One of the biggest issues foreign workers have when moving to Norway (or are planning on moving to Norway) is to find a job. This is a big challenge, not only because of the language requirements, but also because of cultural differences when it comes to job applications and the hiring process.
The first step in getting a job in Norway is to search for job vacancies, but how exactly do you find job vacancies in Norway?
The best arenas for finding job vacancies in Norway are Finn.no and NAV Arbeidsplassen. These post over 95 % of all job vacancies in Norway, and are updated in real-time.
While these two are great for most industries, there are also certain industries where other sources might help you find job vacancies. Let’s take a closer look at both Finn.no, NAV Arbeidsplassen and the other methods for finding job vacancies in Norway.
Finn.no is the place with the most job vacancies
Finn.no is a lot of different things, including the best option for finding vacant jobs in Norway. You can go to the main site and click on “Jobb“, then click on “Alle stillinger” (or just click here) to find all vacant jobs in the entire country.
Use the menu on the left to select the regions in Norway where you are interested in working in. You can also choose to divide the job listings by category, but I find this to be a bit unreliable, especially if you’re after a job that does not fit perfectly to the criteria.
Finn.no is only available in Norwegian, so you might want to use Google Translate to help you out if you don’t understand the website.
PS. you will probably want to become comfortable with using Finn if you are moving to Norway. This is the #1 place to buy and sell used items, to find apartments to rent, to buy vehicles and find new jobs.
NAV Arbeidsplassen is a great option for finding an available job
Another option besides Finn.no is to use NAV Arbeidsplassen. This is a service by Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, and it scrapes job listings from several different services, as well as provides its own. This makes it the service with the highest number of job listings on it.
NAV Arbeidsplassen is great when you’re looking for job vacancies. To use it, go to the website and begin to look. Click om “Område” to narrow it down by region and municipality, or “Yrke” to narrow it down by your field of work.
Some of the job listings will be hosted at NAV Arbeidsplassen itself, but others will take you to the original job listing. You will often find that work related to public services like working at the municipality, region or even government is listed on NAV Arbeidsplassen primarily.
NAV Arbeidsplassen is also Norwegian-only, so you need to bring back Google Translate if you can’t read and understand Norwegian.
You will notice a lot of duplicates if you use both NAV Arbeidsplassen and Finn.no since it’s common for employers to post job ads on both services.
Try your luck at LinkedIn
LinkedIn is somewhat popular in Norway, but only for certain types of jobs. If you’re into web development, advertisement or finance, it is definitely worth spending some time on making sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and looks great!
But you don’t need to spend time on it if you’re looking for a job as a waiter or cashier in a store.
LinkedIn is more about getting in touch with other people in your industry than just listing available job offers, so you need a bit of a different approach if you want to use LinkedIn to find a job. I’m far from a LinkedIn expert, but there are lots of guides for using LinkedIn to find a job on the internet.
Registering at a recruitment service in Norway
There are many different recruitment services in Norway, and the most popular one is called Manpower. These work in a way where you register / apply to Manpower, then wait for them to find a job for you. You get hired by Manpower directly, so they choose your salary and all that, but other firms can hire Manpower to help out.
This can be useful for certain people, and it’s common for certain industries like cleaning services. Many people might be able to get into the Norwegian work force by joining a recruitment company like Manpower, but the downside is that you never really know what you might end up doing for a living.
Some recruitment services might hire you on the spot, while others will keep your CV in their database until they find a suitable client for you. These services are not known to be the best places to work.
That said, many people start working at a company like Manpower, and eventually end up getting hired by another company later, so it’s a good way of getting into working in Norway.
Other recruitment services that might be worth checking out are:
There are also several industry specific recruitment services, but I can’t list them all here. The Norwegian words for these recruitment services are bemanningsbyrå, so type in “bemanningsbyrå + your industry” in Google to find out if there are any specialized recruitment services in your field of work.
Finding jobs that does not require Norwegian
A final option for finding jobs in Norway is to use the EURES database. This is actually a database of jobs in the EU, but it includes Norway.
EURES is very different from all the options above. Instead of focusing on regular jobs for Norwegians and people living in Norway, it focuses on jobs that are aimed at foreigners. In other words, the job listings there typically do not require you to understand Norwegian to get the job.
You can often find seasonal jobs there, so many seasonal workers use it to find somewhere to work in the summer months in Norway. There will also be listings from international chains that need representatives in Norway, and regular Norwegian workplaces that for one reason or another want a foreigner to work for them.
Also read: How to get a job in Norway without speaking Norwegian.
One of the great things about EURES is that it’s all in English, so it’s easy to use for those who don’t understand Norwegian.
PS. EURES also aggrigates all job listing from Finn, so you will find a lot of duplicates. To find real EURES results, click on the “With EURES Flag” tab.
There are lots of non-listed jobs available in Norway
Many Norwegian jobs are offered to a certain person without ever being listed, so it’s very important to network in Norway. This is very difficult if you live in another country and dream of moving to Norway, but it’s something you should keep in mind if you are already living in Norway.
Networking to get a job is pretty simple, but also extremely difficult at the same time. Just befriend the right people! Simple enough, right? Most people don’t really actively go out and get to know people to network, but this is a bonus for those of you that enjoy getting to know people. Because most managers prefer to hire someone they know to be good than a random person they only met once for the interview.
Leave your CV at places you want to work
Another option that is kind of like networking is to get in touch with places where you want to get a job. Stop by the place, ask for the manager (or book a meeting in advance), and just tell them that you want to work there. Leave your CV with them, and ask them to keep you in mind if they are hiring in the future.
This might be a bit awkward, but it’s actually a reason why many people get hired, so it really works!
How to apply for the vacant jobs in Norway
What should you do when you find a vacant job in Norway that might be perfect for you? Apply for it of course! Finn.no and NAV has both direct applications and links to external websites where you can apply, and the company that put out the ad chooses which to use.
When applying for a job in Norway, write a good job application that is tailored for that specific job. Don’t just leave a general job application, because that won’t get you the job unless your CV is amazing.