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Monthly archives: March 2012

12 Tips for Your Swedish Cover Letter

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stacks of papers

Most resumes are not sent on paper anymore but regardless of the format, send your resume and cover letter to everyone you can think of! Photo by: FeatherTar (CC BY 2.0)

 

In my last post I wrote about writing a CV or resume in a Swedish-friendly way. This time, I will offer some tips on writing a cover letter to go with your CV.

1. I haven’t sent a resume on paper in many years but I still see lots of advice that seems to think people are sending resumes on paper. The rules are a little different on paper so when you see suggestions to write, for example, the employer’s address in the upper right corner, ignore that if you are sending it electronically. Ditto for putting the date on your letter since that information comes attached to the email anyway and looks odd in an email.

2. If you are sending your CV in English, I would write the letter in English so they match.

3. Keep your sentences short and to the point. At best, your reader is probably going to skim your letter. They are definitely not hanging on every word.

4. The heading “To whom it may concern” isn´t used in Sweden and sounds strange to most Swedes. As you would in any country, try to find out the name of the person you are writing the letter to. If you can’t find a name, address the letter to the position of the person you are writing to, such as “Human Resources.” If you have a connection to the person, you can use their first name. My experience is that this is a little more common in Sweden than the US. If you’re not sure, then go ahead and use their last name, “Dear Ms. Lund.”

5. The first line should right away say what the purpose of your letter is. “I read on Monster.com that you are looking for a writer. Please find my CV attached.”

6. Why do you want this job? Perhaps tell them something about the work you are doing right now and why they should hire you. “I am a technical writer for company X in Stockholm and I also write a blog for the Swedish Institute. I am looking for work in Uppsala.”

7. If you’re not already in Sweden, that will be a barrier to hiring you. You’ll have to mention what your plan is and how you’re getting to Sweden in your cover letter. Keep it short and positive. They don’t want to hear about any problems. They have problems of their own.

8. Make sure to leave space between paragraphs and use short sentences. Maybe they’ll print it out and maybe they won’t so you must capture their interest right away.

9. Don’t use abbreviations. It’s not a good idea even in an English-speaking country and in Sweden, you risk them not understanding what you mean. It’s a little too informal for a cover letter.

10. Don’t use fancy fonts or weird size fonts. This just ends up irritating your reader. I always use Times New Roman, 12 point font—it’s boring but familiar and easy on the eye.

11. I recently sent out a cover letter and didn’t know how to close it. The letter was in English but the Swedish friend who was helping me said that ”yours truly” sounded really strange in a cover letter. With hindsight, I think it would have been nice to close the letter in Swedish to acknowledge that I am learning Swedish, etc. You can write, “Med vänliga hälsningar” which means “With kind regards.”

12. Some people put in an image of their signature to make the electronic cover letter look like it has been signed but I think this is more work than it’s worth and possibly their email program might not even render it correctly. Simply type your name, address, phone number and e-mail address at the bottom of the letter.

The Swedish edition of Monster.com offers lots of tips. Here’s a cover letter (alas, in Swedish but you can use Google Translator to translate it.)

A website called Iagora has a sample of a Swedish cover letter here.

Best of luck! Never, ever give up your dream of living and working in Sweden! I didn’t and look, Mom, I made it!

Kristin Lund

March 29, 2012

10 Tips for Creating a Swedish CV

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I promised awhile back to discuss how to write your curriculum vitae (“resume” or “CV”) and cover letter in Sweden. I have really dragged my feet about doing it because most of the tips I have picked up are universal and are not specific to Sweden. In any country, for example, you want to make your resume easy to read and not more than two pages. The other challenge is that it’s very hard to get a consensus in any country, what the one, perfect way to do your resume is. I think that’s because there never is any one way. There are many ways. So take what I say with a grain of salt and use your good judgment. The key is to get your foot in the door so you can dazzle them in the interview.

My next post will discuss writing your Swedish cover letter.

1. The first thing I learned when converting my CV into Swedish-friendly form was that it doesn’t have to be in Swedish. Whahoo! If it’s not in Swedish, however, then it should be in English. Hopefully your dazzling skills in English are attractive to them anyway, so it’s good to show them that you understand the language.

