Berit's Blog

The first thing I was told by my fellow American ex-patriots upon moving to Norway was that I would never find a job. Most of the Americans I had met in Oslo were living in Norway because of their husbands, wives, boyfriends or girlfriends. Very few actually moved to Norway for the fjords, cross-country skiing or easy access to lutefisk, let alone an actual job. I was told horror stories of the law-degree carrying Frenchman, fluent in five languages and boasting 15 years of experience, who applied for 250 positions in Norway and didn't get a single interview. I began to ponder careers I never before had considered: driving a taxi, selling pølse med lompe or hot dogs, maybe even working on a fishing boat.

The only thing I had going for me was my Norwegian sounding name (which might fool them at first glance) and my limited knowledge of the Norwegian language. My luck changed the day I met a fellow American who had managed the impossible: a job in her field of expertise. I learned from her that the key to job searching as a foreigner is to use your foreigner-status to your advantage. She said to find Norwegian companies that are looking to expand internationally. A common mistake is to target companies that are familiar such as General Motors or Microsoft, when in actuality those companies are looking for Norwegians to help them reach the Norwegian market. With this knowledge and a few months of patience, I finally managed to find employment.

The day I started working at Opera Software was one of excitement and relief. I was relieved that I was finally one of the lucky few to be employed. I could stop worrying about how I would renew my next residency permit, where the money would come from to pay for the extremely high cost of living, and what I would do with my time now that I was living in Norway. But it was only when I was presented with my Norwegian employment contract that I truly realized how lucky I was.

My utter awe over Norwegian employment benefits began when I was told that every employed person in Norway, no matter the profession, is by law entitled to five weeks of vacation per year, an amount that takes most Americans several years to earn. Vacation in Norway is consider to be a right rather than a benefit of employment and Norwegians even have a name for the time of the year when most people take a month off - fellesferie or common vacation.

On my first day of work I inquired after the average working hours. I was informed that 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. was the legal limit, anything beyond that was considered overtime and should be compensated for in some way.

Five weeks of vacation, a nine to five work day, all of this seemed too good to be true…but there it was, printed in my contract. It made me wonder why everyone wasn’t hopping the boat and heading over to Norway for the good life. I was reminded of a phrase from a book about living in Norway that stated, “Americans live to work while Norwegians work to live.” I was truly starting to understand what that phrase actually meant.

If I should ever return to the United States I think I will find it difficult to re-adjust to the rigorous American work ethic and measly compensation packages in comparison to Norwegian health and vacation benefits. I will miss wearing jeans to work everyday, the lack of corporate hierarchy and five-weeks of vacation. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy this worker’s paradise while it lasts, taxes and all.

Originally appeared in Viking magazine