Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there, I did not die.

-Mary Elizabeth Frye-


04 February 2013

How I Found a Job in Sweden

There are many ways I could tell this story. That is to say, there are many things I could focus on in the telling of this story. It is, in some way, a story of self-awareness and persistence. Of knowing what you want and going for it, no matter how many times you get knocked back. It is a story of faith, in people and in God. Of believing that there are people who will do the unneccesary to help another person, for no apparent reason, and of believing that regardless of what is happening in our every day lives, there is someone looking out for the bigger plan and that though we often do not see it, things do have a way of working out... most of the time. Alright, sometimes. It is also a story about finding the path between arrogance and exagerated humility. Of being able to distinguish the pride from the true, the prudent from the inferior. It is a story of friendship and support.

Whatever else though, it is a story about a series of events. That, being the easiest to put into words than any of the other version, is the story I will tell today.

joining the swedish course
Many, many moons ago, upon completing my final written examinations for the Masters, I enrolled in what is knwon as "SFI" in Sweden: Swedish for Immigrants. The name for the course is actually in Swedish, but the acronym still fits in English. I was asked if I was interested in a special course called Swedish for Entrepreneurs. Also predominantly a language course for foreigners, this course was supposedly tailored for entrepreneurs or those with an entreprenial spirit. By definition, this includes those who are if not better educated, then more motivated and determined than, without intending to be  discriminating in any way, the average attendee of one of the SFI classes. It was sold as though there would be a screening process of some form to ensure that the students accepted into the class would be able to keep up with the tough demands of the course. In a way, there was. I had to attend an interview, where the demands of the course, and the need for hard work and diligence were emphasized to me. Of course hard work and diligence is all relative, isn´t it? And after a life of 100 hour weeks, very little really seems like hard work, unless it be physical labour.

The course started in October 2010. For some, it started in September 2010, but as I was busy trying to make sure I did not fail my final oral exams for the Masters, I skipped those two weeks and joined the course in October. About the course itself, being itself not the subject of this post, I will only say had its ups and downs. I personally got a lot out of it. The course nevertheless has to be mentioned because it is really because of the course, or perhaps the teacher, that I eventually find myself numbered amongst the gainfully employed.

the teacher
Our Swedish teacher was not actually Swedish. This might sound weird to some people, I know, but I have long maintained that being a native speaker does not in any way guarantee competence in a language, and certainly does not necessarily make for a good language teacher. One must first and foremost be a linguist, blessed with the ability to understand the intricacies of the building blocks of language. Further, one must be able to explain these intricacies to others who may not be similarly blessed. More than that, one must be able to explain them using limited vocabulary without in most cases, having another common language to fall back on. And the list is far from done. One must then also have the other more common qualities of a good teacher: namely the ability to encourage and challenge the students in such a way that both the weaker and the stronger students are equally motivated; and the patience to deal with students who insist on being treated as adults and with respect, but who neither behave like one nor accord any on their part.

Coming back then to our non-Swedish Swedish (language) teacher, she was undoubtedly one of the best language teachers I have ever encountered. And I have encountered many language teachers in the last few years: three Swedish, one Chinese, one French and at least ten German. And I readily admit that I am, in a lot of ways, not an easy student to have. I am critical and demanding. But again, as always, I digress. The point is, with the confidence of someone who has declared herself a good judge of language teachers, I say that we had a good teacher. And she had an important part to play in this story.

the assignment
Sometime in February or March 2011, a couple of months before the course was due to end, we were given an assignment, a project. And this is why I say that it is partly to this teacher´s efforts that I owe my good luck, if luck it be that brought me here. I have never got confirmation of this, neither did I seek it to be honest, but I believe that the project was a product of her endeavours. Perhaps it was part of the course requirements that we were to complete a project of sorts, although that statement leads me to wonder who then set the course requirements. I should clarify this sometime. In any case, it suffices to say that we were given two assignements to choose from, and I believe that she is the one to have designed these assignments, based on models and materials which she has previously encountered. The other is not relevant, as I did not choose it. My assignment was designed for jobseekers to assess their place in the job market. This encapsulates in the first part one´s background, that is to say, qualification and experience. There was, I believe, a third part, which I no longer recall. It was the second part which was my focus.

In the second part, we were asked to identify person or persons within an industry or field or company which represent or represents either the area in which we are qualified and experienced, or where we hope to find a position. The official object of the interview was to determine the status of the job market in general, such as the demand, options available and the required quilifications, as well as the existing opportunities for us specifically. Officially (again, that word) we were required to ask for our interview subject´s objective assessment as to our suitability for a position in the market and any advice or tipps they had to give as to how to get there. This thereby, and this is really the point of the whole exercies, giving us and opportunity to lay out our resumé and sell ourselves, while asking for contacts to broaded our network.

energy
As far back as I can recall having given any thought to my career, it was clear that there were two main areas which aroused my utmost interest: medicine and health care is one; the environment and energy being the other. These were the subjects I did the best in at University and these were the areas I wished to work in the most. I had explored the heath care aspect in the life I left behind. Thus it was for me, that the area I would now explore was clearly the energy industry.

