Education and career prospects

speaker:
Being new in Sweden and trying to establish yourself on the labour market can be a challenge. What career should I aim for, or do I need more education? And if I do – a long or a short one? Arbetsförmedlingen offers support and guidance for those of you who are new in in the country and are trying to find a position in the job market here in Sweden.

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Ziza Madani:
Welcome to the New in Sweden podcast. A podcast where we give tips and advice on job hunting and finding employment here in Sweden. This podcast is for those of you who haven’t been in Sweden very long. So, a lot of things may be new for you. The title of today’s podcast is “Education and career prospects.” My name is Ziza Madani and I’m joined here in the studio by my colleague Pär Axelsson who also works here at Arbetsförmedlingen, the Swedish Public Employment Service. Good to see you again, Pär.

Pär:
You too, Ziza.

Ziza:
Today we're going to talk about a topic that you and I are particularly passionate about. Career prospects and education.

Pär:
Exactly. We'll use a couple of examples of people and what advice on training and education we can give them. And we'll get to listen to tips from an expert. Not only once – but twice.

Ziza:
That's right. And we'll get to her in a moment. But first of all, why is education so important?

Pär:
Here is the thing. Almost every job in Sweden requires some form of formal training or education, and paperwork to back it up. Without that it will be much more difficult to find a job.

Ziza:
Okay. Let’s bring up the two examples we talked about to make it a little clearer to illustrate your point.

Pär:
Yup. Let’s have a look.

Ziza:
Okay. So, our first example is George. He’s 38 years old and he has not attended upper secondary school. He hasn’t been through the gymnasium, as it’s called in Sweden. So, he doesn’t have a high school diploma, but he has worked in different professions in his home country. He has done construction work and he has worked in restaurants. George is thinking about getting a high school level vocational training, but he is not sure what to train for.

Pär:
I understand.

Ziza:
So, what tips would you give George?

Pär: There are a lot of shorter education programs that can get you into jobs with good career prospects. For example, you can train as an assistant nurse in one year and start working in healthcare. It’s an important profession and it looks like it will be in demand for many years to come.

Ziza:
Assistant nurse. That’s a job that makes a difference, isn’t it? Excellent. Any more tips for George about jobs he could train for? Something that wouldn’t take too long.

Pär:
Sure. If George doesn’t want to work in healthcare, I would suggest something else. Chef, carpenter, painter, plumber, or truck driver. These are all jobs that are in demand in Sweden, so they should all have a bright future. And there are many other professions to work in, where it’s relatively easy to get a job. We have plenty of information on our website, arbetsformedlingen.se.

Ziza:
Great. So, a lot of possibilities for George, then. Our second example is Halima. She is 27 years old and has completed upper secondary education (that is, high school) and worked as a teacher in her home country. She wants to secure her future and is aiming for a university education.

Pär:
If she is prepared to take on studies at a college or university, there are good opportunities for a good career and a higher salary. According to the Swedish Public Employment Service's own forecasts, there are many jobs in the field of health and medical care with a bright future. We are talking about professions like nurse, physician, pharmacist, midwife, biomedical analyst, counsellor, and occupational therapist.

Ziza:
What about other areas?

Pär: In the field of education, we have teacher, special educator, and preschool teacher.

Ziza:
Well, good teachers are always needed. More?

Pär:

In the field of IT, we find professions like software and system developers, system analyst, game developers, and IT architects.

Ziza:
IT sounds like a safe bet. Do we have any other areas?

Pär:
Yes, there are engineering professions. And environmental and health inspectors.

Ziza:
So, to sum things up, there are many opportunities for those who are ready to study, both a shorter training and a longer college education.

Pär:
That's right.

Ziza:
Now I’m interested in hearing what tips our expert Ellinor has.

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Ellinor Wassberg: If you’re not sure what education to choose, I have two tips for you. The first tip is to write down what you are good at, and what you enjoy doing. Once you've written it down, you can get in touch with someone to talk about which occupations might suit you. You can, for example, talk to a friend, a study and career advisor (studie- och yrkesvägledare), or an employment officer (arbetsförmedlare) at Arbetsförmedlingen. It’s easier for that person to help you when you can show the list of what you are good at. The second is to try one of our digital services at arbetsformedlingen.se. The digital service I recommend is an interest guide. In the guide you answer some questions. When you have finished the questions, you will receive a description of yourself, based on your answers. You also get suggestions for occupations that might suit you. I hope that these suggestions can help you decide which education to choose.

Ziza:
Sounds like useful advice from Ellinor.

Pär:
I agree. Every year, Arbetsförmedlingen conducts surveys and publish reports on what professions that will have a good future, what jobs will be in demand both in the short term and in the long term. It is a good idea to look at these forecasts on our website, before making decisions about what you want to train for. You will find them on our website, arbetsformedlingen.se.

Ziza:
Anything more?

Pär:
Yes. It’s a good idea to talk to people who actually work in the profession or have experience of the education you are interested in, to get a picture of what you’re getting into and what the job actually entails.

Ziza:
We have another message from our expert Ellinor on what support Arbetsförmedlingen can offer.

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Ellinor:
It is smart to learn more about a profession before deciding on what to study. If you have an occupation that you think might suit you, you collect more information from digital services at arbetsformedlingen.se. If you use the Swedish version of arbetsformedlingen.se, then click on the heading “Yrke och framtid.” Then choose “Hitta yrken.” “Hitta yrken” has information about occupations and professions, including tasks, salary, and educational requirements. For many occupations, you can also watch a film, where a person talks about what it’s like to work within that occupation. Another digital service that can help you is “Hitta yrkesprognoser.” “Hitta yrkesprognoser”has information about future forecasts for about two hundred occupations and professions. There you will find out whether it will be easy or difficult to find a job within the occupation in the future. When you choose an education, it’s smart to keep in mind if you will have good chances of getting a job when you’re finished, or not.

Ziza:
It's time for us to wrap things up, Pär. Anything more you want to add before we do?

Pär:
Yes. Listen with both your heart and your brain.

Ziza:
How do you mean?

Pär:
Well, the heart wants you to work with something you are really passionate about, while the brain says that you have to think about your chances of finding a job after your training or education. You need to find a balance. Get an education in a field you actually want to work in, and where you can find a job with good prospects, a job that will be in demand for a while, so that you can have a job in the future as well.

Ziza:
Those will be the final words. Thank you, Pär, and thank you, Ellinor, for all the tips. And thank you for listening. We will be back in a couple of weeks. Take care until then.

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speaker:
You have been listening to the New in Sweden podcast by Arbetsförmedlingen. You can find all previous episodes at arbetsformedlingen.se/play. Have you got any questions, tips, or ideas? Please email us at podcast@arbetsformedlingen.se. This episode was produced in the summer of 2023.

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