My Swedish Career - Archive

'What can I bring to Sweden that is unique?'
Trevor Adams, 23, tells The Local how he went from washing dishes to running his own restaurant franchise after turning his weakness in the Swedish jobs market into a unique strength.

'There's a Swedish mentality of not mixing'
Irina Jingqi Liu from China tells of her struggles to make it on Stockholm's start-up scene.

'I thought to myself: what have I done with my life?'
Chen Zijia Pennie from China tells The Local of how she moved to Stockholm to work as a teacher – and ended up learning a lot about herself in the process.

'I was a bit headstrong when I arrived in Sweden'
Jordan Nasser moved to Stockholm in 2008 after landing a job at fashion giant H&M. After six years he’s given up his career to become an author. He tells The Local why.

'Running is for creative types, not just nerds'  From working front of house at Stockholm's biggest summer club to launching a running and lifestyle brand aimed at hipsters, 35-year-old Australian Kristian Hell is one of the hottest names on the capital's creative scene and says networking is the key to his success.

'There were no good brunch spots in Sweden' When British expats Laura Hinton and Tyrone Poh-Janrell found there was no place to go for a good brunch in Stockholm they decided to take matters into their own hands. The Local spoke to the owners of the Greasy Spoon cafe.

'I didn’t want to just be the Dala horse guy' Israeli-born American graphic designer and street artist Shai Dahan gained media attention when he painted a Dala horse in his town of Borås. He tells The Local how the criminal act launched his career.

'I can sit in a meeting and hear roosters' Desmond Wong, 35, from Vancouver, Canada, designs 'user experiences' for a living and has had a few unique ones of his own at his company's unusual office space in Bromma, Stockholm.

'Swedes have a different kind of creativity' A space where global meets local, where people come together to make both the world and their own neighbourhood a better place – such was the dream of two international students living in Sweden two years ago. Here, they tell The Local how they are on their way to making it happen.

'We give you the chance to drink through history' History buff Tiffany Alnefelt, 30, met her Swedish husband while she was studying in Ireland. The pair now run an alternative tour for visitors to Stockholm, via some of the city's oldest pubs. Bobbie Carlson tagged along.

Tech, drums, and a passion for fashion Simon Teng, 46, was born and raised in Malaysia, spent 15 years living in Switzerland and has now made a name for himself in Sweden, working for global telecoms company BT, as he tells Odessa Fardipour.

'The art scene in Sweden is less competitive' Artist Stuart Mayes, 46, left London for Sweden three and a half years ago and is not planning to move back. Despite the death of his half-Swedish partner, Stuart’s love affair with Sweden remains solid, as he tells us.

'I met my Swedish man in Tokyo's first Ikea store' Ai Hiroshima Hjelm, 32, met her future husband after a chance encounter in Asia's first Ikea store and now lives with him in Stockholm, where she runs her own yoga and dance business.

'I came to Sweden for orienteering and stayed' Mimmi Nilsson meets Australian Evan Barr, who came to Sweden to represent his country in an orienteering competition but changed lanes to work as a road traffic designer in Stockholm.

'Australian sport helped me settle in Sweden' Giulia Armiero talks to Simon Fittock, 27, who leads a compelling double life teaching mathematics while competing in Australian Football League contests.

Meet the man snapping Stockholm's subway What's an American photographer doing snapping photos of people in Stockholm's subway? The Local spoke to Evian Pantiel, the man behind the camera exploring Stockholm's colourful subway lines.

'Snowboarding brought me to Sweden' Vasja Petkovska left sunny Skopje in Macedonia to work in Stockholm a year ago. For this week's My Swedish Career, the snow-loving IT consultant tells The Local how she's warming up to the idea of living here for good.

Syrian asylum seeker hosts Swedish start-ups Two years after being granted asylum in Sweden, Rabi Hanna, 32, is a Chief Technology Officer at a Stockholm-based web domain company and speaks to The Local.

Expat pianist seeks key to Sweden's music scene For this week's My Swedish Career, Mimmi Nilsson meets Ho Wan Jeremy Leung, a British-Chinese pianist and music teacher based in southern Sweden. Rediscovering his passion for music, he hopes to pass on his enjoyment of playing the piano to others.

'I'm one of 300 people in the world with my job' The Local's Mimmi Nilsson chats to Robin Allen, a British flight inspector who recently touched down in Norrköping. With a happy-go-lucky attitude, he says he's 'winging it' in Sweden, but seems to have made a safe landing so far.

Foreign students scrub their way to success Four international students who share a passion for sustainable development have filled a gap in the Swedish market for eco-friendly cleaning. For this week's My Swedish Career, we meet the founders of a new green business designed to make a lasting difference.

French foodie starts new pastry food trend Forget traditional Swedish cinnamon buns or last year's trend for US-style cupcakes. For this week's My Swedish career we meet Sophie Maillard, a French entrepreneur who is cooking up a market for the French pastry canelé in Stockholm.

Young Serbian shouts for students in Sweden We meet Dejan Bojanic, an international youth coordinator working for Save the Children in Stockholm. With a beating heart for education, he’s moved from Serbia to Sweden to create a global youth network.

'I'm spreading Japan's cute culture in Sweden' We meet American Carolynn Piittisjärvi, an entrepreneur who has already managed to turn several hobbies into Swedish businesses. She has just launched a store selling Japanese clothes, toys and stationary in the hope of spreading ‘kawaii’.

Meet the Italian sketching a new Swedish future The Local chats to Filippo Vanzo, a freelance illustrator who started to picture life in Stockholm after meeting his Swedish girlfriend online.

