Working (and living) in Norway

TSWP · Post by **TSWP** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:55 pm

Maggette,

I lived for about 2 years in Sweden, it's not Norway but I think they are similar in some aspects, so I can share some things, and my wife is scandinavian and we have been in Denmark and Sweden many times over the years, we know the area well and have local friends and families there.

I think what most people brought up is true and reflect also my experience, but there are various angles to it. For example the law of jante, called "lagom" in Sweden, it's not really a big deal. There are a lot of people that want to be successful and have a lot of money in Scandinavia, and so the law of jante does not apply to each and every single individual.

I would not focus on these things, they are not really important if you find your own circle of similar-minded friends you won't have problems, people is very friendly in these countries, they are "warm" in a way.

To me the biggest obstacle you may encounter in Norway is the fact that outdoor life is severely limited by the atrocious weather. You'll live indoor most of your life, with the artificial lights on, apart for the brief "summer" (if you want to call it a summer, not really a summer from a european perspective...).

You may not notice this when you go there for brief periods, but I can assure you will notice it if you live there for years.

If you are born and raised in northern Germany, you're probably used to similar life/weather conditions, although Norway is MUCH worse than Northern Germany, but again, if you like to live in a place where summer never comes, and you have very limited amount of sunlight and pretty much zero outdoor time without wearing a heavy coat on (picnic with the gloves, to make my point), then you'll enjoy Norway!

deeds · Post by **deeds** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:20 pm

no one said: "Netflix: Lillehammer" ?

Maggette · Post by **Maggette** » Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:23 pm

Thanks to both of you.

nsande · Post by **nsande** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 2:47 pm

I think the more serious question will be the abundance of daylight in summer, i.e. some people who are not used to it have difficulty sleeping in June/July when it is light all night.

nsande · Post by **nsande** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:04 pm

I have worked in finance in Norway for 18 years.

First thing you should consider is the work/life balance. Although the salaries are probably below what you would make in a similar position e.g. in London, the workload will probably be less. The Norwegians value their leisure time. They love to spend time outdoors. On Monday they all talk about what skiing trips they took during the weekend etc.

I work on the trading floor (Risk management dep) of the biggest bank in Norway and by 5 in the afternoon the floor is very sparsely populated and if I come in on a weekend I am likely to have the entire trading room to myself.

The tax rate is high but not unbearable. You pay less than in Sweden and Denmark and you do get a lot back. The healthcare system is very good and almost free (adults pay a small fee for consultancy but it is free for children). Education is also free (even at University level) and quite good.

Learning the language is really not a prerequisite for working in finance. I have collegues who have learned Norwegian "on the job". You can get by with English. I am Swedish and my Norwegian still sucks after 18 years (perhaps because Swedish and Norwegian are very similar) but people seem to understand me anyway.

As for making a living as a freelancer, I cannot really say. I have never tried that myself.

nsande · Post by **nsande** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:12 pm

"although Norway is MUCH worse than Northern Germany".

I would say that Norway is much better than Northern Germany. It is colder here so in winter we get snow instead of rain.

Maggette · Post by **Maggette** » Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:37 pm

Thanks!

TSWP · Post by **TSWP** » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:48 pm

It was -40 degrees in some places in Norway, these days:

https://is.gd/njORkO

It must be really amazing to enjoy such awesome weather!

I am currently in a place that is +18 degrees, nice and sunny, kind of lovely, but hey! I am truly jealous of the folks up there in Norway right now... they're so lucky.

EspressoLover · Post by **EspressoLover** » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:56 pm

Sure, but how many Winter Olympic medals per capita does your country have?

TSWP · Post by **TSWP** » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:03 pm

Good point, but I am not in my country at the moment Cool

But to your point: that is how people look at Norway and Scandinavia (and markets) - wrong benchmarks.