How I went to work as a programmer in Sweden (Part 2)
On Habré already wrote about how IT people move to London , San Francisco and some other foreign locations, as well as very sensible about emigration in general . To my surprise, I did not find a similar note about Sweden. Since I currently live in the glorious city of Stockholm and work for a Swedish company, I decided to correct this situation.
This is the second part of my story, the first part can be found here .
At about the same time as the Swedes, one of the Irish variants I worked on earlier worked. This was an announcement of the hiring of an iOS developer to an international hostel booking company based in Dublin. These comrades showed interest in me about a month after my response to their vacancy, so I already managed to forget about them. Nevertheless, they organized a series of 3 or 4 telephone interviews with me (yes, the Irish people also like to make phone calls, like their colleagues on the neighboring island).
I talked twice with a leading iOS developer named Peter. Peter turned out to be the sweetest person, with a pronounced Irish accent, which was somewhat concealed by telephone interference on the way from Dublin across Europe to Tver. I was interested in him, like the rest of his comrades, my work experience, knowledge of frameworks in iOS development, design patterns, memory management, and perhaps something else that I had already forgotten beyond the limitations of events.
')
I also spoke with an hr-manager named Kelly, who was mainly interested in organizational issues in style, when I could come to them, for how much I needed to notify the current management about the dismissal, etc.
For the Irish, I did a test task: an application that worked with the existing test API of their service. The emphasis in this application was made mainly on the GUI, it was necessary to work out the quality of the interfaces, while respecting the list of requirements (which, for example, included the mandatory use of Storyboards).
As in the case of the Swedes, the Irish people really liked my solution to the test task. And then in their HR-decision-making system there was a (regular) failure. Either one of the decision makers went on vacation, or something else happened, but they did not inform me of any decision on the dates they had promised. I wrote a letter to Peter asking "how is that?", To which he sent me a surprised reply, "I thought I was already contacted." It took a few days for the Irish to figure out within the company who and what should write to me.
And they are late.
The Swedes made the offer first.
By that time, my wife and I had already read all the necessary things on the Internet that we needed to know about Sweden, and realized that we wanted to go there. The list included: a normal salary, good ecology, almost free medicine and a completely free education for citizens and persons with a residence permit (including a temporary residence permit), nature and weather similar to the domestic one, beautiful Stockholm, interesting work with good prospects and much more. The only drawback was that in Stockholm is very difficult to find accommodation. But this is a topic for a separate story.
However, Ireland is also a very attractive country. Therefore, until the last moment I waited for the offer from the Irish, not agreeing to the offer from the Swedes. And had the imprudence to tell Matthew about it. Matthew sensed that the booty was getting out of his nose, and began to put pressure on the Swedes, so that they would rather make a decision. As a result, the Swedes quickly chose me, ahead of the Irish with the offer. I took time to think. The Irish did not telis. When I ran out of all sensible excuses for postponing the decision, I agreed to the offer of the Swedes.
And literally the next day (as I remember, it was Friday), an offer from the Irish came in for a larger amount of money than the Swedes. Weekend was ruined.
On the one hand, I have already agreed to an offer to the Swedes, and it was ugly to back down at this stage. Moreover, the conditions suited me, and my wife and I were already morally tuned to go to Sweden.
On the other hand, the Irish offered more money. Considering that the wife was going to continue her studies and get a master's degree in Data Analysis / Data Science, and only I had to work at that time, it was important for us.
A strong argument in favor of the Swedish version was the opportunity to study at the magistracy for free - when you receive a residence permit for more than a year, a person acquires almost all the rights of a Swedish citizen, including the right to free education.
The bold minus of the Irish seemed to us that they wrote on the Internet that the process of obtaining a work permit in this country was pretty long and bureaucratic. There are stories about people who could not get a visa for 4 or more months because of the bureaucracy of local officials. I do not know how true this is, but we have found more than one such stories, which worried us pretty much.