From Prima Ballerina to Sweden dance teacher We meet Gina Tse, a British-Chinese Prima Ballerina in Stockholm. Dancing has helped her through personal struggles and she is now sharing her knowledge with young expat dancers.

American woman starts Swedish online toystore We meet Leigh Neil, who one day came to realize that there was a gap in the Swedish market for children's toys and decided to do something about it.

Italian musician jazzes up Swedish Lapland We meet Italian musician Luigi Bozzolan, whose love for jazz led him to move to Sweden, not once but twice. Now lingering in Lapland, he's sharing his passion with students in the frozen north.

Sweden is 'perfect fit' for French fashionista The Local speaks with Faustine Rostand, who came to Sweden as an exchange student and fell in love - with the culture. But she told The Local she has found it tricky adapting to Sweden as a French woman.

Plucked out of Canada for love and guitars The story of a Canadian who came to Sweden for love and now works in Lidköping, custom-making guitars.

Expat puts 'faith' into starting travel business US expat Faith George tells The Local about how she mastered the Swedish language, seeing the positives in being made redundant, and how she plans to show Swedes another side of the United States.

How one man took the roundabout way to his Swedish career goal For Thai painter and photographer Woo, the path to career success in Sweden has been anything but a walk in the park. Now planning his first exhibit, Woo tells The Local about humility, communication, and how to find your place in Sweden.

'Success is all about having the right spices' Karim Rezaul, owner of Sweden's Indian Garden restaurant chain, tells The Local about his newest restaurant, life for a Bangladeshi man in Stockholm, and the importance of "having the right mix of spices" to spark a successful Swedish career.

From diapers to diamonds: Confessions of a Stockholm 'manny' Alex Sperry, one of a rare breed of Stockholm few male nannies, or "mannies", talks to The Local's Tara Sonnorp about his journey from a farm in Missouri to the swanky streets of Stockholm to care for kids of the super-rich.

'Isolation in Sweden put my art on world stage' Yorkshireman and denim artist Ian Berry locked himself in a studio for three years in the small Swedish town Landskrona. The isolation took little toll, instead his career took a big leap – so big it outran him.

'Tech-savvy Swedes still love postcards' Marketing manager Erika Garcia walks The Local through her professional transition from Mexico to Sweden, and what she learned about machismo, long-term plans, and the unusual clout of snail mail in Sweden's high-tech society.

'Be persistent, not pushy' for Swedish career Human rights expert Rhodri C. Williams tells The Local how moving from his Baltic island base to the mainland helped launch his career in Stockholm's international law community.

Londoner all woolly inside for B&B alpacas Londoner Paul Nicholls ploughed snow and erected 3G masts to make his fortune in Sweden, but his favourite furry creatures were never far from mind. He tells The Local about affection-hungry Speedy Gonzales, and the other 25 alpacas at his new bed and breakfast.

Costa Rican chess fans keep website in check In this week's look at foreigners who have made a name for themselves in Sweden, we talk to two Costa Ricans who have started a successful chess website and aim to eventually see the game taught in Swedish classrooms.

How an American rose to be a top Swedish lobbyist As part of our ongoing series of Swedish career profiles, The Local catches up with American Billy McCormac to find out how he went from refurbishing antique furniture to heading one of Sweden's most influential real estate lobbying organizations.

A jobless grad's road to a Swedish IT giant After a bumpy ride on Sweden's unemployment roller coaster that ended with a position at Swedish telecom giant Ericsson, Jessica Nkusi, an HR consultant from Rwanda, has learned a thing or two about finding a job in Sweden.

The British barber a cut above the rest Having thrown down the towel in Swedish class, new Stockholmer Paul Davies picked up a brush and razor to build His Swedish Career on trendy Swedish men's new-found love of a full beard.

UK's 'humble gardener' sows Swedish TV career John Taylor is perhaps best known as the man with the green thumbs and a slight English accent on a weekly gardening show on television. He tells The Local how he made a career out of "digging holes" in Sweden.

'Sweden saved my career from Spain's meltdown' For the longest time, architect Jon-Ander Azpiazu Juaristi held Spain's economic fizzle at arm's length, until rising unemployment caught up with him too. He tells The Local how moving to Sweden saved his career.

'If you've got a unique idea - just go for it' A 25-year-old dog lover from Texas unleashed an unusual business idea when she moved to Gothenburg three years ago, charting an unexpected path in building up her Swedish career.

'Be employable and ready to work damn hard' In our series profiling careers of foreigners who've moved to Sweden, The Local catches up with Australian Benedict Hugosson who came to Sweden for love and ended up launching a career in politics.

We wanted to do good, have fun and make money Ronia Virginia speaks to The Local about the transition from being a full-time homemaker to helping Swedish firms trying to enter the Indian market.

Swedes don't want to see gaps in your CV Mexican love refugee and political science grad Paola Pancardo explains how she ended up working at the Tanzanian embassy in Stockholm.

I decided I had to chase down a job myself The Local catches up with Australian Mel Todaro whose wanderlust saw him end up in Sweden and settle down at a job with Universal Pictures in Stockholm.

'Getting a job in Sweden is about who you know' The Local catches up with Charles Schuettinger who arrived from the US to play handball before a detour in construction eventually led to a career in sales.

Tango junkie to cure aloof winter Swedes Hot steamy nights, bodies passionately embraced. The Swedish skies darken and autumn advances, but Binoy Milton D'souza is dancing his way through the autumn rains and encourages others to join him.  

The 'absolute truth' about tacos in Stockholm Unable to find good Mexican food after moving to Stockholm to study in 2008, Monterrey native David Licona now finds himself running La Neta, one of the most popular Mexican eateries in the Swedish capital. The Local finds out more.