2. Don’t tout your horn too loudly. Swedes value blending in and working as a group so you don’t want to use language such as “I was the best in our company at taking notes during meetings.”

3. Every CV I’ve seen in Sweden has contained a picture of the subject. It’s not a requirement but it seems to be in fashion right now.

research scientists

Perhaps your well-written CV will get you a job in Research & Design. Sweden is one of the most R&D-intensive countries in the world. It allocates almost 4% of its GDP to research and development, which has led to Sweden taking a leading position in, among other things, environmental technology, particularly the treatment of emissions and toxic substances in production and manufacturing processes. Sweden also has a high level of expertise in nanotechnology research. Photo and info by: Ulf Lundin/imagebank.sweden.se.

 

4. People put their full address on the CV. They also frequently reveal their—gasp!—date of birth. I couldn’t bring myself to do that so I skipped that part.

5. Most Swedish resumes I have seen also contain a section about themselves in which they mention whether they are married, have kids, and what they like to do in their free time. This gives you and your interviewer something to talk about/connect over if the need arises.

6. Just like in any country, an employer will only spend 20 seconds or so looking at your CV so yours has to make an excellent first impression. Don’t make the recruiter have to work to find something. Organize it clearly and simply into sections such as “Experience” and “Education.”

7. Don’t get fancy with the fonts. Standing out too much or getting too fancy won’t get their attention in the right way.

8. Your resume should not be longer than two pages. The recruiter simply won’t read more than that. If you’re like me and you have lots of eclectic jobs, it can be hard fitting them all in. Don’t try to. Perhaps it’s better to group some together and say something such as “Freelance writer, wrote magazine articles for Star Wars Kids magazine and the SAS in-flight magazine, Scanorama.

9. If there are gaps in your resume, don’t try to hide them. Explain what you did. I used to leave off the years I did dog training because it really has nothing to do with my writing (other than that’s how I supported myself before I could make a living as a writer). But I found that both in Sweden and in the US, interviewers wanted to know more about that and it made for a good selling point (I had a spiel ready about how I learned to teach people how to speak “dog”, etc.)

10. Lastly, edit your CV to fit every job you apply for. Make sure it’s immediately obvious why your experience and skills match what they are looking for. If you’re not already in Sweden, that will be a barrier to hiring you. You’ll have to mention what your plan is and how you’re getting to Sweden in your cover letter. Of course, you will also help them by pointing out why this is the job for you in your cover letter but I’ll talk more about that in my next post.

Here’s an example of a Swedish CV.

The Swedish edition of Monster.com also has lots of tips. They are in Swedish but you can use Google Translator.

Kristin Lund

March 26, 2012

Tales From My First Networking Adventures in Sweden

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When you move to a new country, it’s important to network. You need to work to expand your professional contacts and also your social ones. If you’re like me, you have to force yourself to do activities like this. Your brain knows that it’s important but your heart says, wouldn’t you rather stay home where it’s more comfortable, why not go tomorrow instead?

In my first four months, I focused on settling into my job, learning how to use the transit system, learning how to shop for food, and things like that. As readers of this blog will know, I also spent a great deal of time pursuing various documentation such as residence and working permit extensions, a bank account, state health insurance coverage, etc.

I joined a global professional women’s group back in San Francisco called 85 Broads.  (The name comes from the original group of New York City women that founded the organization. They all worked for Goldman Sachs at 85 Broad Street.) I joined with the understanding that there was a Stockholm chapter but thinking that I would get to know how it worked in San Francisco first. Unfortunately, I was too busy preparing for my big move and never attended a meeting there.

Last week, I noted there was a monthly meeting of the Stockholm group at a Tapas restaurant. I walked across the Kungsholmen district but was still too early so then I walked around for another half hour. When I started to fantasize about skipping the whole thing, I told myself how disappointed I would be in myself if I didn’t see the thing through. So I entered the restaurant, imaginary gun at my head.

two people on steps of City Hall, Stockholm

Perhaps these people are networking in front of Stockholm City Hall in Kungsholmen, Stockholm. Photo by: Nicho Södling/imagebank.sweden.se

 

And…as almost always happens when I make myself enter a social situation in which I know no one, it was much better than I imagined.