We thought, discussed, still thought, weighed all the pros and cons. As a result, Sweden won on points.
I agreed to the Swedish offer with reservations. I always study almost all contracts to the last comma, so the Swedes have tormented me in this regard during the discussions.
Firstly, the offer was lower than the amount I originally requested. This sum, by the way, I initially informed the Swedes through Ellie, later it was not discussed even once before the offer itself. By negotiation, the original amount was returned to its rightful place. It is noteworthy that this sum appeared “almost” by accident - I just found in advance on the Internet a fresh announcement about finding an iOS developer in Stockholm with the specified salary and took it without changes.
Secondly, the contract stated that I undertake to work "at least 40 hours a week." This wording has been changed to "40 hours per week." In practice, it turned out that no one was watching.
Thirdly, the contract forbade me to develop any of my own applications for iOS in my free time. It doesn't sound cool, right? In the end, after a heated discussion, the wording was adopted that I cannot develop my own games for iOS in my spare time.
In the contract some small things were corrected, I don’t remember her anymore.
The Swedes legislatively adopted the first employment contract for six months. They have something like a probationary period. At first I was very indignant, but after reading the Internet I found out that this is a normal practice.
I discussed the final offer with our CEO on Skype for more than an hour when he was driving home to Stockholm with his family from a vacation in Malmö. For all the time of his trip there was not a single disconnection - such is the mobile Internet in Sweden.
When all the points of the offer were agreed, Swedish emigration magic began ...
More precisely, its almost complete absence.
In order to go to work in Sweden as a programmer, you need an invitation from the employer, your passport and, in the case of a wife, her passport and marriage certificate, as well as some money to pay for obtaining a temporary residence permit.
I pay special attention to the fact that:
1. Nobody requires from the employee the obligatory knowledge of English, Swedish, or any other language. The fact that you were able to pass a series of interviews with your employer is already sufficient.
2. The procedure for obtaining a work permit for a foreign specialist is extremely simple for an employer. Sweden made it as easy as possible to invite highly qualified personnel from abroad.
3. Nobody requires an employee to present a diploma of higher education. It is enough to indicate in the application from the employer that you have it and received it at such and such a university. After the move, nobody asked me for a diploma.
The visitor is issued a work permit (not more than 2 years at a time), and then - if the work permit is issued for a period of more than 3 months - a temporary residence permit for the same period with which he can cross the border of Sweden without a visa . All you need is a passport or ID card (if you live in a state where you have an ID card instead of a passport). At the same time, the same temporary residence permit is issued to the newcomer’s wife for the same period as the new one. In this case, the wife also gets the right to work in the country, and without reference to a specific employer!
Physically, a residence permit is a card with a chip (it contains your fingerprints and some other information) the size of a credit card. Swedes carry these cards in a phone case with credit cards, very convenient.
With this card you can move freely within the Schengen zone. And, of course, if you were fired, you must hand over the card back to the Swedish Migration Board. In this case, however, after the dismissal, you have 3 months to find a new job and redo the card for a new employer.
Before hiring an employee from outside the European Union, Swedes are obliged to advertise a vacancy on a special EURES website for 10 (such as, working) days. This is typical for almost any EU country. Only then can the process of inviting an employee from Russia be initiated.
An application for a work permit and temporary residence permit is submitted electronically on the website of the Swedish Migration Board. The process begins with the employer, the employee receives an e-mail with a link that you need to register on the website of the Migration Service, specify your data, including scans of passports and marriage certificates.
After completing the application, the Migration Service makes a decision on issuing a work permit and temporary residence permit within 2 weeks. Next, you need to go to the Swedish embassy for a decision, and, if the decision is positive, take photographs and take index fingerprints for a temporary residence permit card (hereinafter referred to as a residence permit card . Permission can be issued for up to 2 years, as, for example, in my case.
