Survey for Immigrants

Last week I received a survey from the Swedish Department of Statistics. They wanted the opinion of foreigners with higher education on the job market in Sweden. I have opinions on just about everything, and I certainly have plenty to say about this.

To start with, I was pleased that they sent a copy of the survey in English. Unfortunately it was so badly translated that I needed the Swedish one to figure it out. For example, it had questions like "I would have gotten between work details if I had Swedish nationality." Huh? I would have translated that to "I would have had better work duties if I had Swedish nationality." But what do they mean by nationality? Do they mean citizenship? Ethnic background? Frankly I think that makes a huge difference.

During the first three years that I lived here, I applied for about 50 jobs in my field (chemist, biochemist, analytical chemist, etc) , and I got a total of three interviews. All of these were first interviews. The official language for each of these three companies was English, yet the interviews were conducted at least partially in Swedish. It turns out that the official language only means that they occasionally have to write reports in English. All day-to-day activities require one to speak Swedish.

Now I had nothing against learning to speak Swedish. Two weeks after arriving in Sweden, I started Swedish for Immigrants at the local adult school. I've got plenty to say about the quality of this class, but I'll save that for another time. The following year, I switched to taking Swedish with Swedes. This turned out to be Swedes who needed to retake the equivalent of seventh grade in their own language, but that also, is another story. The following semester, I moved up to eighth grade. At this point I could converse fairly well in Swedish.

Not having a job or anything better to do, I started my third year in "high school" taking not only Swedish but science, social studies, religion, and even a class in web design. Now I have a bachelor's degree from UCSD which is valid in Sweden, so I didn't need to retake high school. I only did it to improve my Swedish. By the end of the semester I was really sick of school. My only friends were other immigrants.

I found an ad for an administrative position at Akzo Nobel, a huge international chemical company, in their paint department. I knew nothing about paint, but I could do admin in English. I asked a friend's husband who worked at the same company if he knew anything about this position, and he ended up hiring me as a temp to help with his department's year end bookkeeping crunch time. This eventually lead to me getting the job in the paint department. The title of R&D Coordinator was misleadingly interesting. I liked having co-workers and especially missed the company of other adults, but the work was rather dull, and my salary (1/3 of what I'd been making in the pharmaceutical industry in the US) hardly made it worth the hour-long commute. I worked there for over a year until Lina was born. Since then, I have not bothered looking for a job here. Instead, I started my own business as a photographer.

But back to the survey. Was I discriminated against at work? No. I was paid pathetic secretary wages because that was my job. I'm quite sure that the reason I got the job was because I'm American. My boss was Danish, and he worked long hours both at the facility in Copenhagen and in Malmo. He said he was looking for somebody who could write about chemistry in English, but that turned out to be only a very small part of the job. I think what he really wanted was somebody who would work as needed regardless of the time. When there was something that needed doing, I stayed and did it, even if it was time for coffee, or lunch, or time to go home. I knew he did not like my predecessor, and I heard that he didn't like my successor either. Both were Swedes. Unfortunately the survey didn't ask anything about work ethic.

It did ask a lot about my education and work history, both in Sweden and abroad. There was one question about what I was doing specifically last week where I was able to answer that I was working for my own business, but otherwise starting your own business had not been treated as a normal activity (such as being employed, being unemployed, or going back to school). Because of the way the Swedish Employment Office works, I was never technically unemployed during the three years that I was looking for work because I went to school at the same time. Another thing that I wish I could have said in the survey was that I would have better off had the local employment office not existed. I realize now that it was not their goal to help me find a job. They got their funding for enrolling me in one of their retraining programs; I would have been much better off without their so called assistance. First of all, they had no idea what I did as a biochemist/analytical chemist in the pharmaceutical industry, and honestly I don't think they cared. They did not consider my skills in English as anything noteworthy. Every now and then they would send me a tip on a job (something like manufacturing hair care products) but never anything for which I was remotely qualified or interested. Mostly they tried to get me enrolled in a training program to be a network technician. Mind you I had no interest in that, and my aptitude test certainly didn't point in that direction (it said I should be a judge). They also said my bachelor's degree was only valid for 10 years, so I'd have to retake all the background requirements including math. I think that was the last time I talked to them.

The one piece of advice that I got from the employment office was that I should use my husband's last name when applying for jobs. When they found out that I was already doing this (my husband's last name is Swedish, but very unusual), they mentioned that I may consider changing my name. This was mentioned only once, sort of hush-hush as an aside, but I'm pretty sure they were on to something here. I suspect that many of the resumes and cover letters I sent out were read no further than my name.

In short, are immigrants discriminated against here? Absolutely! Are employers racists? I doubt it. I think the problem lies in the labor unions, and the labor laws. But again, they didn't ask those questions.