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A foreign University Graduate’s Job-Seeking Adventure in Norway

After graduation, all students are nervous about finding a job and entering the workforce as a full-time employee. If you are “alien to the market”, it is even more stressful.

As a recently employed international student, Atila’s story reveals the challenge of getting a job as a non-Norwegian graduate and gives valuable tips.  If you finished your studies in Norway and are planning to settle down for a full time job here, there is more to know than the general job seeking tips. First of all, you will notice that most of the job posts are in Norwegian, and this gives you a good idea of what Norwegian employers are looking for – fluent Norwegian speaking workers. So, having a strong educational background is not, per se, enough to get a job. It is possible to find part-time jobs, mostly unqualified work, where Norwegian skills are not required, but competency in Norwegian opens up more opportunities for you in Norway.

Atila Ekimci, earning his Master’s degree in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the University of Oslo and working in Computas AS, verifies this fact. Ekimci came to Norway seeking a better education and to build upon his work career in the country.

After the first year of his study, he started applying for jobs which he found on websites such as finn.no, and nav.no. He was sending 1-2 job applications per month. “I was sending my application in English for every job posting in which Norwegian competency is not explicitly emphasized. But of course, I did not get any positive reply even from English speaking international companies. Some called me back and told they are looking for Norwegian speaking people,” he said.

An Application in Norwegian Makes a Difference

Afterward, Attila changed his strategy and contacted certain employment agencies. However, he was ignored by most of them. Then he realized that he would not have any chance, and nobody would care for him as a new English-speaking graduate. Nevertheless, he continued his struggle and tried to pick up some Norwegian on his own summer holiday.

From then on, he started to write all applications in Norwegian. His change in strategy worked this time, and some companies called him for interview.

Getting Job as an ‘Immigrant’

Being a foreigner in the job-seeking process may be both an asset and disadvantage. Even though it is not as common as in the rest of Europe, ’Immigrants’ are seen as people who enter the country just to exploit the welfare system. This stigma accompanying with other prejudices may be another challenge you face with your job seeking.

Atila Ekimci’s experiences after passing the threshold of Norwegian proficiency are self explanatory in this frame. Ekimci said that he was generally encountered with a skeptical attitude and strikingly biased questions from the interviewer because of his immigrant background. He says some of them questioned whether he would misuse the sick leave after he asked a question about it. He also had to explain some private issues: “They asked me whether I had a girlfriend, when they had learned that I came from a non-European country.” Ekimci, however, took notice that these attitudes cannot be generalized and that you can get past these labels just by your attitude and communication.

Likewise, Ekimci warns new graduates that they should not be broken and discouraged because they cannot get a job, but rather should strive to build communication and advance in the Norwegian Language. 

Be prepared to answer these questions before you go to an interview

Why are you in Norway?

Why did you choose to apply to this company?

What is your aspiration in this job?

What can you contribute to this company?

Ask your references: If you had a company, would you hire me? Why?

Fact Box: Did you know that you can be granted a residence permit as a jobseeker or to study Norwegian for a total of one year after graduating from a Norwegian higher education institution? Your purpose must be to seek employment as a skilled worker or specialist in Norway. However, the permit is not renewable. A new permit as a jobseeker cannot be granted until the applicant has stayed outside Norway for one year.

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