blackie
ps what part of SW France did you live in?