E008- Moving to Europe from India with Rajeev Jain
James Doran (00:07.79)
My name is James, your host. I'm a British person living in Sweden and today I'm joined with Rajiv who is an Indian gentleman living in Sweden as well. So it's very Sweden based today. But do you want to give us some introduction please? Sure. Hey James and everyone, myself Rajiv and I live in Malmo, Sweden and I'm working here for IKEA as a cyber security manager. I've been here for
now 2 .5 years plus and I moved here with my wife and now I have a son who's 14 months old so he was born here and I'm enjoying my paternity leaves right now but yeah so I moved from Jaipur so my native town is Jaipur which is in you know northern part of India Rajasthan you know that's that's where I've been born and lived almost all my life but before coming here I used to work in Bangalore.
So that's the IT city of India. So now I work for IKEA in Malmo. Yeah, it's been good. That's amazing. Interesting like the jump around and how cities in India kind of focus on a specialty. Is there any other else which has a similar thing? You said Bangalore's IT, is there another city which is a different specialty or is it more mixed? There are a few metro cities in India from my own, you know.
journey I started from Noida and then moved to actually I then moved to London I worked there as well and then moved to Gurgaon then Bangalore so there are few cities in India which are you know which have IT big companies offices but IT cities only Bangalore where almost you will find every IT companies office but then there is a northern part of India which is called as NCR that's where Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi capital city of India they all are part of NCR.
And that's where I started my journey. Amazing. Well, thank you for your introduction and we'll kind of see you all for section one, which is about getting there.
James Doran (02:14.126)
Welcome to section one of the podcast all about getting there now Rajiv you said you've come from India and you're now in Sweden. So what was your your reason for coming? Was it for did you have a job already signed here or did you want to live in Sweden first? Actually, like I said, I've been you know, I worked for one year in London and during my before coming to Sweden I had almost six years of six or seven years of experience.
And during that time, I worked with the US based clients, UK based clients, some of the European based clients. So I had a fair bit of, you know, idea how life is in Europe and specifically in UK Nordics area. So I actually, when I started looking for a job in Europe, Sweden was not the only target. I mean, there were a few other countries as well where I started looking for the job. But then,
Luckily, I found a job in IKEA and I found that job from India. So I applied on LinkedIn. Like it's not the first job I applied for, but then this was one of the jobs which I got selected for interview. And then the entire process happened, you know, all in place. But yeah, I got this job from India. I moved here directly to join IKEA. So I didn't work for IKEA in India.
Nice and what was that process like then moving over? Did they help you a lot with the transfer or was it a lot of yourself? Yes and this is an interesting story because so I was supposed to join on 1st of April 2020 in Malmo and I actually packed my bags, sold all my stuff because I knew I'll be you know living here for long and then obviously Covid happened with everyone but then
on 23rd or 24th of March, lockdown was announced in India. All the flights and everything was closed. So that one, since the day lockdown happened, there was a little bit of stressful time, but I sold everything. I was kind of packed my bags planning to move here. And then I was supposed to start my job on 1st of April in Sweden, and that couldn't happen.
James Doran (04:30.894)
But luckily, you know, I care supported me. And then I started my job from I care India itself. That time there was no digital office in India, but I started from there itself working from home. And then when I, when the lockdown was, you know, open, then I moved there in September. So the first week lockdown open, I flew and I moved there. But then during those six months, I care kind of supported me a lot. One.
to make, you know, to help me to start from India itself. Second, from visa perspective as well, because the first visa I got, I couldn't travel on that visa. So I had to go through the same process again. So I moved there with the second visa, which I got. And during this entire process, I had mobility team from IKEA who helped me through the visa.
through my stay in Bangalore, how can I start from the Bangalore itself working for IKEA Sweden. So that was really helpful and it will, three times I applied the visa. So the process part is quite easy. I mean, that's not very stressful. The waiting period for the decision, that's what is stressful. And that's not in your control. That's in no one's control. Yeah, my decision came during the summer break.
So I had submitted my I think end of May or started June and I was waiting and waiting for a response but it happened on the 17th of July, the acceptance, but the people in the mobility team that were helping me move were on vacation. So I didn't have to find out until August that I had received it three weeks ago. And then as you had said, I moved out my house and was planning to fly instantly and it was all a bit of a nightmare but.