A small digression: in different countries, what the Swedes call a temporary residence permit is often called a work visa. A work visa is also issued for a fixed term and is tied to an employer. I’ll stick to Swedish terminology, but keep in mind that this is an entity similar to a work visa.
After that, the Migration Service will be doing a residence permit card for up to 4 weeks. In practice, it was done in 2 weeks. This time was enough to notify the management of the dismissal at the old place of work and work out the legal 2 weeks.
Since the Swedes wanted to see me at work as soon as possible, the relocation plan was worked out in detail in advance. On the appointed day, we left Tver early in the morning, at 11 am we took the residence permit cards from the Swedish embassy in Moscow, and at 7 pm we were already flying over the Baltic Sea by Aeroflot.
Domestic Aeroflot and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) fly direct flights from Moscow to Stockholm, both companies fly from Sheremetyevo. Direct flight takes about 2 hours. We chose Aeroflot because the tickets were somewhat cheaper than SAS, in addition, Aeroflot feeds in flight. Since we didn’t know until the last minute how quickly the residence permit cards would arrive (confirmation came 3 days before the day of departure), the tickets cost about 10 thousand rubles each. per person one way. For comparison: if you take tickets in advance (for a couple of months), you can fly from Moscow to Stockholm and back for this money.
Upon arrival, we plunged into the Arlanda Express, which took us from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm in 20 minutes. There we walked (!) 15 minutes before reaching the booked hostel and successfully settled in a double room.
As I mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to find accommodation in Stockholm. Therefore, we booked a hostel for 2 weeks and were confident that we would have to stay there even longer.
The next day after arrival, we had breakfast at McDonalds and went for a walk around the city, my wife showed her sights (she was in Stockholm while studying at the university). In general, we planned to register with the local Tax Service and buy local sim cards, but the thirst to see the beautiful city prevailed and we got into the tax with the mobile operator only after lunch.
We flew in on Tuesday, my work began only on the following Monday, so for the first few days we walked a lot around the historic center of the city, dumbfounded at the local architecture, not believing that we had moved. I generally had the feeling for the first few days that I was on vacation.
Stockholm is a very beautiful city. You should definitely visit it, even if you are not invited to work in Sweden. Swedes cherish their historical heritage, so the city center, especially Gamla Stan, is highly recommended by me for everyone to visit!
Immediately after filing an application to the tax, we began to look for permanent housing. I will not describe the whole process in detail here, I will only note that we were incredibly lucky and we found accommodation just a few days after arrival. Clean, furnished with furniture and household appliances, the apartment in a new house in a good suburb half an hour before my work on the local subway (the Swedish subway is called Tunnelbana), we immediately liked. We quickly signed a contract, made a pledge and after about a week drove into our new apartment.
I call an apartment a flat for two reasons: first, it is rather small by Russian standards - only 35 square meters. Secondly, it is so cozy that I don’t turn my tongue to call it a “flat”.
More than a month has passed since our arrival here. My wife and I are very happy with the move.
First of all, I do not urge anyone to "refuel the tractor" or "throw out the Raska." I love my country and willingly explain the meaning of the events taking place now in Russia and in its immediate vicinity to my new foreign colleagues (while their colleagues shake their heads skeptically, but smile politely).
I didn’t leave because I don’t like this or that politician, the party or the year-round muddy knee by my door. I left for new experience, knowledge, impressions, acquaintances and standard of living.
I am sure that to go to work abroad is quite a feasible task for any person working in the field of IT, and at the same time having a head with brains between the shoulders and a cap, and not a stand for this very cap. The task is feasible, but not simple, in general it will be necessary to work to implement it. And, more often, the final result will have to wait several years (in my case, we were able to do about 2 years).
So, if you want to leave, you must:
1. Understand what you can do best, what are your competitive advantages compared to your other colleagues. Look around. If there are a lot of people around you who can do your work, the chances of you leaving are not high.
