Up-and-coming. Young. Dynamic. Aarhus is Denmark's largest port city and second to Copenhagen in size only. Its growing tourism sector, buzzing arts and culture scene, and selection of high-quality music easily match Copenhagen's sophistication. In fact, Aarhus was voted as one of the top European Capital of Culture cities in 2017.
The highly ranked Aarhus University has 45,000 students and draws many international students and academics. Expats can also find jobs in the city's exciting start-up community, ICT sector, and tourism industry.
Accessibility
Aarhus is well connected and a perfectly located base from which to explore Northern Europe; other major Scandinavian cities can be reached by ferry, bus, train, and plane. The city has plenty of open public spaces and green areas, offering a high quality of life but at a much lower cost than Denmark's capital city Copenhagen. Wages are competitive, but so is the labour market.
The economy of Aarhus
The region is home to several big agricultural producers, and Aarhus is the perfect base to import and export these and other goods. In addition to a modern infrastructure and well-developed economy, Aarhus has strong healthcare, education, and research sectors.
Language requirements for working in Aarhus
As a major international city, Aarhus offers job opportunities for English speaking professionals who do not speak a Scandinavian language. Although speaking Danish or another Nordic language may help your job search, native English speakers are able to find opportunities in Aarhus and start learning the local language once they have settled in.
Career prospects in Aarhus
Since Aarhus is relatively large with a population of over 220,000, expats can find opportunities in both unskilled and skilled types of work. University students might be able to snag a part-time job or internship opportunities at some of the major companies in the city.
Academic researchers, professors, and promising PhD/post-doc students should look to Aarhus University for job vacancies, while international students can apply for master's degree programmes.
Administrative positions like receptionists and human resource positions are a good place to search for average paying salaries, while high-end occupations that are plentiful in the city include software engineering, mobile app developers, and data analysts. Other ICT-related jobs like graphic designers, social media managers, and digital marketing are also in demand.
Aarhus is a particularly good place for expats who are after research positions and in particular health and medical research vacancies. Aarhus hosts the University Hospital, one of Denmark's most prestigious and highly specialized medical facilities.
If you find a company that you would like to work for and there are no advertised vacancies, you could always send in an open application.
Here are major companies based in the city:
Tetra Pak packaging
Arla Foods
Vestas wind turbine solutions
Maersk Group for shipping, offshore operations, oil, energy
Uber
Expedia
Danske Bank (The Danske Bank Development Centre is based in Aarhus)
Where to search for jobs in Aarhus
Searching on the websites of major industry giants based in Aarhus is a good way to find vacancies and apply directly with prospective employers. Another possibility is looking for job advertisements on other career portals:
Jobs in Aarhus
Glassdoor
Indeed
The Hub (Start-up company vacancies)
Job Index
Aarhus Kommune
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