I got here as well eventually. Yes, yes. And with your, so you've kind of had your delay back at home. Were your visas different between the first one, second one or were they the same visa type? No, it was the same visa. The problem was that if you don't travel within the first four months of the visa, you know, there could be an issue.
James Doran (06:51.085)
when you apply a PR or you go for an extension. So that was something which was done to see the future. I could have still traveled with the same visa, but then I would have lost those six months actually. So I traveled after six months. So I would have lost those six months when in future I would have applied for PR or citizenship, especially PR actually. So then the mobility team decided no, we should apply.
for the visa again. Anyways, I was not able to travel for another two months. So that was the only extra time it took. And then I was here by the time everything started getting normal. And with your visas, every year you just renew them? No, I think for me there was an issue because my passport had only one and a half year of life left. So I had to apply it again after one and a half year, but generally you get it for two years first.
and then you get it extended or renewed for another two years. And then there is when you go for the third extension, if it's two plus two, then chances are that you might be a PR because there is a eligibility of 48 months and then you spend some time and then instead of giving you an extension, they might give you a PR. So that depends in situation to situation. Okay. So when you moved, did you have a correlation kind of already figured out for when you landed or?
Yeah, yeah. So I like I said, the mobility team, they had, you know, the responsibility of visa, my flight tickets, and my accommodation as well. So there was a company which, you know, provided by IKEA, which actually was supposed to give me some options before even before landing here, or even though I didn't say yes to any of those options before landing here, because I wanted to see the area location, how's and everything. But they as soon as I landed,
They showed me an apartment in the first week itself and I think I am one of the few lucky ones who actually moved into my own rented apartment in the second week itself. So I didn't stay in the hotel for more than 12 days actually after moving here. And they only actually supported me with the bank process, bank account opening process and personal number process, getting an appointment for ID card.
James Doran (09:15.885)
So and maybe again I would say I'm more lucky at that time because due to lockdown and everything there was not much rush during that specific time. So I got everything done within short period. Even I got my decision in two weeks itself. So yeah again it's more of the timing thing. Now it's totally different. It took 13 weeks for when I went and it's like...
The bandwidth is huge. It says, it's between two and 18 weeks. And people I know who joined Volvo and I obviously worked for the Polestar, they were saying, 10 days. I got it in 10 days. So I'm like, what? I arrived like three days after you and yours. It's such a lottery, I think, with how it works. But now I've got it all and it's much easier.
No, my extension took two months because now the situation is different. Even I'm not sure if everybody knows that some of the companies or most of the companies can apply with a FastTrack certificate. So if your application is with a FastTrack certificate, you get a decision earlier than a regular application. So I got now the second one in two months, but I've heard with a lot of people.
that they hadn't got to decision in six months, even nine months ago. Yeah, I know a friend of mine who's also from India who I work with, he's waiting for his his permanent residency to come through. But that's been over six months. And I suppose you can you can then chase up again if it's been longer than that. So he's going through that process. But I guess we're obviously with high influx of refugees at the moment into the country. The Scalersbucket are very busy. It's understandable.
But yeah, it's really interesting. And then, because isn't it just, one thing that I found really hard is finding a house here, because the whole home queue system and first -hand, second -hand contracts. I don't know if Malmo is the same as, I live in Gothenburg, which is second biggest city in the country. But I think Malmo's not much smaller. But I'm living in like a long -term Airbnb situation, which is furnished and everything. It's a lot more expensive than what I would get.
James Doran (11:32.653)
if I had done some research but it was just easy and then I'm looking now to see if I can move out and find somewhere cheaper but I've got 60 days on HomeQ and like the apartment which is two beds or two rooms even is 800 points which is you know over over two years you have to wait before you can rent something it's crazy no I think and this is again from my own experience that the apartment I moved in when I'm
You know, when I moved to Sweden, I've changed another one. So I'm living in the, in the second apartment. And I, when I was looking for the change, I, I kind of, you know, figured out that there is a, I mean, if you, there are two factors, one is which area you're looking for, then yes, the queue would be huge. I, the apartment I'm living in, this was the same area I was living already in my previous, I got this, you know, apartment within seven days.
