Working as an Engineer in Germany vs. Sweden 

Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear :)

Thanks Ricardo! I appreciate it :)

Thank you :)

As a Swede, I entirely agree. If there's anything that could be improved, please tell it to me immediately. How else would I know, and be able to improve.

Interesting perspective! I've never heard a Dutch guy consider Germans more direct than Dutch people, always the opposite 😅 But I guess it really depends on the context. In a work context, Germans may be more direct and willing to fight whereas if you're asking how we like the dinner you made or your new clothes, it's a different story 🤣

@@theannareich I'd say that dutch people can be inconsiderate when expressing opinions or stating what they want, but can be 'political' at the same time, in the sense that the words serve to reach their goals and do not necessarily express their real opinions or thoughts. In my opinion german people can be inconsiderate too, but are more honest in doing so, without the hidden agenda that even dutch people sometimes don't get about these 'direct' people. In a work context, it's certainly more accepted to 'fight' in Germany. Some of these 'head-on' collisions I witnessed when working in Germany would be considered unacceptable in Holland and could even lead to being fired, such as for instance one worker calling names to another worker. I'd say that in a work context, Holland is someway in the middle between Germany and Sweden, I think you'll understand how I mean that. I'd like to add though that the 'directness' (inconsiderate-ness is a better description I think) only applies to certain regions of the country, both for Holland and Germany.

in sweden we valu as u said a whole person, we will care about ur well being aswell as performane and learning... taking breaks its important to take breaks and recharge, wheter it sheduled or not...thers alot of research that show it will increase productivity and health of workers... Titles long time ago titles may have played a higher role, not now and it isent really important either, we tend to threath everyone equally regardless if ur rich, poor, has a higher education or not...if ur done a PhD (or a few) fine ok, but it doesent matter... You matters... Usually wer very direct, but perhaps not with foreginers... maby something to think about... Herr/Frau in sweden it considered achaic and obolete since long ago... its not important at all, not if ur a man/femal/LBTQI or something else not covered, Ur a person... u are who u are regadless. if u can do the job and can learn it wont matter at all ur gender or if ur H/F...

I have heard that it was the Social demokraterna who pushed hard to move to the informal du. To remove the hierarchies in a socialist spirit.

@@niklasmolen4753 The newspaper Svenska Dagbladet was pushing for it early 1900 but without success that time. It was a gentle man named Bror Rexeed who launched it again in the 60's that made it a success not Social demokraterna.

Thanks a lot for explaining the background! Very insightful :)

@@niklasmolen4753 It is common in Sweden that you hear that everything is the merit of the Social Democrats. It is a religion, much like when Christians thank God for food. Before the people could vote, we had eternal winter in Sweden, but thanks to the Social Democrats we now have summer at least a few months a year.

In English, "you" is generally regarded as the informal address., but it's in fact the formal version. The informal one is "thou", which isn't used anymore.

Awesome! Thank you :)

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

If you criticise decisions, you are making an extra personal effort for the benefit of the company. Good leaders will appreciate this, as long as it is constructive ofcourse.

This is hilarious

Maybe, the idea behind this is to force people to seek for their own improvement path. Not to find ways of better "serving", which is overall not a good thing. But to focus more on developing personal creativity...

@@AleXoundOS From a theoretical systemic perspective you could be correct. However, this also assumes that everyone has this mindset. It also assumes that this would be a planned strategy. Lets just say that I have my doubts :)

I don't know how the burn-out rates compare but from what I can tell, Swedish work culture allows for a much more enjoyable and less stressful life. Even just having flexibility to go to the doctor or other important appointments during work hours without taking a vacation day and planning all your appointments in one day is a huge stress relief (might of course not be the case for all companies). I also imagine it's advantageous to be used to a stricter work culture and work in a more relaxed working culture rather than the other way around :D

@@theannareich That is indeed the norm. And to be honest, not being able to go see doctors during work without using vacation days is something id expect from the US, but def not Germany.

Interesting! In German there's also great ways of avoiding addressing someone if you're not certain which form to use. So in that situation I would probably say something like "Is the decision made?" haha

Thanks a lot for watching! :)

Unfortunately I can't say much about the electrical/energy job market. I am under the impression that Sweden is really ramping up their engineering industries in general but that could be just my perception :)

Sweden is building several huge industries connected to battery production, c02-free steel, wind mill production and other areas. There is a boom in northern part of Sweden. They are hiring all kinds of engineers like crazy.

@@zulupox Thank you very much.

Hi Wendy! It is quite common to work partially from home here in Sweden as far as I can tell. At my job I'm completely free to decide when I want to work from home vs. the office as long as I'm there when something important is going on (but then I also travel to our factory quite a lot). I'm not sure how representative this is for Swedish companies though :D It should hopefully be possible to figure this out during the application process. I did also hear that it's illegal in Sweden to leave your dog alone for more than 6 hours at a time, so it's common to put it into doggy daycare (but not everyone follows that rule).

I'm not an engineer but I think it's fairly common also for people to go home and walk their dog during lunch.

At my company, people are allowed to bring their dogs, as long as they are well mannered, and the team around that working area is ok with it. We are around 200 people in the office, usually there are a bunch of dogs there.

I work pretty much exclusively from home (Sweden), an convieniently I can then walk our dog during lunch. I have a friend who pretty much does the same thing, he works a majority of the time from home. Both are engineers, and I believe it is quite common to work a lot from home, but sure, perhaps not the first few months of employment but it all depends. When I do need to go in for work , either my wife works from home for the day or we hire a person walking our dog . For us, this is not very expensive since there are a lot of people that want to spend time with dogs but cannot have a dog themselves for whatever reason.

