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Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Old Sep 10th 2004, 12:13 pm
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Exclamation Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

hej, i have been trying to find a way that i can move to sweden (stockholm) for the past 4 months now! and i am not really succeding! one of the main problems in that i cant speak much swedish at all! has any1 got any suggestions on what i could do! the main thing i need to find is a job! any ideas?!
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Old Sep 12th 2004, 10:54 am
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by GuitarDragon13
hej, i have been trying to find a way that i can move to sweden (stockholm) for the past 4 months now! and i am not really succeding! one of the main problems in that i cant speak much swedish at all! has any1 got any suggestions on what i could do! the main thing i need to find is a job! any ideas?!
Hi. I have been living in Sweden for the past year now (actually from the UK). To be honest, you need to speak swedish to get work here. I have a masters in swedish and I still havent managed to get anything half decent after all this time. However, if you are looking to go to Stockholm then your chances are better than mine (in a small ish town). What country are you from? The only thing I can thing of right now for a none swedish speaker is trying to get employment with a company from your own country that has offices in Stockholm. Or if you speak some obscure language you might get work with some major international company... but... I would say your best bet is learn the language.
If you have any other questions just ask and I ll see if I can help =)
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Old Sep 12th 2004, 10:54 am
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Oh, why Sweden, by the way?
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Old Sep 12th 2004, 12:08 pm
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Thumbs up Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

well because i went on holoday there a while back, an i really think that stockholm is an amazing place, and then wen i went back, i met my current girlfriend , who is even more amazing! and so i wanted to move to be closer to her (long distance relationships are REALLY hard ) and coz i really like stockholm!
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Old Sep 12th 2004, 12:16 pm
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Originally Posted by Ophelia
Hi. I have been living in Sweden for the past year now (actually from the UK). To be honest, you need to speak swedish to get work here. I have a masters in swedish and I still havent managed to get anything half decent after all this time. However, if you are looking to go to Stockholm then your chances are better than mine (in a small ish town). What country are you from? The only thing I can thing of right now for a none swedish speaker is trying to get employment with a company from your own country that has offices in Stockholm. Or if you speak some obscure language you might get work with some major international company... but... I would say your best bet is learn the language.
If you have any other questions just ask and I ll see if I can help =)
OK, thanx! Im from england! but i have looked into language courses in england, and the seem to be few an far between(or at least non near me)! and i was told that the best way to learn a language was to go to the country and use it every day! (and im also intending to take a language course when i get out there) and so i originally tried to become an au pair (with a language school, and various au pair agencies) but that hasnt really worked, because i happen to be male !!
But yes i think that looking into UK companies that have offices in stockholm is a gd idea. thanx! i dnt spose ud happen to know of any would you?! lol!
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Old Sep 14th 2004, 10:20 am
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by GuitarDragon13
OK, thanx! Im from england! but i have looked into language courses in england, and the seem to be few an far between(or at least non near me)! and i was told that the best way to learn a language was to go to the country and use it every day! (and im also intending to take a language course when i get out there) and so i originally tried to become an au pair (with a language school, and various au pair agencies) but that hasnt really worked, because i happen to be male !!
But yes i think that looking into UK companies that have offices in stockholm is a gd idea. thanx! i dnt spose ud happen to know of any would you?! lol!
Hello again.
Its terrible to hear that you cant be an au pair because you're male. That's discrimination, I thought it wasn't allowed these days... or perhaps only when it's convenient.
Well, language courses in the UK, as far as I know there are only 2 places you can really do swedish now - Edinburgh and London. Not exactely helpful. And the best way, like you say, is to be in the country. You will pick it up so much faster that way. And there are lots of evening class organisations that offer swedish as a foreign language courses so you would easily be able to get lessons (would be v. useful especially in the beginning.)
As for british companies in sweden... I dont know. I havent looked into it too much as I am v. limited. I am living in a small ish place which limits my choice and I cant move from here as the whole point in moving here was to be closer to my boyfriend... I can sympathsis with the long distance thing, its not fun. Although having said that, there is a big swedish-brittish drugs company.... Zantac? It begins with a Z. It was on the news recently because the US said they werent going to use some drug they had produced. Maybe if you asked at the local job centre they could advise you on how to find out... or better still, get in touch with the british embassy in Stockholm. There are jobs in Stockholm for people who arent fluent in swedish. I remember one girl I knew working at a place there (mobile phones?) where the language in the officce was english even though most of them were swedes.
Hmmm. Get in touch with the british embassy. And then move! I guess the best way to get work is to be in the country. People will take you a lot more seriously and then you can get on with learning the lingo. Of course, then the question is finance, and either you need savings to keep you going or would your girlfriend support you?
I shall return if I have any sudden brain waves! Good luck.
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Old Sep 14th 2004, 12:31 pm
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Zantac is a drug, not a company. It is made by GlaxoSmithKleine.