So I was on the queue. Not many people were in the queue in this area. And the second reason is that there is a range of rent which everybody kind of wants to have their apartment. So if you are trying to find out an apartment within that range, yes, there would be a long queue. Like in Malmo, if you go to the Malmo Central, you can get a bigger apartment or more space in reasonable price. But if you come in Helia,
or any outer or new areas, then you might get the same space and a little bit extra rent. So I kind of had this flexibility that I wanted to have a house earlier or more sooner because my parents were supposed to move here. My baby was, my wife was actually. So then I figured out that if you want to have a specific area and within specific range, yes, then there would be a queue. But if you are able to, you know,
sacrifice some choices then maybe you can have a house more quicker than you're going to learn to use the system in your advantage right yes yes exactly a washing machine that's one thing i find really weird is that people don't have washing machines in their house they have like laundry rooms in the basement since the work i'm looking while you're now there is one but on homeq again it's like there's not one in the house it's really
James Doran (13:56.685)
But that's just, yeah, I guess I'm quite privileged to have had that growing up everywhere I've been. But yeah, so I don't think there's any much information you have to give on how you got here or are we good to go into section two? I think yes. Maybe I can add is that, you know, and that's what I've been trying to do now is that I got this job in Sweden through LinkedIn and I got this job directly from India.
A lot of people I know they kind of came here on some project and then switched jobs here. But I kind of feel and this is what I'm trying to do right now is that it's possible to get jobs from India. It's not like, not only India, but even outside Sweden, I'm saying you don't have to be present here to get this job. Obviously you get benefit, but then there are better chances of getting a job because yes, there are a lot of shortage of IT people. That's what I know.
That's a great, great tip. Thank you for that. Great, so we'll finish section one and we'll see you all for section two.
James Doran (15:06.861)
Welcome back to the broadcast and welcome to section two all about being there. So Rajiv, you've now moved to Sweden. So what was your first day like? What was it like to get off the plane and step foot onto Swedish soil? How did you find that? The first day I would say first or actually I landed here in the evening. So I would not say the first day, but the first two days was a little bit, you know, a different experience because the part of.
the world India I come from over there, the lockdown was quite serious. So we had to wear a mask. We were, you know, kind of not going anywhere outside. And when we came here, and this is something I still talk about that the situation was totally different in Sweden. And when me and my wife, we went around in supermarket or looking around our first two days, you're always wearing that mask, right? So because we had that habit of wearing mask in India.
So when we came here and started doing that, nobody was wearing mask here. And that's what the approach was. I mean, I kind of got to know it a little bit later, but then people were actually looking at us. Why are these people wearing masks? I mean, it was more of a, it felt like we had some symptoms. That's why we are wearing those masks and not anyone else. So we kind of had to discontinue that practice after the first two days.
And then everything was fine. But overall, the experience of coming here and we kind of moved here, I think just before a weekend or there was a weekend in Fudel. And that's when the actual surprise happened. Because in India, if there are two days where people go out, that's Saturday, Sunday. If you go anywhere, in any market, any shopping mall or any restaurant or anywhere, you will find people everywhere.
because that's the weekend right over here saturday was still okay but i was quite surprised to see sunday like there was nobody out there on sunday yes and and a lot of restaurants got you know closed by six and i was like okay so second day nothing to eat obviously we didn't we didn't bought much of the groceries from india we did have something to eat but then we went around to look for a restaurant on a sunday and then we were like
James Doran (17:29.645)
except Burger King and McDonald's and all these kinds of restaurants, all of them are closed. Shopping malls closed. And you're like, OK, so Sunday is the day to sit at home and do your own work. And that's been like that since class two, two and a half years. So now Sunday is more of a relaxing day rather than going out day.
Yeah, because I came over for a work trip for two weeks when I first came to Sweden in 2021. It was September and similar to you saying, the UK where I was living was still had masks everywhere. You still had some level of restrictions. And I came to Sweden and I was wearing my mask on the bus to the office and everyone was like, is this person doing this? And yeah, it's quite, you do feel people are only watching you more because of it.
