If you associate the collocation ‘dream city’ with Stockholm, looking for a job in Sweden might be an excellent idea for you. Today, we’re happy to introduce to you Teodora, (the name has been changed), who has already moved to Stockholm to work as a Software Dev. In her interview, she shared some amazing facts about living and working in Sweden. Read it to the end: there are also some useful tips on relocation to Sweden!

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Short bio

Time in the industry: 10 years

Favorite tech stack: .NET

Passions outside of work: Travelling

What inspired you to look for IT jobs in Sweden and eventually move there?

I visited Stockholm and fell in love with it from first glance. So, here I am — I’ve been living in Sweden for 5 months now.

Tell us a little about the selection process for the position of Software Developer at Cint. What should people expect?

I can say, that the selection process for my position was very effective. It was over in 2 weeks since I had applied, and included 3 interview rounds. Having passed them all, I received my job offer.

RelocateMe Note: Cint is a Swedish company, building the insights exchange market — a place to provide or obtain demographic and profiling data of your survey respondents, registered customers, etc. The amount of data Cint holds and processes is really vast, as the marketplace has 50 million registered users who interact with it via 1500 consumer panels. The company has its offices in 15 cities across the world, including Stockholm, London, and Barcelona.

What was the role of RelocateMe during the process?

RelocateMe specialists informed me about the rules, taxes, and prices in Stockholm, so I knew all the necessary information before I moved. The company supported me constantly, answering all my questions and helping me to resolve the issues. Moreover, RelocateMe helped me to obtain my work permit in Sweden.

What was the visa process like? What type of visa did you apply for?

Honestly, I don’t even know the details 🙂 RelocateMe and Cint handled everything for me. All I had to do was to leave my fingerprints and biometrics at the passport office. That was all.

RelocateMe Note: To get a work permit, you need to have been offered a job. Moreover, you must obtain a valid passport, and your terms of employment must correspond to Swedish collective agreements. As for your salary, it must be enough for you to support yourself (at least SEK 13,000 per month.) When you begin to work, your employer must provide you with health, life, employment, and pension insurance.

If you live outside the EU, you can apply for an EU Blue Card. To get it, you must have a relevant university degree or 5+ years of work experience, health insurance, and an employment contract or offer. If you’re relocating with your partner/ spouse and children, you should provide their passports/birth certificates and visas. 

How long did it take for you to actually move after accepting the job offer?

For me, job relocation was a comparatively short journey. It took me 2 months to relocate to Stockholm and begin to work.

What has been the most helpful thing in adapting to your new home abroad?

My colleagues were very patient, and they helped me a lot. Moreover, as my company offered me an advanced relocation package and visa sponsorship, I didn’t have to care about the details.

Share a few words about your new team. Are you the only foreigner?

The team is great — it’s well-organized and stable. I’m also happy that the management implements rational planning techniques, which impact our work positively. I’m not the only foreigner, there are a lot of us 🙂 However, the project teams are small (usually about 3-5 team members.)

Cint Stockholm office celebrating St. Lucy Day. Image source

What are the 3 things that impressed you the most about Sweden and Stockholm in particular?

It’s culture, environment, and society.

How do you find the cost of living in Stockholm? According to Numbeo, the average cost of rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the center of Stockholm is 1,200 EUR + 70 EUR for utilities (electricity, water, etc.). Is that true?

The center of Stockholm is a wide term. I believe that to live 3 km far from the Old Town, you need 1200-1600 EUR for a one bedroom apartment, not a sharing room. However, the price also highly depends on the street and the apartment qualities — whether it is renovated or not, etc. One should also bear in mind that the rent is usually not long-term (keep reading to learn, why.)

In general, is it hard to find an apartment for rent in Stockholm? Could you name a couple of websites to search on?

Blockset is a nice website for searching for an apartment, along with Qasa, JustLanded, and HousingAnywhere.

RelocateMe Note: Whenever Swedish landlords want to sublet their apartment, they need to ask the board of directors of the particular building for permission to do that. Moreover, many people only sublet their flats while on vacation or working abroad. Hence the length of the contract usually varies from 1 to 6 months. If you’re a lucky one, you can extend your contract to another 6 months, but don’t expect to find anything for more than a year. A quick tip: to save some money, think twice whether you really need to live in the center of Stockholm or any other city. Living in a suburb area can be cheaper, and, as the public transport in Sweden is more than convenient, you will be able to get to the city center in 15 minutes or less.

If you had to define public transport in Stockholm in 2 or 3 words, what would they be?

As I live close to the office, I don’t use public transport very often. However, I can say that it is clean, effective, and punctual.

How has relocation to Sweden affected you (your life, your career)? Do you regret moving here?

I am very satisfied — Stockholm is even better than I thought! I expect to grow both personally and professionally here.

Going through all that, what advice would you give? What was your recipe for success?

Work hard, do your best, learn whenever you have time/energy and don’t forget to be patient and honest 🙂

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If you now feel a strong urge to relocate to Sweden, drop us a line. We’re always happy to provide tech professionals with a tech relocation assistance of full value.