As luck would have it, around the time we were given the assignment I met someone in a social event who worked in one of the largest private owned energy provider around. let´s call him Anders Persson.* I contacted Anders and explained to him my assignment, asking for his assistance to find an interview partner for my project.

the reversed interviews #1
He referred me to his colleague, let´s call him Bernt Persson,** who was in charge of communications in one of the branches of the company, who kindly agreed to be interviewed by me. I met him sometime in at the end of March 2011 at his office. He was not surprisingly curious about the meeting, and similarly unsurprisingly, somewhat guarded. He told me upfront that he had only half an hour before his next meeting. That was my cue to hurry up and not waste his time. I quickly explained the assignment and went through my list of questions. Towards the end of the interview, at the the how I would fit in to the organisation part, I explained my qualifications and experience and asked for his comments. He told me in no uncertain terms that there would be no place for me in his team, as I had neither the qualifications nor experience in communications. Fair enough. By then though, he seemed to show more interest and asked several questions about my background. In the end he offered to put me in touch with another person in the organisation who was qualified as lawyer, but was working with something completely different, suggesting that her point of view and advice might be more relevant.

the reversed interviews #2
Two weeks later, I met Carolina Persson*** for lunch. We had a brief conversation on the phone where I explained that Bernt referred me to her, and politely deflected her attempt to have a discussion over the phone by suggesting that, with my Swedish being at the level is then was, a face to face meeting would be a much easier for me to have a discussion. Over lunch, I briefly explained my assignment, although she quickly saw through the masquerade and the conversation morphed into one about the difficulties of job hunting as a lawyer in foreign countries. She has been in a similar position and could emphatise. She suggested that I apply for an internship at the company. Not the average intership for students or school leavers, but as an opportunity to learn about the business and the internal structure of the company with a view to, hopefully, identifying a suitable position for myself in it. This, she argued, would give the company an opportunity to test me, as they would otherwise be reluctant to hire someone who was not obviously qualified for suitable for a particular role and whose actual capabilities they could not assure themselves of.

networking, networking, networking
This bring us to something that I have heard often since arriving in Sweden. The job market in Sweden turns on having contacts and building networks. Most positions are found and filled through the people you know, or perhaps more importantly, the people who know you. In a very real way, qualifications take a back seat, for even if you are well qualified on paper, your chances are lower than someone who is less qualified but is known, whether personally or indirectly, to the person responsible for the hiring. From my own experience and the experience of those I know, I have not found reason to dispute this assessment. With this in mind, it seemed that the most important step in the entire process of finding a job is getting your name out there so people know you, and eventually, getting a foot in the door. The assignment was the perfect excuse to do the former. I had an excuse to go around and tell people that I was looking for a job without asking them to give me one. That meant that the people I met were more friendly and open, but that I still had the opportunity to make as positive an impression as one could hope to make in a job interview. The application for an intership was hoped to lead to the latter.

So it was that Persson, Carolina gave me a name of someone to speak to about the possibility of an internship. And this was how I came in contact with Persson, Danela. Danela worked in the Human Resource department. According to Carolina, she dealt with the high level employment which meant she was in contact with people at manager and director level for the whole organisation (not just a brach). The sort of people who were in a position to have a say about randomly hiring some random person for some random unadvertised position. Before I contacted Danela though, I have to get my resumé in order. For this, we need to back track. 

mentor
One of the features of the course was that we received a lot of, let´s call them extras. People gave us talks on topics from starting our own businesses, to the job market in certain companies, to the intrepretation of modern dance. We got tickets to aforementioned modern dance performance and plays, and to entrepreneur themed seminars. One of the many extras we received, was the opportunity to take part in a mentorship programme organised by some publicly funded NGO (I think). Through the programme, participants are assigned a mentor, who is someone from the same professional background to help us find our footing, so to speak, in the profession. Mine was a lawyer.

The programme began in October or November 2010, and we met regularly throughout the year. We discussed much from applications for legal positions, to the legal professional qualification in Sweden and elsewhere, from cases and clients (no names or details, of course!) to language and countries and immigration and intergration. From the get go, we got along very well, my mentor and I. One of my classmates, who also joined the programme at the same time and who was seated at the table next to us later jokingly complained that we made him feel ackward as he and his mentor hardly had any conversation other than to go through the pieces of papers which we were given to fill out, while my mentor and I were talking up a storm, apparently. Again, this post is really not about my mentor or the mentorship programme, so I will just say that this programme is also one of the things which i am thankful for. The level of helpfulness and encouragement was unnecesary on his part, as in there was no real or tangible benefit to him, but amounted to much appreciated support on mine. I feel that I have personally benefited a great deal, even if I did not get a job directly through him or the programme.