And it seemed to me I came on a Sunday quite late and I got a bus to my hotel and I tried to find some food and went down to the hotel bar to get food. I was like, but it's seven o 'clock on day. How do you not have food? My watch is turning off now. So they said, you have to get fedora. And I was like, okay. So I tried to get, but I haven't got a phone number so I couldn't use fedora.
I was like, so I'm just going to starve and then Uber Eats came to my rescue with food and food. But it was such a complete culture shock because in the UK, like everything is open most of the time now. It's a blessing and a curse because I do like the way it is here. I do like you have to plan ahead like Sistemberlade for instance, you have to make sure you get it all before Sunday if you want friends over for a dinner. I just go to the shops and buy a bottle of wine.
And Sunday was still not that, you know, surprising or shocking for me. But then, you know, the first summer started, Easter weekend. I went to Kalmar with my friends. And again, and I kind of do this comparison from India because that was the first year and we still have that, you know, mindset coming in from your own country, right?
James Doran (19:48.749)
So we went to Kalmar over that Easter weekend and then literally everything was closed. Like it was more of a zombie town where we didn't have anything to... We went out to have dinner and there was no place open even on a Saturday, not even Sunday. And then we eventually had to survive with the ham shop, yeah, those frozen food which you can buy from ham shop. So then I realized that...
a holiday weekend or a holiday time is for everyone, not just for us as an office, going people, but for restaurants and for everybody. And that's not how it's like in India because in India, holiday or these periods, restaurants and it's more business period for people go out and eat a lot. But that was quite surprising. So that was one of the incidents which actually...
opened my eyes that I should avoid planning these holiday periods within Sweden at least. Yeah, no it's a very good point. Yeah, because even the same when it's like Easter or bank holidays everyone's like yeah come in we want your money because you're off work and downtime for workers is up time for hospitality.
But yeah, I think it's a good idea though to have everyone have a time off because they also deserve it and it's nice to look inside and be with your friends and family more. You know, I look forward to these times off all the time and it'd be unfortunate if they didn't have the opportunity themselves. I guess my next question with regards to being here is the language. How did you find when you first came over the Swedish language? Okay, it was...
The good part of living here is that yes, initially when I went to supermarket or to buy anything, everybody obviously starts conversation in Swedish. But if you request them that, okay, can we have this conversation in English? And it's still now when I call to a bank or do anything over a call, I request that and everybody switches back to English because I don't...
James Doran (22:00.109)
I think that's a problem here. Kind of everybody knows English. Maybe few, maybe few I don't know. I haven't had that experience till now. But yes, there are cases where the start is with Swedish. But when you request or now sometimes people actually recognize us that with this face, I'm an Asian person. So they might not start with Swedish first. But yeah, I mean, I don't think language has been an issue since I've been here.
But over the last two and a half years, I've started, I'm not still learning Swedish, but I've grasped some words, what you need to do shopping, you go to grocery, you know Swedish words of, you know, groceries, numbers, all that stuff. So I know how to survive outside, even though it's not required, but sometimes, you know, all these notice boards, ingredients written on the grocery product, they're all in Swedish and they're not in English, right? But then,
Now I've started reading and understanding those things, but if you would ask me to say something in Swedish... yeah, I learned German for a while and it reads very similar, so I can kind of work out what some sentences are and then I go to my colleagues and I try and pronounce the words and they're like, what? There's so many weird sounds like the H and stuff, but the S, P and... Have you started SFE or...?
So when I moved here, so again through this mobility company, I can't partnered with or it is a benefit of Ikea. I don't remember. We had this flexibility of registering with Fox Cola something. I don't remember the name, but yeah, so we had the flexibility to have a paid Swedish course with them where we get the priority. So we, me and my wife, we did.
registered with them. We started the Swedish course in the first few weeks. But it kind of became a little bit stressing because the Swedish classes for me was like, I'm in office till four or five and then it was three hours of classes. Yeah, they're long. Every week there were like two or three days which were four hours class Swedish class and then eventually you have some homework to do.
James Doran (24:20.173)
And then you have to learn as well. And that was also fine. The problem was that because we were, you know, it's that time there was still lockdown. If not lockdown, but we were not meeting people that much. Even my coworkers as well. So we had this problem of doing conversation with anybody. So till the time you don't do a conversation, I mean, it's a problem. You can read, you can understand Google Translate is always there. But if you don't do a conversation, then you know, it's an issue.