Hi Ammar, I'm afraid I have no idea to the answer of this question. I would assume that you can apply for jobs in Germany for sure but whether you need to apply for a new visa or not I don't know.

I can't really give an absolute conclusion but I'm really enjoying working in Sweden and I could see myself staying here long term. Germany generally has higher engineering salaries while Sweden has a stronger social system (free healthcare, long parental leave) and a better work-life balance. So depends on what you care more about :)

@@theannareich Balanced answer coming from a great engineer...thanks. I would also choose Sweden...thanks

Please also consider the "character" of the country.... I think it's important to feel at home in a country, and have the feeling that you fit in to society. Before making any choices I'd say plan a vacation, and preferably learn some words before you come. In Germany it's certainly more necessary to learn the language than it is in Sweden, but in both cases I'd recommend to learn it. It helps integrating in social settings and generally feeling at home. Imho German is harder to learn than Swedish, more grammar to deal with.

Thanks :) If you want to make money I would probably go to Switzerland or the South of Germany, if you want to have good work-life balance I would go to the Netherlands or anywhere in the Nordics (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland) 😄

@@theannareich sounds spot on to me, thank you. I would love to live in France or Italy for some time but they are not the best for engineers. Nonetheless, if you are by any chance able to get a good position in say Italy, then I would definitely do that because that’s where I’d like to be most of all. Switzerland is beautiful too. I pray all this COVID stuff calms down because one of my biggest aspirations is returning to my families homeland in Europe if not to live at-least for extended time.

@@josephcassano6296 I definitely agree with choosing your dream location over a job and there’s still loads of industry in Italy and France so I’m sure you’ll find something!

@@theannareich Thank you Anna, I agree. If your well practiced and hard working the doors will open up. You have a great night.

Generally, engineering salaries in Sweden are lower than in Germany but taxes are also lower and social benefits are higher, meaning that you some expenses like health insurance are much lower. And of course it really depends on the industry and company!

I'm not an expert on the Swedish job market but from what I've heard, Gothenburg is a pretty good city for industrial jobs as well as Södertälje and Västerås. But you can always move cities after your studies so I wouldn't put too much importance on that when choosing your uni :) Good luck!

I'd say it's not typical to work overtime but this depends a lot on the type of company and the industry. In a start-up it's more common than in an established company. But generally, Swedes value taking brakes and not working too much, just the right amount ("lagom").

@@theannareich Thank you for sharing! I hope to work in Sweden soon.

General rule is that swedes dont mind working overtime when needed, but if it is needed all the time, then the planning from the company is bad, so then they have a hard time to keep the personal. As we say in Sweden: Swedes work to live (have a good spare time), while some other cultures live to work (impress their friends with fancy titles etc).

Hi Sona! Unfortunately, I don't know super much about the civil engineering industry here in Sweden - what do you define as a good place? Salary, work-life balance, job opportunities, ...?

You can live without speaking Swedish just fine, at least in the larger cities. But if you plan to stay long-term, I'd say you need to learn Swedish to be truly integrated and make Swedish friends.

haha don't worry, Germans tend to give foreigners a break (but they definitely won't do that for other Germans 🤣)

Thank you for your feedback, that's very interesting! :)

Thanks, that's very interesting!

Ooohh! I should look into that! :D

Hi! I'm afraid I know nothing about being a nurse in Germany or Sweden. So the best advice I can give is to follow your gut feeling 😅

@@theannareich So a stab in the dark and hope for the best?

​@@flame1526 That's how I decided to move to Sweden haha

That's so interesting! Thanks for sharing. Germans are incredibly formal in comparison :D I even called my elementary school teachers by their last name - but we were allowed to use the informal "you" ("du") because they didn't expect us to understand it yet, only from 5th grade we needed to address them formally ("Sie"). I love that I don't need to worry about offending anyone in Sweden if I use a too informal form 😅

​@@theannareich Nice video and interesting to hear your thoughts! Just a clarification: Swedish "Ni" was not the equivalent of German "Sie". It was formal, but it carried a connotation that the person addressed was not important enough for you to address them by, or even know, their actual title! So it was a formal way of talking down to someone, quite the opposite of "Sie"! Some young people who don't understand this have taken up using "Ni" as a way to show respect inspired by other languages, but older people who remember the actual meaning of "Ni" can get offended if addressed that way. It's the official way of addressing several people at once though, just avoid using it to address a single person.

@@Balkongodlaren Great to know, thanks for sharing!

​@@Balkongodlaren What I’ve heard too. In the old days masters called their servants ‘ni’. They addressed their masters in the third person: “Does the Count wish for anything else?”

@@pl5675The upper class may have followed its own ideas, But for working- and middleclass people, this was dead serious! I, brought up in the 1960, was in the last generation that learned to never ever use a singular Ni, unless with a denigrating intention. Seen from the child's perspective, "Du" was solely for cousins, playmates and schoolmates. Third person adressing for *_all_* adults..

That's so interesting! And very opposite to Germany :D

Excuse me 😺, you're are Ukrainian refugee in Sweden? ( I see Ukrainian flag on your picture)

@@dr_Olga Nope!

​@@dr_Olga I hope you know that the colours of the Swedish flag (one of the oldest flags in the world) is blue and yellow? Waaaaay before the Ukrainian flag. 🇸🇪

@@annikaerf yes colours are the same. no doubt :)

:D

vad sägs om att fokusera på att lära dig ordentlig engelska istället ;)

@@theannareich Du det är AI som ändrar av sig själv. .

@@theannareich Haha.