what is the cost of living + is it easy to get job for english speaker

Hello Ram

welcome to Expat.com

Kindly note that a new thread has been created so as to help you get better interactions on the Norway forum.

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com Team

Are you able to get a job seeker visa? I thought they no longer offer such visa types as of last year.

Good Morning Ram,

Start looking now and look into agencies.  Most Norwegians speak English.  Just a suggestion try the Oil and Gas Industry.  They pay the best.  Cost of living is VERY EXPENSIVE.  Most companies pay well due to the cost of living.  Winters are cold and can be rainy and snowy so get yourself a good waterproof winter coat.  Rooms costs go accordingly to where you live.  Bus system is very good in Norway (get a monthly ticket) via Bus Terminal usually in centre of town.  Get you CV or Resume in order (updated)  and do start looking on line now perhaps you can set something lined up before you get here.  Good Luck Ram.

Hi Ram.

Being honest getting a job in Norway as an English speaker can be very difficult, there are quite a few reasons for this which I don't have space to go into here. There are some exceptions in that if you are a skilled engineer in the oil & gas industry then English is just fine, similarly if you have a Phd in any of the major sciences then again you won't need Norwegian (given that the language of science is English) - Aside from that it can depend upon where in Norway you go seeking a job. I most definitely would not recommend Trondheim as it's primarily a student city so the number of candidates for any and all jobs is often astronomical and there is a very strong cultural requirement / expectancy to speak Norwegian here in the workplace - Not all Norwegians agree with this, but we can't do anything about it, that's just the way it is for now.

My advice, look for somewhere in the South of Norway to begin your Norwegian journey either Oslo, or to the south or East of there in Bergen, Fredrikstad etc as the cultural rules for speaking Norwegian are somewhat less down there and many International people have been successful in getting a job, then you can learn Norwegian as you work on the job and by attending evening classes, as long as you are willing to learn, people will help you. A lot of Norwegian is almost like English and very similar but other parts of it and the many local dialects can be somewhat difficult to grasp at first.

Living costs are very high UNTIL you get a job then once you do get a job it even's out. Register yourself as a job seeker with the many job agencies like Manpower, NAV etc and also go to the following link to help you get a head start on learning some Norwegian as the better equipped you come here, the better it can be for you.

http://www.ntnu.edu/now

This is a free introductory course run by the NTNU University in Trondheim.

Plan well ahead and don't take anything for granted, this can be a tough place to survive for a non-student job seeker.

Hi Ram,

First of all the cost of living is very high here in Norway.  Here is a website that you can use to see how expensive it is and it compares it to the city that you are from:  http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp.  Here is also a website for rental properties.  You will have to use Goggle translate or other translator to use this site:  http://www.finn.no/finn/realestate/lett … aId=20196.  I would recommend working near where you live since transportation is also expensive.   A work visa can take up to 4 to 6 months to get and a government international number (D number) is also needed and this took us 3 moths to obtain.   The Rogaland region of Norway (Stavanger, Sandnes, Sola, Randaberg) has many oil companies in the area and the harbor of Stavanger is where large cruise ships come during the week.  In this region, almost everyone speaks English but I am sure that you would have to know the Norsk language for most of the jobs in Norway.  There is a University that is English speaking and two International Schools that higher English speaking teachers.  Other than the high prices of everything, we love it here.  It's a very beautiful country.