Work in Norway

Karlsson's company had to cease trading after a year and a half in business.

"My company was involved in electrical design, lighting and data communications in buildings. Since the construction industry was hit hard by the financial crisis I had to look for new work. I registered my CV on a lot of Norwegian websites and applied for all the interesting engineering jobs I could," says the 39 year old.

In the wake of the financial crisis in Iceland, EURES Iceland invited employers from various European countries to a jobs fair. The EURES network helps employers recruit labour from EU/EEA countries.

"I saw an ad in the paper and went. I had an opportunity to present myself to various companies who had positions for someone with my qualifications and hand out my CV," he says.

NAV EURES surveying needs

EURES adviser Cathrine Holter of NAV EURES Telemark was one of the participants from NAV EURES who received Karlsson's CV.

"One of NAV EURES' tasks is to survey the job markets in Norway and Europe to find available pockets of labour. NAV EURES works closely with many Norwegian companies, municipal authorities, recruitment agencies and travel industry companies, and works via our European network to find relevant candidates," says Holter.

Back home in Norway she forwarded Karlsson's CV to the recruitment agency Adecco in Skien, with whom NAV EURES Telemark have a good, close working relationship. The engineer's competence proved to be much in demand.

"Icelandic labour is attractive to Norwegian companies because many Icelanders master a Scandinavian language and are also well qualified," says Holter. 

Limit their applications

"Before Holter left for the jobs fair we briefed her on the sort of engineers Adecco was looking for," says Terje Svarstad, a consultant with Adecco in Skien. "The overview was based on orders from our clients. On the basis of this we received a number of CVs.  Karlsson's CV was one of them.

StatoilHydro proved to be looking for someone with precisely his competence. Today he is on a 9-month contract with the possibility of an extension.

"I have found an exciting position and I think it is very interesting to be in Norway. The next step is to get my wife, who still lives and works in Iceland, to Norway," says Karlsson.

He advises other job seekers who want to work in Norway to limit their applications to what they really want to work with and are qualified for.

"When I started applying for various positions, I applied very widely. But in hindsight my experience tells me it is best to limit your search process," says the engineer from Iceland.