Pavel Yurgenev
"Not a surprise – you will meet new people! I can honestly say that people here are nice, welcoming, and very helpful. Hopefully, you’ll meet many interesting people. Do not hesitate to get in touch with them at LinkedIn or Facebook, be polite and friendly – send a nice message like “We’ve met at clay modeling master class – please add me to your professional network”. It will work out better than just staying silent."
“It’s worth it”
Hej! I am Pavel and I moved to Sweden in August 2019 due to job relocation of my partner.
We have always wanted to try another country rather than Russia, so we gladly accepted this challenge.
I have an IT background, but of course, I assumed it wouldn’t be easy to find a job in a new country and I can honestly say it hasn’t been the easiest 1.5 years for me. Therefore, I am glad to share some lessons learned to encourage newcomers to continue their journey because it’s worth it.
So here we go.
Learn
Take your time to learn something new you always wanted to but didn’t find time to do before. Consider this period as a unique opportunity to develop yourself. Knowledge is our internal assets, and nowadays there are so many ways for distant learning, like coursera.org, udemy.com, edx.org. When you get ID, local institutes and universities welcome you – you can explore a new profession and get a new diploma. Yrkeshögskola can give you necessary knowledge on some fields and dramatically increase your chances for a job with Swedish diploma.
Sweden is a unique country where everybody speaks English. However, do not miss a chance to learn Swedish, it makes your living here comfortable and very soon you will not feel a total stranger. There are also several options for learning: SFI, courses at Folkuniversitetet, intensive or evening classes, Babel mobile app and many more.
Let everybody know you are looking for a job
Not a surprise – you will meet new people! I can honestly say that people here are nice, welcoming, and very helpful. Hopefully, you’ll meet many interesting people. Do not hesitate to get in touch with them at LinkedIn or Facebook, be polite and friendly – send a nice message like “We’ve met at clay modeling master class – please add me to your professional network”. It will work out better than just staying silent.
And do not forget about Arbetsförmedlingen, go there, talk to the coordinators, place your CV, maybe get some helpful extra courses or internship.
Live
Do not focus only on finding jobs opportunities. Find something else that you like for example find a new hobby, explore the region you live in and the county. Look, travel, enjoy the new environment and atmosphere. Sweden is a wonderful beautiful county with amazing nature. It is such a huge difference moving here after the whole life in a megapolis like Moscow, made of concrete and traffic. Surprisingly, I’ve found a new hobby of cycling and upgrading bicycles. Routes in Sweden are perfect for cycling and there are so many destinations in Skåne to visit by bike and to spend a perfect day out.
Calm down and move on
Maybe it sounds simple and obvious, but this is something that helped me a lot. Just calm down and move on. Apply for any positions even if you are not 100% fit. Maybe it is your chance, it is a new country, with different customs and rules, so just try.
International Citizen Hub Lund is always there for you and ready to help with advice, experience, knowledge, and connections. Lectures about the country, its culture and society gave a me a good basement for moving on in understanding the country specific and people’s behavior and of course I feel more confident and relaxed – and it is the first and very important step to feel home in a new country.
/ Pavel Yurgenev
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