Aalia: »I have applied for more than 500 jobs«
Nine persons tells how difficult it is getting into the Swedish finance industry if you have a foreign background, and that advancing in your career is just as hard. Here is Aalia’s story. Her name has been changed to protect her identity.
Aalia moved to Sweden ten years ago. She has a finance degree from her home country and has worked in banking for several years. In Sweden she supplemented her education with a degree in economics at a Swedish university and a course in Swedish, but despite that she could not get a job in finance.
– I have applied for so many jobs, more than 500. I got a few interviews, but I did not go any further, Aalia says.
Eight times higher unemployment rate among foreign born
She got a job in elementary school in the meantime.
– I kept applying for a job in finance, but I didn’t get any.
By coincidence, Aalia met a person working in banking who told her about a job she could apply for. Aalia e-mailed and got an interview right away and got the job shortly afterwards.
– I was lucky to meet this person, Aalia says.
Connections and network are crucial to get into the Swedish finance sector, according to Aalia. She can see that clearly now, working in a Swedish bank.
– Whenever there is a job ad, the managers first ask if the team knows anyone that would suit the role. We also have ads on the company’s intranet. Those are prioritized, only after that they will look at external applications.
That makes it difficult for people with a foreign background to get a job, according to Aalia.
– It is more difficult when you’re not Swedish. But I can’t say it is discrimination. The manager who hired me was Swedish, she could have found another Swedish person to hire instead.
A lot of competent natives are also rejected for lacking the right contacts, she says.
Aalia thinks that both natives and foreign born need to work together to increase diversity. She is now applying for a new job in finance but has not yet received an offer.
– It’s easier to get interviews now, but it’s difficult to reach all the way.
