Thinking of moving to Stockholm but very little Swedish!

Hello Jo.

Welcome to Expat.com!

What are your skills?
In which sector will you be looking for work?

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hey!
I'm in the same position as Jo.
I'm a personal assistant back home. I won't leave my country until I get a job there in Stockholm... But maybe it would be easier to find it if I move first... Well as you see, I'm a bit lost with logistics ^^

Thanks for helping guys !

im in the same boat as yourself.im currently in england with a swedish girlfriend living near varberg,my last stay i spent 5 weeks in sweden,then i had to return because i could not find work,there are english speaking skilled jobs,but the key is to learn swedish,its a myth when people say all swedish people speak english,but stockholm is the best place for an english speaker to move to and find work,its a wonderful city with many different nationalitys,there should be plenty of hotel,bar and restaurant work to get your foot on the ladder and settle in.then i would look at enrolling in a part time government swedish course,swedish employers dont like gaps in your cv so try and gain as much experience as you can,and remember you will gain more respect by trying to speak swedish than not,all the swedish people i have met have been so kind and helpful,i wish you good luck in your journey

Hi,
Unfortunately, speaking Swedish is key in looking for a decent job. Waitressing in some of the British pubs can be an option but otherwise you may try teaching English. There is something called hemspråksundervisning - (Native language course) that is offered through the school system for kids who speak a foreign language  at home. My kids' teacher is terrible and not a native English speaker so I think there may be a need there.

This is through the school system. I think there may be more information about it on stockholmstad.se

(Or other city if you are not planning to move to Stockholm)

Good Luck!

Just concentrate on your degree , that is most important for you.

Then afterwards you can move to Sweden to live with your fiancee, don't worry whether you will find work there or not, it is more important for both of you to live in the same country.

If you live in Sweden you can learn Swedish and then once you have learned it you can always search for a job if you would like to and then it will be a lot easier for you.

jomalone wrote:

Hi all,

I am currently studying literature in England and I am thinking of moving to Stockholm to be with my fiancé, who is not in a position to move here.

I would like to be able to contribute financially after I move and I'd really like to be able to work in a (tolerable) job. The issue is that, realistically, my Swedish will be nowhere near fluent before the move.I know that the Swedes are notoriously good at speaking English, but I would like a sense of how realistic it is for English speakers to work in Sweden, at least until I have a better grasp of the language.

I'd really appreciate any help, advice or experience anyone has to offer. Successfully making this move means a great deal to me.

Thankyou,

Jo

I am new to this site and have been thinking of moving to Stockholm for a while now, I speak moderate Swedish and would appreciate any information I could get.  thanks Kelly

Hello Kellyg and welcome to Expat.com

What kind of information are you looking for?

Thanks

Karen

iam wondering if I need a visa and a work permit, as I already live in the EU and how I can go about getting some work and affordable housing, and generally what life is is like for expats in Sweden.

Hi Kellyg,

Congratulations on your decision to move to Sweden. I made the move 3 years ago but have had an association with Sweden dating back to the late 1980s when you were a wee lassie.

In answer to your question you are quite correct in that as an EU citizen no VISA requirements are necessary for the move to Sweden. The road map of requirements can be found at:

http://www.migrationsverket.se

And like most Swedish Government Agency Webpages translation to English is available.

Essentially you are good for 6 months to visit Sweden in one go so to speak. Thereafter you must be be able to demonstrate that you have a place to live and funding to sustain your life here. On demonstrating those requirements you will be issued a "Personal Number" which is your date of birth followed  by 4 random digits. Its basically the Swedish version of your National Insurance Number back in the UK. Once you have your Personal Number in Sweden then you are in the Swedish System and life in practical terms becomes a lot easier. Sounds complex but is not really.

When you receive your personal number you can register with the employment agency:

http://www.arbetsformedlingen.se/

All vacant jobs in Sweden must be published in arbetsförmedlingen first.

So theres a couple of pointers .........log in and browse away.

For me personally I made the decision to distance myself completely from Ex Pats in Sweden (no Brit Pubs etc) as I wanted to totally immerse myself in Swedish life and culture and more importantly to try and get a good handle on the language. Language is vitally important in Sweden......even though English is the second language of the Swedes who love to speak English on any occasion I cannot stress enough how important it is to be proficient in Swedish so you can fulfill your potential in the job market.

You already know the culture is rich and friendly so I wont go there but know before you make the plunge that there are some significant cultural differences between Swedes and Brits ......but thats for another time.

So for now:

Lycka till och har det bra!!

Stewart

Hej Trevligt att träffas Stewart, thank you for the reply, I would like to ask how you found life when you moved over did you find it difficult or relatively easy ?. I had a friend who was on a GAP year from university staying in Sweden she was in the hospitality trade and done her gap year at the rival hotel in Stockholm, she told me that she loved it there and life was better than in the uk. did you find this was the case? I would be glad to hear from you again

Tack så mycket

Kelly

Hi!
Are you in Stockholm nowdays?
Oliver

You can learn Swedish with the SFI (Swedish For Immigrants) programme which is free (just need a personnummer). Pretty sure they are all over Sweden. http://www.stockholm.se/ForskolaSkola/S … migrants-/

David is right, do not think that all Swedes speak english and it will be a pain to expect that as things like applications, messages, signs...all of that will be in Swedish.

You can start learning from home by listening to music, watching SVT Play (http://www.svtplay.se - most programs free - watch the kids ones), reading books like Alfons (https://www.google.se/#q=alfons%20åberg). That should be a good start.

I was lucky enough to keep my UK job and work from home but see what you can find. Set up some email notifications from indeed (se.indeed.com) and get job notifications for your skills.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions and just send me an email. sthlm.daniel-reed.eu/contact

All the best!

...or send me an email hello [at] daniel-reed.eu