From India to Skövde - Navigating a new culture and new opportunities
Have you ever wondered what it is like to study or work in another country? Alfred took the step many only dream of; coming to a new country with a foreign language and a new job that opened up a different culture and new habits for him.
Alfred Wilson, 26 years old from Kerala, India moved to Sweden in 2020. Alfred's first stop in Sweden was Jönköping, where he studied a two-year Master's program in Production Engineering and Management at Jönköping University.
Alfred applied to attend school in Sweden because he was curious about Scandinavia and the Nordic region.
In my field mechanical engineering, it was either Germany or Sweden to choose be-tween as they are among the topmost innovative countries in the world.
When he finished his studies, he attended Jönköping Technical University's business day, Karriärum, where he made contact with the consulting company Alten. Through Alten, he applied for a job at Volvo GTO PowerTrain in Skövde. In December last year, he was hired at Volvo as a production engineer, specializing in battery remanufacturing.
Why Sweden and Skövde?
Sweden is an attractive country to live and work in because of its extensive social wel-fare system; with universal healthcare, paid vacation, parental leave and great work-life balance.
- The work-life balance in Sweden is really, really good. Most things at work have clarity and is very structured. My colleagues at Volvo are all really nice; they want to help me succeed. The attitude and work-culture at work is relaxed, and the fika breaks are great – you sit and chat with your colleagues while drinking coffee or tea. When I worked in India as a manufacturing engineer, work was pretty stressful and not as social, and people worked more independently. I prefer the Swedish way of working.
Attityden och arbetskulturen är avslappnad, och fikapauserna är fantastiska
Do you want to read more about Alfred’s experience learning Swedish, his life in Skövde and his plans for the future? Read the full story at skovde.com.
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