The Arbetsförmedlingen experience

I went to the Unemployment office yesterday. I thought that meant they help the unemployed find jobs just like in the States. Wrong.

I thought it would go something like this:

Me: Hej. Jag heter Lusa. I have a Swedish ID number now. Here are my qualifications. Please give me a job. Thank you.

Rep: Sure, here you go. Good luck! 

 Instead it went something like this:

Me: Hej. Jag heter Lusa. I have a Swedish ID number now. Here are my qualifications. Please give me a job. Thank you.

Rep: Hm, let me see. (She asks her colleague a question. Her colleague prints something from the Socialstyrelsen website that I have already seen and hands it to me. I inform them both I already know about the process but would like a job in the meantime) It doesn't quite work that way. Do you live here? Have you registered online yet? (points me to her monitor with the Unemployment website and proceeds to show me how to navigate on the Swedish website). You will need someone who speaks Swedish to help you. After registering, come back within 14 days.

Me:  Then you will help me find a job? (with a huge hopeful grin)

Rep: (Laughs) No, you have to find the job yourself. Please watch the video tutorial so you can understand how our system works. We have job coaches who can help you with your CV. But you apply online and find the job yourself. Sometimes employers call us too. You never know, there are so few psychologists here, there might be a market for you. One time, 5 psychologists showed up for a job posting. You should probably learn some Swedish too. Go to the Larcenter at the Piren, which is closed until August, and sign up for free Swedish classes. That should be your first step. After all, you will be working with Swedish people and you will need to speak Swedish. English is a nice language too. [this cracked me up] (Gives me directions on how to find the Larcenter, reminding me again that is the first step) Good luck and don't forget to come back within 14 days. Hejda.

I also spoke to the Socialstyrelsen in Stockholm who emailed me a bunch of confusing information on how to get licensed as a psych in Sweden. Basically, you submit an application, become proficient in Swedish, your supervisor verifies your proficiency, then you sit for a clinical exam. Then you can work. Since EVERYONE is on holiday during the summer, I have to wait until August until I can correspond with the person I was referred to to ask him if indeed I need to have good Swedish to even practice as a psych. That is SO NOT GONNA HAPPEN. I spent my whole life getting fluent in English, can hardly have a convo in Chinese and now Swedish?!! Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated about the whole process. This is on top of spending an entire day navigating through the uenmployment website in Swedish, and google translating everything, completing the online CV, then submitting my CV on other job sites too. I did find one position that seems PERFECT for me. Well, it's more like I would be perfect for them, but the psych that was listed under the contact info was most likely on holiday. I have called her two days in a row now. (sigh)  If I didn't mind being unemployed so much, I would be cool with this but I hate not having a job. I would even take a job unrelated to my profession at this point. This sucks given dkf has 2 jobs and is looking at a 3rd. He's awesome like that. :)

Socialism just isn't what I expected. Aren't they supposed to just hand you jobs??