There were around 15 or 20 women from around the world but they all work in Sweden now. Most had a Swedish husband. Since I have a paralegal certificate, I was especially eager to network with a few of the lawyers that were there. One of the organizers suggested that I attend a meeting of the American Women’s Club the following week. They were having a rare, “welcome new members” meeting. Stockholm’s AWC was, according to its website, founded in 1911 and is the second oldest American Women’s Club outside the United States.

I also met interesting women at that meeting. I have not yet joined but they have lots of small groups that get together and do all sorts of activities such as wine tasting, cooking, biking, etc. Like the first group, most of those women were in Sweden because they are married to a Swedish man. But I was surprised to learn that most of them met their (future) husband while they were on vacation in another country. Egypt. Thailand. Greece.

Whah?! Does this mean that you have to go to another country to meet a Swede? One would think your chances of meeting a Swede improve by living in Sweden.

But of course, I am exaggerating. As my friend, Helen pointed out (as an engineer, she’s always the logical thinker), both networking/social groups were made up of women whose initial connection to Sweden was meeting a Swede someplace else. That does not mean that you can’t meet Swedish men in Sweden.

Yes, I have heard of online dating, since you brought it up. No, there won’t be a blog soon about that!

OK, but let’s focus, here. Networking! I am glad I made myself go to these events. It’s always good to see and hear other people in a similar situation (working in a foreign country, living in a foreign country). I was advised at the AWC meeting, for example, to not try to desperately become a Swede but to just be myself. I think that’s good advice.

It’s good to expand your horizons both professionally and socially and I will continue to look for opportunities to meet new people. Perhaps a motorcycle class? A class on restoring a 1950’s automobile? A class offering barbequing tips? I can’t imagine why Helen (the logical thinker) is suddenly advising I take classes like these…

Kristin Lund

March 22, 2012

Six Easy Steps and You’re Riding the Rails in Sweden

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swedish train

The Swedish railway beckons... Photo by Kristin Lund.

 

All work and no play make Kristin a very dull girl. So I’m going to go visit my friend, Margaret in Göteborg this weekend. I will take the famous X2000 train—oh okay, it’s not that famous, but I do remember feeling a thrill of recognition when Mikael Blomkvist hopped on the same train in “The Girl Who Played with Fire” (the second book in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series.)

Here’s how to book a train ticket in Sweden:

Step #1:
Your trip
This part’s easy. You must decide where you’re going and who’s going with you. I will travel between Stockholm and Göteborg by myself.

Step #2:
How to buy
Statens Järnvägar (SJ) is Sweden’s state-run passenger train operator in Sweden. It serves approx. 100,000 persons per day and travels between approx. 160 stations across Sweden, according to their website.  You can buy tickets online, over the phone, or at a train station. I bought my tickets online.

Step #3
Price
There are lots more things to decide than I thought there would be when traveling by train. After I entered the dates of travel, I was presented with a list of trains I could take. The prices vary depending on the date you are booking but also on the time of day you travel and how far in advance you purchase the tickets. The price also depends on how long the trip takes—a slower train is cheaper. First class is obviously more expensive than second class but the price difference also varies depending on the above criteria. I chose high speed train

screen shot of booking a train ticket

Here you can see the trip options and variety of prices for a train trip in April. Yes, now that you ask, the last row does seem to have a price for an unavailable ticket that is still, somehow, refundable...Just a Swedish train mystery, I guess.

 

Step #4
Gonna need flexibility?
At the same time that you choose first or second class, you have to decide whether you want to pay extra to be able to make changes later. The more flexible the ticket, the more it costs. The followng three categories are self-explanatory: Non-rebookable, Rebookable, and Refundable. I chose to pay approx 70 kr more for the ability to rebook both legs of my trip.