So eventually I dropped out because it was getting too, it was too much for me after I think I did around 10 classes. So that's why I know numbers, you know, it's the starting of the basic level. I mean, that's what you need to get by. Yes. But my wife did more classes and she did the SFI as well gradually. I think the first level of course as well. But then, yeah, due to baby we had to, she had to leave that.
But now any letter comes to our place. It's in Swedish. So I give it to my wife. Please read it and let me know. What does it mean? I'm like that when I get some from Skandersberger. Is it a bill? Do I owe someone money? Yes. But gradually, gradually I got to know that I can opt out opt in for Kivra. So instead of getting those letters, I'll get my.
All my letters digitally except very few except very few No that I found today my colleagues have me because I was trying to look at home queues the finance upload my facelift and it's this Yeah, digital mailbox. this is amazing. But this needs to be everywhere Yeah, that's that's quite helpful because a lot of things comes quite instantly if you have that digital mailbox and if you wait for a
paper copy of that letter it will take 2 -3 days so I think it's quite helpful. Yeah, because there's one thing with Sweden is that the postal service is not like, we UK everything's the next day whereas here it's like, no, it'll be 3 days because we have people do the job and we want to make sure they're happy and not working too much because they'll be seen stressful so it'll be 3 days and you get used to it whereas having this other option would be digital is really quite nice because if it's really important then
James Doran (26:42.605)
you opt for that, but if it's not that important, then you can, you can wait, right? Yeah. Except I think scatter, okay. Then, migration or kits later, I think all of the rest can come through. so that's, that's the benefit you get, but, I mean, so now I just download that letter, I do a translation through Google translate. I'm, you know, it's easy. that's just a convenient thing to have.
Is there anything else you found really interesting since living here? What's the culture like? Is there such a big difference between back home and here? Has it been difficult? What would you miss? I miss food, to be honest. Everyone says that. I mean, you're bound to miss that you are in a different country. But then I think there are a few Indian restaurants and but they all...
kind of have changed their taste level to European taste, which is a little bit less spicy. So we kind of miss those authentic Indian food. And because there are not many restaurants, we kind of also miss that variety. So we have limited options only. So the food, I think if you will ask this question to any Indian, they will say first thing is food. But then,
From culture perspective, I think there are few things which I would like to mention here. One thing is coffee or fika. The first day, I remember first day I actually went to office, not the first day when I moved there, but I started in the office a few days later when things started getting normal. And my first day I went to office and kind of over here, everybody will ask you to have a coffee.
Right. And then, because it was my first day, I didn't want it to be rude. And I said yes to everybody. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I had eight or nine cups of coffee just during the office, office, you know, six, seven hours. And I'm like, okay, this is too much. But gradually now I've gotten used to, if not eight, nine, that's too much. But I gotten used to saying no.
James Doran (29:03.565)
And also I can have a good number of coffee. So that's one culture thing which I realized here. And I think Sweden is one of the top countries in the consumption of coffee, if I'm not wrong. I got to know that recently. I mean, I drink a lot of coffee. Yes. And the second thing is the Q culture, like the patience, I would say. I mean,
There's a lot of patients here. I mean, I've adopted adapted to that, you know, culture now, but I've seen people in, you know, queue everywhere. And it's not there is nothing like anybody's in hurry to get things done, even from process perspective, you know, entering into a system, let's say medical or even letters is one thing which you said all those things. So I think.
seen more, you know, that quality of patience in Sweden. So that was two major things I remember. I mean, there could be a lot more, but that's what I've consumed the time. That's very interesting. Yeah, yeah, queuing is really, really a good one here. Because even in England, we're known for living a queue. So people get angry in the queue. Whereas here, they like a queue as much as we do, but then it's more like...
They have a chair and it's more social place, I guess. Yes, yes. I've seen those ticket machines in small, small shops as well, where people are happy to just generate that ticket and wait for their own number. Yeah, there's a shop here with like a zero waste shop without packaging on the food and things. I went there with my girlfriend when she was here and we walked in and we weren't even wanting to bomb things. We picked it up and then went to the till.