2. To determine the country or countries where you want to go. Much will depend on this: from the study of the features of emigration law, to the study of the language used for communication in a given country. Fortunately, knowledge of the English language will often be enough to leave in almost any decent country.
3. To study the features of the migration legislation of the selected country or countries. All countries have different rules for inviting foreign specialists to work. In many European countries, inviting people from the EU is much easier than from outside the EU. Know the procedure for the emigration process in detail. Sometimes the details can be an annoying obstacle to your dreams.
4. To study a foreign language and, if necessary, stock up on documentary evidence of his knowledge. Most often, this foreign language will be English. Keep in mind that you need not only to choose the right type of certificate of knowledge of English (IELTS, FCE, CAE, CPE, TOEFL, other certification systems), but also to possess it well enough to be able to pass telephone interviews for at least an hour ( the figure is quite real, based on my experience). Believe me, it is difficult.
5. Take real steps to find a job in a selected country or countries before leaving. Real steps are a search and a response to vacancies. Depending on the country chosen, the search methods (and sometimes its expediency) will vary. Expect that the search will take at least several months.
6. Adapt. If the search does not produce results - adapt: ​​change the approach to the search, look for new ways to interact with employers and recruiters, eventually change the target country, expand the scope of the search.
7. Be persistent. After several months of fruitless searches, it may seem like all efforts are in vain. Do not give up! Keep looking, think what else you can do.
8. Continue to grow in your field. With all the preparations and job search, you can forget about your professional development. You shouldn’t do this: technologies are now developing rapidly, if you don’t engage in constant self-education, in six months or a year you can significantly lag behind your colleagues. Agree, it would be a shame to lose a good offer because of the lack of knowledge of the latest technologies in their field.
I have it all.
This article turned out much more than I had planned initially, but it seems to me that I did not tell a lot of important things. In this regard, I will soon write a series of more detailed notes on certain aspects of life in Sweden. These notes do not fit into the Habra format, so I will post them on my blog, which anyone can find without much difficulty (just look in my profile).
Ready to answer questions in the comments. Thanks for attention!
This is the second part of my story, the first part can be found here .
Ireland, second run
At about the same time as the Swedes, one of the Irish variants I worked on earlier worked. This was an announcement of the hiring of an iOS developer to an international hostel booking company based in Dublin. These comrades showed interest in me about a month after my response to their vacancy, so I already managed to forget about them. Nevertheless, they organized a series of 3 or 4 telephone interviews with me (yes, the Irish people also like to make phone calls, like their colleagues on the neighboring island).
I talked twice with a leading iOS developer named Peter. Peter turned out to be the sweetest person, with a pronounced Irish accent, which was somewhat concealed by telephone interference on the way from Dublin across Europe to Tver. I was interested in him, like the rest of his comrades, my work experience, knowledge of frameworks in iOS development, design patterns, memory management, and perhaps something else that I had already forgotten beyond the limitations of events.
')
I also spoke with an hr-manager named Kelly, who was mainly interested in organizational issues in style, when I could come to them, for how much I needed to notify the current management about the dismissal, etc.
For the Irish, I did a test task: an application that worked with the existing test API of their service. The emphasis in this application was made mainly on the GUI, it was necessary to work out the quality of the interfaces, while respecting the list of requirements (which, for example, included the mandatory use of Storyboards).
As in the case of the Swedes, the Irish people really liked my solution to the test task. And then in their HR-decision-making system there was a (regular) failure. Either one of the decision makers went on vacation, or something else happened, but they did not inform me of any decision on the dates they had promised. I wrote a letter to Peter asking "how is that?", To which he sent me a surprised reply, "I thought I was already contacted." It took a few days for the Irish to figure out within the company who and what should write to me.
And they are late.
Battle of the two offers
The Swedes made the offer first.