I do not live in Sweden, I live in Denmark, just over the water, and I know Sweden reasonably. Swedish is not essential if you work in professional areas. I didn't speak a word of Danish when I arrived, (well, maybe a dozen words my Danish girlfriend had taught me), but found a software developers job in a Danish software house within a few weeks of looking. The working language in the house was English. There were various foreigners working there. Majority of customers were foreign, English is the defacto business language. We had a daughter company in Sweden which operated in exactly the same way, and many of our sub-contractors in Sweden also deal almost exclusively in English.

I speak pretty fluent Danish now, but then I arrived here March '98.

Last edited by in2deep; Sep 14th 2004 at 12:34 pm.
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Old Sep 19th 2004, 3:05 pm
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Could you try to get a job at one of the various International schools around Stockholm? I went to one in Nacka, and they are always looking for English language assistants.

Good luck!

-Becs
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Old Sep 24th 2004, 4:36 pm
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by GuitarDragon13
hej, i have been trying to find a way that i can move to sweden (stockholm) for the past 4 months now! and i am not really succeding! one of the main problems in that i cant speak much swedish at all! has any1 got any suggestions on what i could do! the main thing i need to find is a job! any ideas?!
You should check out the local SFI (svenska för invandrare - Swedish for immigrants/foreigners) course, though these tend to be quite basic. Or, if you've been to university, SFA (svenska för akademiker - Swedish for academics).

Don't worry too much with the Swedish - it isn't too hard to learn - I studied three terms at university and am now studying psychology with regular Swedish students. What are your plans regarding staying? If it's gonna be more permanent, consider checking out the further education system - which is free (!) - not only will it help with getting a job afterwards, but it's also a great way to get know Sedes and the Swedish culture.
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Old Nov 23rd 2004, 3:30 pm
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by Loke
You should check out the local SFI (svenska för invandrare - Swedish for immigrants/foreigners) course, though these tend to be quite basic. Or, if you've been to university, SFA (svenska för akademiker - Swedish for academics).

Don't worry too much with the Swedish - it isn't too hard to learn - I studied three terms at university and am now studying psychology with regular Swedish students. What are your plans regarding staying? If it's gonna be more permanent, consider checking out the further education system - which is free (!) - not only will it help with getting a job afterwards, but it's also a great way to get know Sedes and the Swedish culture.
Well i am trying to find the cheapest way to stay there, and for as long as possible! i am trying to look at options with renting, but this means that i will need a job that will be ablet to bay the rent and bills! do u know of any websites about the further educaton system that are in english?
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Old Nov 23rd 2004, 3:51 pm
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by GuitarDragon13
Well i am trying to find the cheapest way to stay there, and for as long as possible! i am trying to look at options with renting, but this means that i will need a job that will be ablet to bay the rent and bills! do u know of any websites about the further educaton system that are in english?
in regards to renting, put an ad in the local paper to look for a room to rent, ie. inneboende - lodger. You should get something reasonably cheap that way. It's not ideal of course but its a good way to get started till you get on your feet. I did that when I came over here and got several replies. People do also advertise in papers for lodgers, but that's not so easy to find out about when you're not in the country.

Studying over here... er, the only place I can think of is the unemployment website. I am sure they will have info there. It's at www.amv.se and on the left hand side there's a list of flags if you want it in a language other than swedish.