They're like, do you have a ticket? And I'm like, no. What? And they were like, no, you're not going in the shop. No, but good. You actually mentioned one more thing. I missed that, which is, you know, the recycling and sustainability thing. Sweden is, you know, quite, quite good in that. I mean, I, the first day I moved into my apartment and I saw six different dustbins. I'm like, why do I need six dustbins? And then, you know, I got to know that there's one for glass, one for...
James Doran (31:29.421)
you know, cardboard, one for plastic, one for food waste and one for different things. And then eventually when you go to the garbage room as well, then there are different dustbins. So it's quite, you know, it's, it's more embedded into, you know, people's habit as well. Now I'm used to that. Just keep separating it always. Yeah. You keep separating it always. And that's something quite surprising for me that even though, even though,
When you go out to buy groceries, there's a lot of plastic, a lot of cardboard and a lot of, you know, packets outside those groceries. But then with this recycling and process, it's quite easy. I mean, I really like that. And then the, there are machines in the supermarkets as well, where you can return those plastic bottles and the canes. So that's, that's also one of the amazing things, which I, you know, got to know that, okay, you don't actually have to dump everything in.
Just one, you know dustbin and then eventually it will be the someone else job to segregate that race. Yeah, so yeah I mean I really like that's a very good point and hopefully that spreads around the world is a good idea at least for now until we have solutions which make packaging a bit better and Make it not have to do it. But that's a very good point and a great way to end section 2 So thank you and we'll see you all for section 3
James Doran (32:53.101)
Hey, welcome to section three of the podcast, which I still haven't named yet, really. It's just a recap. But this is where I kind of ask my guests, this Rajiv, about some tips they've got for people who've moved from India to anywhere in the world, who've moved to Sweden and anyone to anywhere. So I guess let's start with moving to Sweden. What one piece of advice would you give someone who wants to move to Sweden? I mean, there are so many of them, but it's difficult to choose one of them. But I think, and this is...
Again, I would say that from my own experience, it's been two and a half years, so I can share that. A lot of time when I do conversations with my friends, family or you know, Indian co -workers or colleagues I used to work, when I tell them, you know, my let's say rent here or any expenses, not just any expenses, there is a habit of, you know, converting things into the local currency, which is I &R. And then...
When you convert that, then automatically people say that, it's so expensive. It's so expensive to live there. But that is one thing which I want to share is that even though it sounds expensive because you convert them into local currency, but then eventually when you live here, then you would understand that things are not expensive. Yes, it is getting expensive because of inflation and all that stuff. But if you do currency conversion to INR, then everything
Everything would be expensive and this is one of the question which came into my mind when I was about to move here and that's when I was looking for information through YouTube through Quora through that time, you know, whatever the portals available and know there was no Instagram deals and all that stuff three years back, right? So and I didn't get that information at all. I had few people know which you know, couldn't give me much of the information.
And that's where I was quite worried that, okay, do I have enough salary? Because I didn't even know that what salary I'm getting will that be. It's quite confusing. I had to Google like average salary in Sweden and average cost of food and things. It was tough. Yes, because if I convert that into INR, that's huge. But then if I come here and, you know, I now I live there, obviously I was quite confused at that time. Is it enough? And that's, that's what a lot of.
James Doran (35:18.605)
you know, questions I get is that we are getting the salary. Is it enough to live a decent life? And that's a, you know, a tip I would like to give is that do your research. Now there are better, you know, information available out there where you can get more details about almost everything. I mean, now, now it's, it's, it's a lot better in terms of planning your move.
How would you be able to live here? How would you be able to survive here? What would be the expenses and all that stuff? So plan that and see whether it makes sense to move here. Because a lot of time people move just because it's Sweden or any European country or US or UK. But then eventually, if you don't see that, if you don't have enough salary or if you're not able to survive, then it becomes stressful because you leave your life in India. So that's what people should first check and plan and see, is it enough?