By that time, my wife and I had already read all the necessary things on the Internet that we needed to know about Sweden, and realized that we wanted to go there. The list included: a normal salary, good ecology, almost free medicine and a completely free education for citizens and persons with a residence permit (including a temporary residence permit), nature and weather similar to the domestic one, beautiful Stockholm, interesting work with good prospects and much more. The only drawback was that in Stockholm is very difficult to find accommodation. But this is a topic for a separate story.
However, Ireland is also a very attractive country. Therefore, until the last moment I waited for the offer from the Irish, not agreeing to the offer from the Swedes. And had the imprudence to tell Matthew about it. Matthew sensed that the booty was getting out of his nose, and began to put pressure on the Swedes, so that they would rather make a decision. As a result, the Swedes quickly chose me, ahead of the Irish with the offer. I took time to think. The Irish did not telis. When I ran out of all sensible excuses for postponing the decision, I agreed to the offer of the Swedes.
And literally the next day (as I remember, it was Friday), an offer from the Irish came in for a larger amount of money than the Swedes. Weekend was ruined.
On the one hand, I have already agreed to an offer to the Swedes, and it was ugly to back down at this stage. Moreover, the conditions suited me, and my wife and I were already morally tuned to go to Sweden.
On the other hand, the Irish offered more money. Considering that the wife was going to continue her studies and get a master's degree in Data Analysis / Data Science, and only I had to work at that time, it was important for us.
A strong argument in favor of the Swedish version was the opportunity to study at the magistracy for free - when you receive a residence permit for more than a year, a person acquires almost all the rights of a Swedish citizen, including the right to free education.
The bold minus of the Irish seemed to us that they wrote on the Internet that the process of obtaining a work permit in this country was pretty long and bureaucratic. There are stories about people who could not get a visa for 4 or more months because of the bureaucracy of local officials. I do not know how true this is, but we have found more than one such stories, which worried us pretty much.
We thought, discussed, still thought, weighed all the pros and cons. As a result, Sweden won on points.
Pro Swedish offer
I agreed to the Swedish offer with reservations. I always study almost all contracts to the last comma, so the Swedes have tormented me in this regard during the discussions.
Firstly, the offer was lower than the amount I originally requested. This sum, by the way, I initially informed the Swedes through Ellie, later it was not discussed even once before the offer itself. By negotiation, the original amount was returned to its rightful place. It is noteworthy that this sum appeared “almost” by accident - I just found in advance on the Internet a fresh announcement about finding an iOS developer in Stockholm with the specified salary and took it without changes.
Secondly, the contract stated that I undertake to work "at least 40 hours a week." This wording has been changed to "40 hours per week." In practice, it turned out that no one was watching.
Thirdly, the contract forbade me to develop any of my own applications for iOS in my free time. It doesn't sound cool, right? In the end, after a heated discussion, the wording was adopted that I cannot develop my own games for iOS in my spare time.
In the contract some small things were corrected, I don’t remember her anymore.
The Swedes legislatively adopted the first employment contract for six months. They have something like a probationary period. At first I was very indignant, but after reading the Internet I found out that this is a normal practice.
I discussed the final offer with our CEO on Skype for more than an hour when he was driving home to Stockholm with his family from a vacation in Malmö. For all the time of his trip there was not a single disconnection - such is the mobile Internet in Sweden.
When all the points of the offer were agreed, Swedish emigration magic began ...
A bit about the Swedish bureaucracy
More precisely, its almost complete absence.
In order to go to work in Sweden as a programmer, you need an invitation from the employer, your passport and, in the case of a wife, her passport and marriage certificate, as well as some money to pay for obtaining a temporary residence permit.
I pay special attention to the fact that:
1. Nobody requires from the employee the obligatory knowledge of English, Swedish, or any other language. The fact that you were able to pass a series of interviews with your employer is already sufficient.
2. The procedure for obtaining a work permit for a foreign specialist is extremely simple for an employer. Sweden made it as easy as possible to invite highly qualified personnel from abroad.
