Born and raised Swede

Angiebop wrote:

Hi Bergelin

I was wondering if you could help me with some advice.  I live in Scotland. I have been to Sweden many times (I was in Stockholm last week!) and I was thinking about moving there.
As I am from an EU country, I would be allowed to come to Sweden and look for jobs.
Do you know if it would be possible for someone who does not speak Swedish, only English, to come to Stockholm and get a job.
I was thinking about a job in a shop in Gamla Stan or maybe a bar or a hotel. What do you think?  Would I have a chance or would speaking Swedish be essential?
I would like to learn Swedish but that would take some time.
Any help you can give me would be great.
thanks

Angie

Hi Angie!

I'm afraid there aren't a lot of job openings for people who don't speak Swedish. Working in a shop in a touristy area such as Gamla Stan might work, but I still suspect a basic knowledge of the Swedish language would be necessary (greetings, counting and the like).
I'm pretty sure that hotels require fluent Swedish.

With that said, Sweden is a very immigration friendly country. Every year we accept 100k immigrants, most of them from Arabic countries. So if you are serious about moving here, I would suggest talking to the appropriate authorities. I believe they offer Swedish lessons for free to people moving here, and gives them support while they do it.

With a basic understanding of Swedish, I think some parts of the service industry would be open to you. Like bars, restaurants and shops.

I hope that I've been to some help for you. If you decide to come here, give me a shout if you want to share a glass of whisky some day.

Regards,

Bergelin