Lycka till!
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Old Nov 23rd 2004, 7:06 pm
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by GuitarDragon13
Well i am trying to find the cheapest way to stay there, and for as long as possible! i am trying to look at options with renting, but this means that i will need a job that will be ablet to bay the rent and bills! do u know of any websites about the further educaton system that are in english?
If you are planning to stay in Stockholm, I can assure you that you are NOT going to find a cheap apartment, or even a room for that matter, there. Stockholm is not exactly a renters' market. There are virtually no first-hand contracts avaliable, and if you are lucky to find a second (or third) hand contract, you are likely to pay at least 6000SEK (~850USD) for a tiny studio apartment somewhere in the outskirts of the city. Your best shot would be to try to avoid Stockholm altogether and aim for a smaller town, for example Knivsta (located between Uppsala and Stockholm - it only takes about 30min. to get from Knivsta to Stockholm by train). It might be a good idea to stay near Stockholm though, because you are probably most likely to find a job there (or possibly Gothenburg or Malmö, even though the apartment situation is just as difficult in all of the bigger cities in Sweden as it is in Stockholm).

In general, finding a job in Sweden right now is pretty tough, even for people like me, who are fluent in Sweden and who got both their highschool and university education in Sweden. It depends of course what your 'area of expertise' is. If you are a teacher, for example, there are plenty of jobs to choose from, for many others, it's pretty tough. I suppose the website recommended to you in a previous relpy - www.amv.se - has information about the disciplines where it is easiest to find a job, also in english. It might also be helpful to pay a visit to the employment office (called arbetsförmedlingen) in Sweden. My experience with them is not overly positive, but it's worth a try.

About higher education in Sweden - check out the different universities' web sites. The majority of them have english version avaliable if you click on a small british flag, or the like, usually on the top right corner of the page. Universities that I would recommend (that I've personally attended are Uppsala University www.uu.se - the oldest and best in Sweden; and Linköping University www.liu.se it is located about 250km south-west from Stockholm and although it is a rather new university it has very dedicated and friendly professors and awsome academic atmosphere.

I hope you find som of this information helpful.
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Old Nov 24th 2004, 11:15 am
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Default Re: Help! im havin difficulty moving to sweden!

Originally Posted by Rootless
If you are planning to stay in Stockholm, I can assure you that you are NOT going to find a cheap apartment, or even a room for that matter, there. Stockholm is not exactly a renters' market. There are virtually no first-hand contracts avaliable, and if you are lucky to find a second (or third) hand contract, you are likely to pay at least 6000SEK (~850USD) for a tiny studio apartment somewhere in the outskirts of the city. Your best shot would be to try to avoid Stockholm altogether and aim for a smaller town, for example Knivsta (located between Uppsala and Stockholm - it only takes about 30min. to get from Knivsta to Stockholm by train). It might be a good idea to stay near Stockholm though, because you are probably most likely to find a job there (or possibly Gothenburg or Malmö, even though the apartment situation is just as difficult in all of the bigger cities in Sweden as it is in Stockholm).

In general, finding a job in Sweden right now is pretty tough, even for people like me, who are fluent in Sweden and who got both their highschool and university education in Sweden. It depends of course what your 'area of expertise' is. If you are a teacher, for example, there are plenty of jobs to choose from, for many others, it's pretty tough. I suppose the website recommended to you in a previous relpy - www.amv.se - has information about the disciplines where it is easiest to find a job, also in english. It might also be helpful to pay a visit to the employment office (called arbetsförmedlingen) in Sweden. My experience with them is not overly positive, but it's worth a try.

About higher education in Sweden - check out the different universities' web sites. The majority of them have english version avaliable if you click on a small british flag, or the like, usually on the top right corner of the page. Universities that I would recommend (that I've personally attended are Uppsala University www.uu.se - the oldest and best in Sweden; and Linköping University www.liu.se it is located about 250km south-west from Stockholm and although it is a rather new university it has very dedicated and friendly professors and awsome academic atmosphere.

I hope you find som of this information helpful.
Yes, this pretty much sums up the situation better than I managed. And I can recommend Linköping too - I have studied there. Getting work is v. hard, especially if you're not qualified in one of the areas in demand. However, if you really want to stay and are prepared to do anything - cleaning, newspaper delivery etc you will eventually get something, especially if you stick to the big places.
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