3. Nobody requires an employee to present a diploma of higher education. It is enough to indicate in the application from the employer that you have it and received it at such and such a university. After the move, nobody asked me for a diploma.
The visitor is issued a work permit (not more than 2 years at a time), and then - if the work permit is issued for a period of more than 3 months - a temporary residence permit for the same period with which he can cross the border of Sweden without a visa . All you need is a passport or ID card (if you live in a state where you have an ID card instead of a passport). At the same time, the same temporary residence permit is issued to the newcomer’s wife for the same period as the new one. In this case, the wife also gets the right to work in the country, and without reference to a specific employer!
Physically, a residence permit is a card with a chip (it contains your fingerprints and some other information) the size of a credit card. Swedes carry these cards in a phone case with credit cards, very convenient.
With this card you can move freely within the Schengen zone. And, of course, if you were fired, you must hand over the card back to the Swedish Migration Board. In this case, however, after the dismissal, you have 3 months to find a new job and redo the card for a new employer.
The process of obtaining a work permit and temporary residence permit
Before hiring an employee from outside the European Union, Swedes are obliged to advertise a vacancy on a special EURES website for 10 (such as, working) days. This is typical for almost any EU country. Only then can the process of inviting an employee from Russia be initiated.
An application for a work permit and temporary residence permit is submitted electronically on the website of the Swedish Migration Board. The process begins with the employer, the employee receives an e-mail with a link that you need to register on the website of the Migration Service, specify your data, including scans of passports and marriage certificates.
After completing the application, the Migration Service makes a decision on issuing a work permit and temporary residence permit within 2 weeks. Next, you need to go to the Swedish embassy for a decision, and, if the decision is positive, take photographs and take index fingerprints for a temporary residence permit card (hereinafter referred to as a residence permit card . Permission can be issued for up to 2 years, as, for example, in my case.
A small digression: in different countries, what the Swedes call a temporary residence permit is often called a work visa. A work visa is also issued for a fixed term and is tied to an employer. I’ll stick to Swedish terminology, but keep in mind that this is an entity similar to a work visa.
After that, the Migration Service will be doing a residence permit card for up to 4 weeks. In practice, it was done in 2 weeks. This time was enough to notify the management of the dismissal at the old place of work and work out the legal 2 weeks.
Moving
Since the Swedes wanted to see me at work as soon as possible, the relocation plan was worked out in detail in advance. On the appointed day, we left Tver early in the morning, at 11 am we took the residence permit cards from the Swedish embassy in Moscow, and at 7 pm we were already flying over the Baltic Sea by Aeroflot.
Domestic Aeroflot and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) fly direct flights from Moscow to Stockholm, both companies fly from Sheremetyevo. Direct flight takes about 2 hours. We chose Aeroflot because the tickets were somewhat cheaper than SAS, in addition, Aeroflot feeds in flight. Since we didn’t know until the last minute how quickly the residence permit cards would arrive (confirmation came 3 days before the day of departure), the tickets cost about 10 thousand rubles each. per person one way. For comparison: if you take tickets in advance (for a couple of months), you can fly from Moscow to Stockholm and back for this money.
Upon arrival, we plunged into the Arlanda Express, which took us from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm in 20 minutes. There we walked (!) 15 minutes before reaching the booked hostel and successfully settled in a double room.
As I mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to find accommodation in Stockholm. Therefore, we booked a hostel for 2 weeks and were confident that we would have to stay there even longer.
The first days on the spot
The next day after arrival, we had breakfast at McDonalds and went for a walk around the city, my wife showed her sights (she was in Stockholm while studying at the university). In general, we planned to register with the local Tax Service and buy local sim cards, but the thirst to see the beautiful city prevailed and we got into the tax with the mobile operator only after lunch.
We flew in on Tuesday, my work began only on the following Monday, so for the first few days we walked a lot around the historic center of the city, dumbfounded at the local architecture, not believing that we had moved. I generally had the feeling for the first few days that I was on vacation.
