Norway Jobs for non-norwegian speakers

Most of the persons I know working here and not speaking Norwegian have been brought to the country by their company. Usually because they are experts in certain areas or because the companies in questions have some exchange/expat programs.

As far as my non-norwegian speaking friends are concerned, the fields are:
- Oil industry (plus suppliers)
- University research
- Shipping industry

@AuNordDuMonde: i work in the IT industry, and that is fairly common to our company. i know a few who are working in other European countries, but are still employed by our company here in the Philippines. but no one in Norway and yea, they dont need to learn the native language of the country they are at, english is fine. thank you for your response appreciate it.

@no_clue: thanks for sharing would you happen to know what kind of jobs or profession they have?

@pheebzo501
Most are engineers (specialized in oil or shipping related fields), geologist, scientist (all fields incl. IT, working on temp. contracts at University). I know also some IT people  who work freelance and for international companies. Stavanger seems to me more international /English than Bergen.  But your chances for a job increase exponentially with Norwegian language skills.

hi no_clue.

that is a really great share.!! this is really helpful.. thank you so much

Hi pheebz,

this might not be an exact response for your question but i think sharing this might give you some help. My husband during the previous years have worked in an IT company and he said he was in an english speaking department there i'm sure you are familiar with this name if I say that the company that he worked for was IBM. So i think once you get here you might be able to find similar jobs that take in english speakers since you are already inside Norway by then.

It might also be helpful if you get in touch with an agency here, that's where my husband got a great job and now he is permanent. I will email you the agency he went to since I am not entitled to promote anything and it's a simple info that you might want to check out

thats is so great.! thanks stephy

I don't speak norwegian but I was offered a position before I came to Norway.  I work in IT/Finance and the company is an international Oil & gas company that has lots of foreigners that do not know norwegian.  There are not a lot of REAL international companies in Norway.  Good Luck!

Hello.

It depends really upon where in Norway you plan to stay and also what skills you have to offer. In manual labor type jobs there are some English speaking people and then at the other end of the scale if you are a scientist then you don't have to speak Norwegian either. Demands on speaking Norwegian in the job market can differ quite a lot depending upon where in the Country you live. Certainly in the South, Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger etc it is less challenging to get a job as a non Norwegian speaker than it is in Trondheim and further North where you have to be extremely lucky or better still get a miracle. Hope this helps.

My friends work there in fast food and not speak norway language...and i have another friends there he is a dj u can listing hes in radio there ...

so location and field of work are key aspects of getting a job for a non-Norwegian speaker like me..

I am a certified SAP ABAP programmer, which is in the field of IT.. and i will be moving to Vestfold area.. based on responses here, looks like i have better chances than i initially thought i would have.. so i really hope i get lots of luck in finding a job..

thanks everyone for the responses

Just as an addendum, As you are working with SAP then be sure to register yourself firstly with Adecco (http://www.adecco.no/) and also Manpower and http://www.academicwork.no all of which carry vacancies related to IT & ICT

Please don't be relaxed and expect it to be easy at the start, expect it to be challenging at least, then anything above that is a massive bonus. I don't want to sound negative, I'm just speaking from experience and wouldn't want anyone to go through the same disappointment and feelings of rejection that I had to face. Living and working in Norway is a learning curve as you will face some unique characteristics and traits not found anywhere else. I wasn't prepared for that so if I can help you to be, if even just a little then that's all good. Do everything you can to find a job before you get here as the cost of living is painfully high if you have no regular income.

Good luck!

pheebz0501

accenture Norway is currently looking for SAP consultants/programmer:
IT Experience in Accenture Norway
careers.accenture.com/no-en/landing-pages/Pages/it-experience.aspx
Accenture in Norway is Looking for Experienced Candidates and Graduates for a Career within SAP, Oracle, Information Management or Functional Architecture.

Good luck!

thanks winmcp i alrdy registered myself to those agencies last year.. including accenture and IBM.. finn, karrierestart.. even nav, tho i cant publish a cv yet since i dont have residence permit in norway.. im also on linkedin, but no luck.. one recruiter told me that the job was only offered to "locals".. so maybe its because i am not in norway yet or because i am not a Norwegain citizen... i dont know thats why i never thought they hire foreign people, specially non-norwegian speakers.. i am not entirely confident it will be easy, but at least the info posted here somehow shed a tiny light of hope... i am not a "bright and shiny" person, hahaha, so i really dont expect too much and usually prepare for the worse thanks so much for sharing ur experiences, and i sure will keep these in mind

@no_clue: thank u for this i actually applied with them some months ago but no luck even with IBM... but then after some weeks, i get contacted by their counterparts here in the Philippines, inviting me for interviews hehe... so i dunno.. maybe since i am still a resident in the Philippines, they dont consider my application and just forward it to accenture/IBM philippines... i prob will try my luck again when i move to Norway... thanks again.!

As grim as it is, that's the right attitude to have pheebz

Norwegians are (on the whole) a little skeptical of foreigners, but once they get to know you, the majority of them will treat you like one of their own. I have some really close friends here. Unfortunately, the downside to you not already being here is that often, the most effective way of job searching is by going to visit the people you want to work for, let them see you and having a chat, just to let them know that you're not an alien Having said that, the better IT recruitment people here are quickly catching on to the idea that international recruitment can be beneficial to them and the economy, so that's good news for you. So be hopeful, just not presumptuous

hi winmcp.

yea, i think i read that in a blog somewhere... that the best way of finding a job in Norway is to directly go to the employers, and present yourself, like oldschool, hehe... and connections is the key, if u know people working in the same field, so they can inform u about openings or refer u to their company.. since most companies dont really publish job openings... even if they do, it fills up fast..

and u are correct, i had come across some IT headhunters posting jobs or seeking applicants online, so this is good i guess..

i really hope everything work out ok for me.. i will be moving to norway this april, and will be getting married to my fiancé... so i will have to quit my job and probably be jobless for sometime... tho i really hope not for long thanks for the luck wishes, i think i badly needed them, lol!

I hope all goes well for you. Norway has a well established Filipino community, I have some friends, he is Norwegian and his wife is Filipino, she now speaks basic Norwegian and is working full time in a barnehagen (Children's nursery school) There is a Filipino guy and his wife who have a business, they drive all over the Country picking up parcels from people who want to send a package home to their families in the Philippines (the package has a name but I forgot)
He arranges all the shipping etc, I've met him a few times.

Where there's a will, there's a way

I am unsure what area of IT that you are in  but normally for IT, they don't require norwegian speaking.  But I do know if it is IT related to certain functions, like HR, they might prefer that you speak norwegian.  Most of the norwegians I know can understand and speak english but they might not be comfortable speaking it all the time or confident that they can express themselves well.  For such function, they might want to look for norwegian speaking candidates so that the candidate can fit in the working environment.  It is a bit discriminating but you are in their turf.

@stephy25 : Please do forward me the same agency details your husband went through. My husband also works for IBM India. We are trying to move to Norway.

Hello,

Im working in a restaurant in Oslo (SUSHI WOK) its an asian restaurant. my employer ask me if i know someone who can work as chef/kitchen assistance. Accession soon.... the employer is very particular with work background. Must be relevant to position applied. Preferably English speaker send me PM if your interested.

wow.! thats great opportunity chris you can try post in the jobs section of the site so ur job ad can be easily found

Hello cris_bags1218,

I invite you to post an ad about your offer in the Hotel, catering, bar, restaurant and tourism jobs in Norway section.

Thank you,

Shaazia
Expat.com Team