Step #5
Extras
Different trains offer different amenities. Some trains offer you a choice between a reserved seat or on an unreserved one. Some have the reserved seat included. My trains cost 49 kr extra each way to have a booked seat. I booked a reserved seat so that I wouldn’t have to stress over finding a seat. Plus, I plan to spend most of the time in my seat, looking out the window so I wanted to make sure I got a window seat. Some trains ask you if you want to sit in a quiet part of the train, sit where there are no pets allowed, etc. On my journey, I could only choose between a window, aisle, or middle seat (In addition to wheelchair accessible options, etc.) I booked my tickets over a month ago. I notice that now there are only reserved seats left in the lounge car.

Step #6
Have Fun!
I ride the commuter train between Uppsala and Stockholm every day. There’s something cool about trains but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. I’m looking forward to having 3 or 4 hours to myself in which I’m not trapped the way one is on an airplane. On a train, you can move around if you need to stretch your legs. Plus, there’s something about how timeless trains feel. Plus, they have their own particular sound and smell both inside and outside the train. When you’re riding the rails, you don’t worry about traffic, other cars, or the world outside the train. I don’t know, maybe it’s just the whole Harry Potter effect.

Platform 9 ½ beckons!

Kristin Lund

March 19, 2012

Lunchtime at Work

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open multi-purpose room

This is a picture of our unusual-looking multipurpose room at work. We use it for meetings and mealtimes but may someday have to use it for more desk space. You can read my earlier post about my office here.

 

I have no idea what business lunchtime etiquette is in the rest of Sweden but I can tell you what I’ve noticed at my job as a Technical Writer, now that I have been at it nearly four months. That’s approximately 80 lunches so I guess that makes me a lunch expert. Ha ha.

At my office, everyone seems to eat at the same time. Around twelve o’clock, the office empties out. We typically have around 60-70 people (give or take people on business trips, working from home, etc. ) so it’s pretty significant when everyone suddenly vanishes. When I worked for a law firm in the US, people took their lunchbreak at all different times so you didn’t have the sudden evacuation in the same way.

The Stockholm software company that I work for has a lovely large multipurpose room with super high ceilings and skylights. Some co-workers bring their lunch and eat there. Others go out and fetch their lunch but bring it back to eat there. I’ve noticed that people rarely eat out of plastic containers from home or the takeout containers. They transfer the food to plates from the kitchen and use metal cutlery. It’s all rather civilized.

I noticed that it is polite to join a group of diners if they are sitting there when you arrive with your food. At first I sat by myself because I thought it might be rude to just bust in on a group. But then I saw that everyone did that and it was actually stranger to go and sit by yourself.

Despite the fact the median age of my co-workers must be about 30, I’ve noticed very few drink soda at lunch. I see plenty of people drinking soda on the street, on the train, etc. Anyway, I am glad for this because it ensures that I won’t do that either. Thank goodness for bubbly water so I can get some carbonation.

Eating at your desk is just not done where I work. You can have some coffee or tea and maybe some hard bread with cheese, but no one eats in front of their computer. This is another habit to avoid so I am glad of their good example. At my previous job I often did private work on the computer during lunch and so I sat at my desk, multitasking.

Ninety percent of my co-workers are men. This makes me a little shy to suggest lunch together though I do it sometimes. They don’t usually ask me so maybe this is just not done? But I’ve also noticed that you can just tag along with a group of 3 or 4 people that abruptly meets in the lobby without much planning. That’s cool.

The language spoken at my office is Swedish but since I am fairly new and don’t want to misunderstand things, I usually ask for and speak English in meetings. I try to speak Swedish as much as possible and I try to send email in Swedish. But going to lunch with a bunch of co-workers guarantees that there will be lots of Swedish spoken. This is great because I get to practice but not so great because I usually only understand 50% of what’s happening. I’ve noticed that when there is ambient noise (like you find in a restaurant at lunchtime), I find it much harder to understand what people are saying. I think that must be a reflection of the fact that much of human language is tone, timing, and things other than just the words. You don’t notice it so much until it’s missing…

Kristin Lund

March 13, 2012