That's a very good tip and yeah, I did quite a lot of hours on my computer just trying to find out can I survive and always converting because this divide by 12 is roughly pounds to crores. I'm always like, is it a good value? How much do I spend on that? And then when I went to Denmark, I kept trying to divide by 12, but it's wrong. It happens first few months. It happens first few months. Even I moved there the first second month, I was always converting in.
like so expensive, it's so expensive, it's so expensive but then eventually you get used to it that okay you're earning in SEK and you're spending in SEK so let's not think about INR till the time you don't have to send the money in India yes then you do think about INR and banks will charge you some money to send money abroad is what I'm finding out then if you are looking for a job in Sweden I think then the best
best place to look for is either LinkedIn or Arbit's website, which is a Swedish job bank where you can find all the jobs available in Sweden because that's the place where, and this is something I just want to know that that is the place where companies have to post their jobs if they want to hire somebody internationally or outside of EU.
James Doran (37:37.197)
So I mean, I think automatically if you look at that platform, you more or less will find jobs for all the fields, not only in IT, but then eventually most of them might already be eligible for international hiring. And that's, you know, that's super good. If you find that all that information at a single place. Yeah, that's a good point. And I'll put a link to that in the show notes. So if people do want to look at that, they can, they can find it, which is a very good tip you've just given as well.
I didn't have to have, late din was what I used for a lot of jobs and I was looking up, I just kept my job from the UK when I moved over. Didn't have to worry about any of this stuff, but I can imagine it can be quite a minefield for people to go through and understand what, even what qualifications you need or what are the job descriptions mean that vary from country to country. So it's quite, it's really confusing. But yeah, so I guess that's great for Sweden. Do you have any tips for anyone who wants to live anywhere?
I'm from anywhere, not say from India, but what tips would you give if someone from some random country was moving to another random country, what advice would you give them as a person who's moved? Ready to accept changes. I mean, I have changed a lot since I moved there, but I knew those changes because I've lived in another country as well. But then I think a lot of time, we kind of
think that we are changing the country for job, you know, for better life and you know, money, traveling, food, etc. But eventually the things which changes your day to day life, you do, you make changes in your day to day life, a lot of changes which you don't even think of when you're actually, you know, looking for a job or, you know, when you're still in your own country or wherever you are before moving to another one.
So those are the things which kind of, you know, have to get into your own habit. I can give you an example in India, you can easily get a maid and those cleaning services, you know, plumbers, whatever you can ask for, you can get a service. You could just have to book a call and you will get that service in India. But here kind of, if you don't want to spend too much money.
James Doran (40:00.653)
Then you have to do these things on your own. Obviously you can still order these services once in a while, but then it's your daily job to, you know, get used to that. You will not get, let's say food, Indian food outside. Just again, you know, relating to my situation, you will not get your authentic own country food. You would have to do 10 different things, which you were not doing in your own country. plumbering could be one thing cleaning could be one thing, you know, all, all that stuff. So plus you have to adapt.
to some of these qualities, but you need to survive, not just survive, but to live here because you have a different culture in the next country. It could be any country and it could be any culture, but I'm sure it would be different than your own country. So you will have to adapt to those changes. So these are the things which everyone should be open to make changes in their life. And then it would be quite easy.
Yeah, I guess you'll enjoy it a lot more as well. You won't be so negative about, I have to, it's so hard to do this thing rather than embracing it and finding the joy in being different. You know, see, on the food thing is a British shop in Gothenburg and it's really expensive for like biscuits from England. Where it's like, you know, over 50 sec for a pack of biscuits. And I say, why? By the way, I like shortbreads a lot.
But one thing I would want to mention here is the weather because a lot of time and specifically it's a very common topic which everybody will talk about mostly in dill. Weather is the hottest thing which anybody would talk about and that's one of the change which anybody has to go through. I come from a place where the temperature is peak summers is 45 degree Celsius.
which is peak summers, it may go above, so it's one of the hottest part of India. But then after moving here, it goes into minus and even snow and everything, dark, summer, sun till 11. So that is also one of the very important part you actually have to adapt to, is that the weather changes. And when the weather changes, your food habits, your clothing, your going out habits, everything changes.
James Doran (42:23.661)
So a lot of time I've interacted or I've got those comments on social media that, you know, Sweden people get depressed because it's so dark during, during winter here. But then eventually that's a change you have to make. Like I did, or, you know, I know a lot of my friends that you do a lot of social, you know, interaction with your friends. You do house parties, you'd go for dinners and you know, do all that stuff. We just don't stay at home just because it's dark outside.
