Employers and students give advice on getting a job in Sweden during the part-time work fair.
On Tuesday morning, the University organized a career fair for students looking for a job next to their studies. Knowing from experience that finding a job as an international student in Sweden can be a challenge, Lundagard.net checked which companies are open to hiring an international student without knowledge of Swedish and asked Swedish students for tips on finding work.
The not-so-original answer? Learn Swedish.
Anna Sjögren, Bravura
“We are a recruitment office and we provide students with jobs in different fields, for example Human Resources, technical jobs and programming. International students can absolutely sign up with us and we will try to find something for them, but we cannot promise anything. We depend on our customers and they often require Swedish.
But in the past, we have had programming jobs for which only English was fine. My advice to international students? Learn Swedish, even if it’s only a little bit. And show that you’re learning. If you call a company, try to do the introductory sentences in Swedish and only switch then to English. Your efforts will be appreciated.”
Carl Vinay, law student
“Currently I have a small job as an assistant for people with special needs, via Lund’s municipality. If someone with a handicap needs help to get to a restaurant, I will accompany him. This is a very good job, I get to meet all sorts of people. And the work might be open for students with only a little knowledge of Swedish, plus an ‘exotic language’. Quite some people have a non-Swedish background, so I think that speakers of Arabic would be wanted.”
Aline Baullah, VentureLab
“Our organization helps students with setting up their own company in Sweden; we can for example provide a small office or help with paper-work. This might be a very good option for international students that cannot find a regular job. I’m from France myself and it has been hard for me to find work when I didn’t speak Swedish yet. I would definitely advise students to get involved in some organization, for example by doing volunteer work. In that way, you’ll build up a network and then you might get a ‘real’ job easily later on.”
Jonathan Åkesson & Victor Pihl, students
Victor: “I have worked as a football referee and as a phone salesman before. The latter was no fun at all.” Jonathan: “I have not really had any jobs yet, but I have earned some money by performing, as I study violin at the Conservatory. We are now both looking for a new job here.”
Any advice for international students?
Victor: “Be persistent. If you see a job that you want, do not only sign up via a website, but pass by in person or phone the company. This will increase your chances.”
Elin Thomasdotter, StudentConsulting
“We are a consultant agency. In the past, we have had projects with international companies, for which we needed students with proficiency in a foreign language, among others Dutch, German, Finnish and Danish. Obviously, I cannot promise anything – not even to Swedish students – but students can always register on our website and upload their CV. To international students I would say: keep trying! It is harder for you to get work, but not impossible. You also need a little bit of luck.”