Stockholm is a very beautiful city. You should definitely visit it, even if you are not invited to work in Sweden. Swedes cherish their historical heritage, so the city center, especially Gamla Stan, is highly recommended by me for everyone to visit!
Immediately after filing an application to the tax, we began to look for permanent housing. I will not describe the whole process in detail here, I will only note that we were incredibly lucky and we found accommodation just a few days after arrival. Clean, furnished with furniture and household appliances, the apartment in a new house in a good suburb half an hour before my work on the local subway (the Swedish subway is called Tunnelbana), we immediately liked. We quickly signed a contract, made a pledge and after about a week drove into our new apartment.
I call an apartment a flat for two reasons: first, it is rather small by Russian standards - only 35 square meters. Secondly, it is so cozy that I don’t turn my tongue to call it a “flat”.
More than a month has passed since our arrival here. My wife and I are very happy with the move.
Conclusion
First of all, I do not urge anyone to "refuel the tractor" or "throw out the Raska." I love my country and willingly explain the meaning of the events taking place now in Russia and in its immediate vicinity to my new foreign colleagues (while their colleagues shake their heads skeptically, but smile politely).
I didn’t leave because I don’t like this or that politician, the party or the year-round muddy knee by my door. I left for new experience, knowledge, impressions, acquaintances and standard of living.
I am sure that to go to work abroad is quite a feasible task for any person working in the field of IT, and at the same time having a head with brains between the shoulders and a cap, and not a stand for this very cap. The task is feasible, but not simple, in general it will be necessary to work to implement it. And, more often, the final result will have to wait several years (in my case, we were able to do about 2 years).
So, if you want to leave, you must:
1. Understand what you can do best, what are your competitive advantages compared to your other colleagues. Look around. If there are a lot of people around you who can do your work, the chances of you leaving are not high.
2. To determine the country or countries where you want to go. Much will depend on this: from the study of the features of emigration law, to the study of the language used for communication in a given country. Fortunately, knowledge of the English language will often be enough to leave in almost any decent country.
3. To study the features of the migration legislation of the selected country or countries. All countries have different rules for inviting foreign specialists to work. In many European countries, inviting people from the EU is much easier than from outside the EU. Know the procedure for the emigration process in detail. Sometimes the details can be an annoying obstacle to your dreams.
4. To study a foreign language and, if necessary, stock up on documentary evidence of his knowledge. Most often, this foreign language will be English. Keep in mind that you need not only to choose the right type of certificate of knowledge of English (IELTS, FCE, CAE, CPE, TOEFL, other certification systems), but also to possess it well enough to be able to pass telephone interviews for at least an hour ( the figure is quite real, based on my experience). Believe me, it is difficult.
5. Take real steps to find a job in a selected country or countries before leaving. Real steps are a search and a response to vacancies. Depending on the country chosen, the search methods (and sometimes its expediency) will vary. Expect that the search will take at least several months.
6. Adapt. If the search does not produce results - adapt: ​​change the approach to the search, look for new ways to interact with employers and recruiters, eventually change the target country, expand the scope of the search.
7. Be persistent. After several months of fruitless searches, it may seem like all efforts are in vain. Do not give up! Keep looking, think what else you can do.
8. Continue to grow in your field. With all the preparations and job search, you can forget about your professional development. You shouldn’t do this: technologies are now developing rapidly, if you don’t engage in constant self-education, in six months or a year you can significantly lag behind your colleagues. Agree, it would be a shame to lose a good offer because of the lack of knowledge of the latest technologies in their field.
I have it all.
This article turned out much more than I had planned initially, but it seems to me that I did not tell a lot of important things. In this regard, I will soon write a series of more detailed notes on certain aspects of life in Sweden. These notes do not fit into the Habra format, so I will post them on my blog, which anyone can find without much difficulty (just look in my profile).
Ready to answer questions in the comments. Thanks for attention!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/296680/
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