Job Searching Very Frustrated!

The economy is becoming more difficult these days. It maybe good to discuss and call those that I have not taken your CV, saying you are ready to work for maybe a little less than your qualification would allow. The problem you have happens to many here that are overqualified and have difficulties finding a job.

Hello NordicLlyr,

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, it really sucks, since the Bergen is in permanent need for some decent chefs!

Big part of the problem is (in my opinion) that Norway has an underdeveloped food and restaurant culture. It is expensive to eat out and most decent restaurants struggle to appeal to enough customers (hence the pølse and burgers on every menu).
You are indeed overqualified and employers might be afraid that you are too expensive and your influence too strong.
It is a trust issue towards foreigners:  As long as you stay low, things work fine, but suspicion creeps in, once you climb the ladder. 

The best way to get a job is via a friend or acquaintance. (I got my job with the help of my partners colleague's friend, - quite a few corners, but it worked). Can you contact your previous Norwegian employer / colleagues and ask them for help?  Do you have a truly special skill you could bring into a restaurant here? Sometimes all it needs is a different angle in which you sell yourself.
As AuNordDuMonde said, contact them and present yourself in person or on the phone. Norwegians appreciate the personal approach.

In any case: good luck!

That's the way it is here unfortunately. To be perfectly honest the fact you even got a temporary job is amazing.
Consider yourself lucky you're not up here in Trondheim as it's even worse trying to get a job here.

You face several different problems. Firstly, unless you have a Norwegian fagbrev (trade certificate) any other qualifications you may have will fade to insignificance. As someone above said, most (but not all) Norwegians are somewhat suspicious  / skeptical about foreigners and the same applies to qualifications / certificates / experience when it comes to the job market.  Sure, you can have a bucket load of Norsk friends, and all is dandy but when it comes time to get a job other than cleaning / shelf-stacking without a Norwegian certificate of competence (fagbrev) then it's talk to the hand time I'm afraid (usually manifests as silence or a "I'm sorry but... " letter)

Secondly, in England we know you can send your job application / CV by email as that is the most commonly used and accepted method, and it is <slowly> starting to take hold here through portals like jobbnorge etc but for the most part, especially as a foreigner you have to go and visit potential employers, have a chat and let them see you, that you too have 2 arms and legs and are not too loud and proud and most of all to convince them face-to-face that you are ready and willing to work hard and contribute something good to their business.

Thirdly, and I'm sure you don't need to hear it again - snakk Norsk! :-) there is no getting around it. I know it seems absurd because everyone except very old people can speak and understand English but unfortunately you have to make yourself forget that and pretend they don't. I know why that is but I'm not going into that here, it's just something we have to accept, swallow and get on with it and on the plus side once you've learned it (it's not that hard once you get stuck in) you will be able to integrate a lot better because although Norwegians learn English from day 1 in School and have a lifetime of it on TV only a small percentage are confident about using it all the time and we gotta accept that even though they understand our language, they have their own which they've grown up with and can properly express themselves with.

This is the basics of reality here, even if you're from just across the water

#reality101

Hi NordicLlyr,

Very sorry to hear about your situation. It certainly is not an enviable position to be in.

I really find the "over-qualified" excuses that you've gotten to be rather lame at best!!! Just out of curiosity how old are you? Is there any chance you're being subjected to some form of age discrimination, hidden behind the thin veil of your high qualifications? What about your language skills, are they up to snuff? Perhaps just because you're an expat?

I think that people in a position to hire others will often take the "path of least resistance" and give some feable excuse for not hiring someone (or outrightly lie) when the real reason for not doing so is based on some subtle form of discrimination.

Just a thought.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team