I mean, it will start getting dark at three o 'clock, but then you don't see it at three o 'clock, right? I found that it's a very good point you bring up because a lot of people have said, how have you managed the winters? And for me, like, I'm quite a social person back home. I like to see my friends and go to the pub and play sport with them. I'm coming here not knowing many people when I first moved. I still don't know many people now, but I know more and more every month that I can plan things. And the first winter was really tough, but some things that really helped was planning. Yes.
social things with people in the east and most of the people I did things with won't have been swedish because they they're kind of used to it whereas a lot of my friends from spain and other places they want to go out they want to still have that social interaction it's yeah it's very tough to have that change but that's a very interesting point you brought up thank you so thank you for your time Rajiv it's been really eye -opening listening to you talk about sweden and having to move during covid and
and what it's like to work in our team from Ikea and the perspective you've got from India to Sweden and I guess kind of European culture in general. I really enjoyed your information on the food. I think quite popular on this is that Western Europeans just can't do food or Northern Europeans can't do food compared to us. My Spanish friend was the same, he's like, yeah, food's awful. He's just not the same.
And the food culture of eating it with loads of people is not the same, which is quite amusing to really think about. Because even for me in the UK, it's a similar thing. We aren't blessed with cuisine as deep as India or Spain, but we have a good number of international restaurants in most places you can visit, which is great for variation. Yeah, and thank you for joining.
James Doran (44:46.413)
I give this a chance for you to kind of share your social media and if anyone wants to have tips on moving, do you want to just give a quick intro into what you do and your handles and things? Yeah, thanks. First of all, thanks for inviting me for this podcast. And I really like sharing my experience and information. In the last two and a half years, I've gone through, I've bought a house or an apartment recently.
I've got a car here and you know, I've got a kid here. My parents were here. So I've used some of the medical services during that period. So I kind of have a habit that I do a lot of research before buying anything, be it a house, be it a car or even planning. So I've gained a lot of experience and I have a habit to talk. So I gained a lot of knowledge from other people as well. So I and that's what.
That's what I, you know, at some point I decided that I should, you know, I was doing that already informally. So I thought of, you know, creating an Instagram page. Actually, I already had a page where I was, you know, sharing food and my travel stories or, you know, experience. But then I thought that why not start sharing the information or the knowledge I have. And then the first post I shared, which was about the parental benefits in Sweden.
And I was quite surprised to know those benefits when I, you know, I had my son that, you know, this is something I should share with my friends and, you know, family and people I know. And I couldn't, I cannot do that with everyone individually over phone call. So I decided to create a video and I posted it in, you know, on my Instagram channel, which is Jeppu right in Sweden. And then it went viral. So I have like 1 million views for, for that video itself.
So, and that actually triggered something that, okay. and it triggered something and then it brought a memory that when I was planning to move here, I didn't have this information. I was looking for this information all over YouTube, Quora, you know, and I didn't get this information. And now if I have this information, I should, you know, why not start sharing it? I know that there will be people looking for this. So then I, it was April.
James Doran (47:08.365)
2021 when I started that channel and somewhere last in the end of 2021, I started sharing information about Sweden. And since then, it's been a long journey. I have now 30, you know, K plus followers on my handle. And I try to share my experiences, my knowledge and something which, you know, I should share for people to help to find a job in Sweden or an information which I kind of feel that, okay, if somebody...
I might be looking for it then there could be another person who was looking for it so why not. So you would find a lot of information on my Instagram channel and that's what I do. I don't run that channel as a business so you can always connect me if you have or if you want some information or if you're looking for something within Sweden or anything. So and with my own experience I generally give genuine information not
reading it here and there. So that's what you can you can trust me on. But yeah, please follow me on Instagram and look for Jaipurite in Sweden. You know Sweden, Jaipurite because I belong from Jaipur. That's my native city. That's why it's a Jaipurite in Sweden. That's great. And as always, we'll put the handle on the comments and we'll tag you in posts so people can find you and...
Hopefully get some great advice on living in Sweden and then moving abroad. Thank you so much. And as always, if you did enjoy this podcast and found something useful, please let us know. Give us a comment, like, and share it with your friends and family if you think they can find some really good use out of this. And we'll see you next time. Thank you.
