Aussie girl needing URGENT advice on housing and jobs here in Goteborg

Have you tried finding work as a nurse as I know that there is a demand for that?

Hi Suzette,

Thank you kindly for replying to me.

Yes, I have tried looking for work as a Nurse. However, for me to work as a nurse here I must learn Swedish then undertake a test , which can take some time.

Furthermore, ,my situation before I came to Sweden was to actually change career so eventually i will study again.

However, right now i just need a job in a restaurant, hotel etc to help my partner with rent , bills and be able to study Swedish.

I am just not sure what else I can do other then hand resumes out and apply for jobs online.

I really appreciate your feedback.

Are you from Sweden?

No, I am here with my family and originally from South Africa.  Husband works for Volvo and teenage children in an english school.  I have experienced the same frustration that you are going through at the moment and know that without knowing how to speak and write in swedish is a door closer.  I have been through the SFI course and have recently started SAS but it is unfortunately a long and slow road.  Unfortunately, I don't have any advice on where or how you could hunt for a job but I know another young Australian girl that also moved out here for love that found work just being in the right place at the right time, so hang in there!

Thank you very much for your kind words.  Ive found my soul mate so I will definitely hang in there and keep trying. It really helps to speak to others and hear their stories. I thank you again for writing.

Id love to go to South Africa some day.  Where about's in South Africa are you from? Have you always wanted to live in Sweden? Also how long was the SFI coarse and did you find it easy or hard to grasp?

I wish you all best

Hey elysha, good luck gal, deffiantly ain't easy job hunting in Sverige. Biggest problem is languege barrier. Best thing u can do is get straight into sfi course or if u can afford it payed courses at folkuniversetet are much better. If u can get yourself inrolled in sfi for academics and can handle the pace u can complete sfi in 3 months. But beware u will still have a long way to go in terms of being fluent in the languege. But u gotta start somewhere and if u and your man are serious he will understand its a long road to a happy and comfortable life in sweden. Lycka till

Thanks for the depressing speech! I am guessing you've had a shit experience

Hey Elysha,

I hardly ever respond to the comments posted now, but I did more frequently when I lived in Goteborg for a year 2011-12. I totally relate to what you are experiencing, it was the exact experience I had there as well.

I am from (and now live in) Vancouver, Canada. I moved to Sweden with my Swedish boyfriend (still together) with this grand idea in my head that I would work hard, find a great job, learn Swedish... all would be well, just as the Swedes had promised. They said "everyone speaks English, you'll get a good job no problem." Well, turns out it's incredibly difficult to a) job hunt in Sweden, and b) Swedish is very much a requirement.

Before this gets too depressing, I will say that we have only moved back to Canada temporarily, with the plan of moving back to Sweden in a few years once I have more schooling (Master of Architecture). However, instead of Goteborg, which didn't serve us too well, we are looking at Stockholm as most international companies in Sweden have their offices in Stockholm, meaning perhaps most English-speaking jobs.

A couple things I did wrong when I was there, that I have since learned from:
1. I didn't stick to my SFI course - I hated it. I am a person who loved school, so that's saying a lot. I couldn't stand the 30+ students all at different learning levels with little to no attention from the teacher, and the classes were so boring. I wasn't stimulated at all. Anyways, I wish I had stuck it out, or found a way to continue with my courses like more seriously looking into the folkuniversitet courses. They are costly, but I think a much better experience.
2. I didn't seriously enough consider my approach to job hunting. I went about it the way I have had success in Canada, instead of really getting to understand the system in Sweden, such as no dropping in without appointments.
3. You don't get anywhere in Sweden without knowing someone who knows someone, especially with apartments and jobs, and all kinds of opportunities. One thing I did that I didn't stick around long enough to reap the rewards was work with the government operated work placement offices. In Goteborg there is an office downtown that I went to a few times. They weren't very helpful right off the bat, but probably had I been more explicit with requiring more hands-on help, it couldn't yielded something positive. My one complaint with them was their tactic of sending you away telling you to go job search and report your findings back.
I would suggest asking everyone you know quite seriously to inquire about internships, temporary or part-time work, anything to make connections that will yield an interesting, more solid opportunity later on.
4. Swedes take ages to really become close to you, but once you are close they are life-long loyal friends. To this I can attest.
5. Swedish is a really hard language to learn. I'm taking courses again in Swedish back in Vancouver now, and ahhh!

Can your partner's parents or siblings/cousins/friends help with your work situation by taking you on temporarily or super part-time? I was able to work with my partner's mother at her school 'teaching' English to young teenagers (who teaches English when they can't speak Swedish??), which was an amazing opportunity, although the commute to the school ate up half of my pay.

This wasn't the most helpful reply, nor the shortest. I'll consider you when speaking to my Swedish friends in Goteborg.

Wish you all the best there, hope you stick it out longer than I did!

Monika

Hey Elysha, I am in the same situation as you, planning on moving to Gothenburg in February to be with my boyfriend. I lived with him for five weeks over summer to test the life out there an found getting a job speaking almost no Swedish was very difficult. I am learning Swedish now and hoping to make a better go of getting a job out there next year. How have you found it since?

Hi Sam,

It was so great to receive a message from you. Sweden is beautiful and like every where there are pros and cons about a place. I wont lie it is difficult.  I still havent got a job but then i havent been trying much in the last couple of months as I ve been going to school to learn Swedish.  My fiance has been supporting me but its even been hard for him to get a job and this is his home.
If you want you can email be elysha_l@hotmail.com and we can chat some more

Thanks Elysha, you're positive ness is really great to hear. I emailed you there yesterday anyway. :-)

Sam.Eire wrote:

Hey Elysha, I am in the same situation as you, planning on moving to Gothenburg in February to be with my boyfriend. I lived with him for five weeks over summer to test the life out there an found getting a job speaking almost no Swedish was very difficult. I am learning Swedish now and hoping to make a better go of getting a job out there next year. How have you found it since?

Most of my replies will sound pretty jaded, but your best bet is to get into SFI straight away and start learning Swedish. The language is very important in finding a job here.

When I came, I was told that my multitudes of work experience would definitely get me a job because "everyone speaks English anyway so it shouldn't be a problem". Boy was that ever wrong. The problem was, was that my Swede had never been through this process, thereby having no idea what it was actually like. Everyone does speak English, thereby making it nothing special, and even harder to find work if you don't speak fluent Swedish as well. If you've got any other languages under your belt, they will also be helpful.

In any case, it is important to keep trucking along, even though at some points it may feel dire. Keep your head in the game, don't quit SFI/SAS, and you'll be good to go in no time.

Lol. Guess my depressing speech aint so depressing now, just a reality :-)

You're completely right though, it is the reality of it. Nowadays I don't often respond anymore to newcomers who say they're looking for jobs and can only speak English, although of course it never hurts for them to try right? The unfortunate reality is that SFI and SAS are a bore and a mishmash of students at different learning levels and speeds and somehow we gotta drag our asses there every day and get on with it :p just keep trucking through is all we can do ^^