The Alumni Network Blog

Interested in learning more about finding work in Sweden?
Every semester we take the opportunity to invite alumni, who once were international students and who now are working in Sweden, to share their experiences with current international students at Lund University.

This event has become a very popular ingredient in our career event programme. At the beginning of this autumn semester, we had the pleasure of meeting with a brand-new alumni panel:
– Fiora Gårdemyr, who has two master’s degrees from Lund University in European Studies and Managing People, Knowledge and Change, and today works as a Driving the Shift Manager at Scania Group in Stockholm.
– Bojana Atanasova, who graduated with MSc in Public Health and works as a Development manager of Public Health at Borås Stad
– David Green, who has graduated with MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and works as Continuous Improvement Manager at Ball Corporation in Malmö.

We asked our new colleague Katja Woxell to gather the best advice from the panel discussion.
Click here if you would like to see the recorded version of the webinar (available until 14 November)

And here they are, 9 pieces of advice to optimise your job search in Sweden:

Get to know yourself
What kind of tasks would you be happy working with? Which companies would you like to work for? And what do you not want to work with?

Keep your CV short and sweet
Do not have more than two pages in your CV and make sure to include the most relevant references, even from your home country.

Check the career sites of the companies you want to work for
A lot of the jobs are not published on recruitment sites. Always check out available vacancies on the website of the company you want to work for.

Highlight your unique skills
When you go through job ads, look for something that can give you an advantage over others, for instance, skills in some rare language which the company might specifically be looking for.

Learn Swedish
When you intend to work on the Swedish labour market, learning the Swedish language is essential, even if you work in an international company. Swedish language skills help you understand the Swedish culture and how things work here.

Be prepared to work hard
It might take a great number of applications before you land your first interview. You should never give up though because your chance is always just around the corner.

Do your research
When you get called to the interview, research everything about the company and the person you are going to meet.

Prepare for an extensive interview process
Be prepared for at least two interviews. One can occur digitally and the other face-to-face, depending on the company. Expect more competence-related questions at the digital interview while at the face-to-face interview they may have more specific questions such as how you would solve certain problems.

Find out if your potential employer shares your values
Be yourself and stay true to your values. Find out whether the company you like shares values like yours. Find out what kind of manager you would have if you got the position? Is it a manager that will help you grow?

Text: Katja Woxell

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay