We all came to Sweden – some of us had to come, some followed love and some were looking for a new adventure in a new country. All of us has our own professions – engineering, marketing, architecture, HR… Most of us good at English but only few of us cracked Swedish language. And we all want a job. So how are we gonna get it?
The only way you overcome the barriers and get the job is showing your passion!
Now you’re thinking – here is another article talking about some dreams, passions, emotions while you only need some formula to get a job. But think about this- without your passion how are you gonna compete with locals?
Let’s be honest, we all support diversity and hoping employers start to hire all the foreigners instead of locals. However diversity is effective when foreigners have the ability to bring different point of views on a subject which requires strong interest in that subject. Just being a foreigner will not make us a better choice. Truth is if a newcomer can’t convince the employer that he can make a difference and he just has the similar education and experience as the local but don’t know the local language, what’s the point hiring him? Would you hire him to your company? Why?
On the other hand, if you can show your passion then you can get the job even if one of the requirements is knowing Swedish. I have seen it happened!
Now, some of you might get interested in this passion thing, right? Others probably stopped reading after the first word of “passion” 🙂
Then, how to show our passion?
Showing your passion is generally confused with marketing yourself. Those two aren’t the same. And misuse of these two in an interview can cost you the job.
Marketing yourself means focusing on “you” – how successful you are, how social, how hardworking you are, how you always come up with creative ideas. These seems nice to hear but in reality they’re just empty bubbles. You cannot expect from people believe you just you say you’re perfect! Use “marketing yourself” feature only to show your confidence on your experience. There is no reason to be modest about your work but talking how perfect you are is not the way of doing it.
The most vital thing in an interview is whether you can show how passionate you are or not. Showing your passion focuses on “work” – what outcome did you get, what part of that work do you like most, why are you in this profession, what thrills you most in this job.
It’s easy to lose your focus when an interviewer asking you some cliche questions. Just in a second you can find yourself trying to prove how good “you” are. You need to get familiar with this feeling and learn to keep your focus even when you feel it.
What would it be like if your friend asks the same questions? “What are you working on these days?” “Great! What kind of things do you do there? How do you end up there?” I imagine your answers would be different regarding to who is asking – your friend or an interviewer. For one, your answers would sound like robotic and soulless whereas for the other genuine, more energetic and probably more persuasive.
How excited you sound or how your eyes spark makes the difference. Those are the ones you cannot fake it. And the employer knows it too. So if you can show your genuine interest and enthusiasm, your chances are really high getting the job.
One last example for your imagination: Let’s think about love. Sometimes people have list of criteria about dream woman/man such as she should like sports, he should be good looking etc. and evaluate people according to these criteria. But the one true love is always the one who can make the criteria list pointless.
Show your passion, make the job requirements pointless and get the job – This is the formula worth to try!
Adventures of a Job Hunter 