One of the things my mentor helped me with was to prepare my resumé and a cover letter in Swedish. For this I am also very grateful. Actually, he helped me prepare several, but this post is about this one in particular. I have had on occasion received input from others about letter writing and CVs in Swedish. And while I value all input I can get, I could not help but notice a resemblance between how I approach the English language and how my mentor approached Swedish, given me cause to appreciate his assistance in particular all the more. This requires some explanation. The way I approach English, which is no doubt due largely to the fact that I am just that sort of person and partly to the importance of language¤ in the life I left behind, is very difference from how the average person approaches language. And in my mentor´s comments on language and words, I saw the same difference between his approach and what I had been hearing from other Swedish speakers. Needless to say, I delightedly took on his comments instead of the others, regarding them as being more true to my way of communicating, the fact that his language was far more advanced that what I could possibly conjure up on my own notwithstanding.

Resumé and cover letter prepared and perfected, I sent it off to Danela, who then called me to inform me that she had a few people in mind whom she thought would be interested in hiring someone like me, and that she would get back to me in a week or two.

A week went by, then two. Then another two, and another two. Towards the end of May or early June, I sent Danela an email to ask if there had been any developments. She wrote back immediately to say that there was a certain Persson, Erik was interested in meeting me, whom I should contact as soon as possible.

the not so reversed interview #3
It took me a while to get a hold of Erik and a while more to finally meet him. We met in mid June, just before I was due to set off on our Super Duper Mega It´s-Going-To-Be-Amazing Road Trip. Before the meeting with Erik, I met up with Jon, another lawyer I knew in town, whom I had met through a completely different but equally fortituous channel. He is another example of unnecessary helpfulness. I had not met up with Jon for a long time, and he was interested to see how I was getting on in Sweden and with my job search. As I explained to him the upcoming meeting with Erik, Jon impressed upon me, convinced me in fact, that it was an interview that I was to be attending. I had convinced myself that it was not an interview to forestall disappointment if nothing materialised from the meeting. He assured me that it was an interview and I should approach it like one, to make sure I give off the right impression. Something he said stuck a bell and I went to meet Erik in a slightly different frame of mind that I would have otherwise done.

The meeting with Erik went very well. The only way the meeting could have gone better was if he had offered me the contract there and then. He was interested and positive. The discussion contained enough specifics about his vision of a potential position to resonate promise. The position as an intern seemed almost a certainty, and a subsequent paid position a possibility. There was of course a catch. The company was purging a significant amount of employees, and in such a climate, hiring externally would be complicated. Or so I was told. I do not doubt there was truth in it. Neither do I doubt that it was also a "get-out clause", to avoid making any commitments. In any case, two weeks after the meeting, I set off on my trip and returned four weeks later. Having not heard from Erik in the intervening period, I gave things a gentle nudge with an E-mail. I received an apology for the slow progress in reply and a promise to revert. This rapidly became a pattern. After several weeks, I sent another nudge, and received an apology and a promise in reply. This took us till sometime in October.

By that point, I had reconciled myself with the fact that that door was closed. In all likelihood, if he was at all serious about hiring me, as an intern or otherwise, he would have made it happen by then. I was looking for other opportunities, and had planned a trip to visit my sister in New York. I encountered some unexpected visa issues and was then frantically trying to get my visa sorted out in time for my already paid for and non-refundable flight.

unexpected e-mail and actual interview #4
Out of the blue I received an email from Persson, Felix. Felix is a colleage of Erik´s and had heard that I was looking for an opportunity. Felix knows of a certain Persson, Gils in another team in the company who is working on a particular project and could use the assistance of someone with my capabilities. Felix suggested that I contact Gils directly to discuss the opportunity. I did, and spoke to him over the phone. Gils seemed very interested but was regrettably, and still is, based elsewhere and could not meet me in person. He arranged for me to meet his colleague, Persson, Henrik instead. 

I met Henrik towards the end of October, almost exactly six months after I had first met Persson, Anders to conduct the interview for my project. The interview with Henrik, and this time I had no doubt that it was one, went very well. Henrik all but said that he would hire me. Actually he did say that he wanted to hire me. He said that he thought I would fit into the team well and that I would be suitable for the position. The only catch was, and there is always a catch, that he was not sure how easy it would be to hire someone at this time. The climate in the organisation had not changed and people were still being let go. He seemed confident, however, that he would be able to find a way to make it happen, and that it was just a question of how. He promised to revert within a week.

Having heard such promises before, I was only mildly optimistic when I left the interview. Well, I was optimistic, but did not allow myself to get my hopes up. In the end, I had no reason to worry. Henrik did not manage to sort out the contract within a week, but kept me informed on the progress the whole time. He informed me as soon as instructions were given to HR to process my contract, and again when he did not hear back from them when he expected to. In the end, I received the contract which I signed and returned even before my trip to New York. There is nothing like enjoying a holiday with the knowledge that my first job in four years awaited me on return.

* This is, of course, not his real name. I had initally wanted to call him Person A, so decided on Persson, Anders instead. Get it?
** Again, not his real name. 
*** I don´t really need to say it anymore, do I?
¤ Which in turn, no doubt has a lot to do with the fact that my immediate boss was the sort of person who would attach to a letter, a dictionary definition of a word which was previously misused by the unfortunate would-be-recipient.

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