Living And Working In Norway

Living and working in Norway

// Living and working in Norway

// Contents
Facts about Norway Culture Labour market trends How to find a job in Norway Checklist – moving to Norway Unemployment and social insurance (Folketrygden) Employment terms and conditions Housing in Norway Useful reading about Norway CV/application letter 3 6 8 10 14 16 18 24 25 26

Education/accreditation ofqualifications 22

SVALBARD

JAN MAYEN

Eggøya Ny-Ålesund Olonkinbyen

Longyearbyen Barentsburg

Polarsirkelen

Facts about Norway
// Norway contains large areas of unspoilt countryside which offer abundant opportunities for outdoor pursuits, including sporting challenges.
Norway extends over 1 750 km between the 58th and 71st degrees north, and as such is characterised by great distances.If you imagine an axis at the southern tip of the country and rotate it through 180 degrees on a map of Europe, the opposite end would reach as far south as central Italy. At its widest, the country covers 420 km from east to west, at its narrowest just 6 km. With a total area of 387 000 square kilometres, Norway is the seventh largest country in Europe. It borders Sweden, Finland and Russia andits exceptionally long coastline is dotted with

Geography

approximately 50 000 islands of which just 2 000 are inhabited. Norway is a country of many mountains. From the inland mountains and plateaux, the landscape descends sharply towards the coast. The western parts are characterised by steep mountains and deep valleys which soften gradually into wide valleys and rolling hills in theeastern parts. The west features fjords cutting deep into the country; these are in fact sub-sea extensions of the valleys. A quarter of the country is forested, and approximately 4 per cent is cultivated land. The islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen also belong to the Kingdom of Norway.

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// Living and working in Norway

Norway has 4.87 million inhabitants. Approximately 460 000 arenon-nationals. The largest groups from Europe come from Poland, Sweden, Germany and Denmark. Immigrants from countries beyond Europe are mainly from Pakistan, Iraq, Vietnam and Somalia.

Population

Climate

Population figures
Oslo Bergen Trondheim Stavanger Kristiansand Tromsø

(Six largest cities, 1st January 2010) 574 000 257 000 168 000 121 000 80 000 66 000

In Norway we have four seasons:spring, summer, autumn and winter. A combination of humid, westerly winds and the warming Gulf stream produces a much milder climate than would otherwise be expected in a country this far north. There are great climatic variations in Norway; temperatures can drop to minus 20-30 degrees Celsius during the winter and reach plus 30 degrees Celsius in the summer. North of the Arctic Circle the sun isvisible at midnight in the summer, while daylight is limited in the winter.

Meteorologisk Institutt
P.O. Box 43, Blindern Niels Henrik Abels vei 40 N-0313 Oslo Tel: + 47 22 96 30 00 post@met.no www.met.no

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Language

Norwegian is a North Germanic language closely related to Danish and Swedish. There are two written forms of Norwegian: “Bokmål” and “ Nynorsk”. Formally, Bokmål andNynorsk are treated as equals, but Bokmål is the most widely used. Nynorsk is used by around 10-15% of the population, mostly in Western Norway and in official usage, literature, theatre and broadcasting. Usually, knowledge of Norwegian or another Scandinavian language is a prerequisite for obtaining a job in Norway. However, in some branches such as the construction industry, farming, the fishingindustry and the hotel and restaurant industry, a good command of English may suffice. Some companies, for example in the petroleum sector, use English as their corporate language.

Prospective job seekers are advised to look into the possibilities for learning Norwegian in their home country. Check if the Norwegian embassy can provide an overview of Norwegian courses. In Norway you can obtain...