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 I had never been an "adult" in my home country. I left Sweden for the United States the year of my 20th birthday. I never lived on my own before my departure, never paid bills, worried about changing my address nor finding a job. Because Sweden has a “socialist” government, there's a lot of bureaucracy. The first problem I encountered was my change of address. When leaving Sweden, every citizen has to report the move. If you don't, nothing much happens, but it means you're still in the system as if you were there the whole time with no income. Prior to leaving the United States I reported my change of address as my girlfriend -not a Swedish citizen- required a visa to come with me to Sweden.
Coming back, “unregistered”, I had no address. Typically, when you move within Sweden you register your move online at a centralized place called addressandring.se. In my particular case (living abroad), personal appearance was required at the Skatteverket (the tax agency) to register again as a resident. Everything worked out fine but it took almost two weeks. Registration at the Försäkringskassan (insurance agency) may be necessary as well to get benefits. These are just some administrative requirements I just didn’t know about.
Looking for work, you are led to believe that the state run employment agency only exists to help you find employment. Well, helping people find work may be one of their purposes, but I think because of internet access and the current economic climate, this is no longer their main function. You may as well go through newspaper ads or job sites. Arbetsförmedlingen -the job portal-and its employees now focus on unemployment benefits and, from an outsider’s perspective, on keeping people busy between jobs.
In Sweden, because of all the workers protection laws, employers are nervous about hiring permanently as they may not be able to lay employees off very easily if needed. That means that a huge percentage of jobs are found through references (which further decrease the use of Arbetsförmedlingen as a job portal). In my case, I found a job. Through my father who mentioned my name to someone who was looking to fill a position quickly. I was also interviewed at another place after my best friend forwarded my resume to his employer who was hiring at the time.
Thanks to family and friends, I've had it easy so far. Without their help, I would be spending my time going through government programs to help me find work (read: help me stay active and hope for a job!).
Chris J.
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