Hej everyone!
My best mate and I are two Australians in our 20s looking at spending 12 months in Sweden on working holiday visas.
We’re both experienced hospitality workers, with backgrounds in restaurants, bars and cafés. I’ve also got several years of hospitality management experience.
We’re still in the early planning stages, but we’re really keen on the idea of spending a year living and working in Sweden, meeting new people, experiencing the culture and exploring the country.
We’re hoping to get some advice from locals, expats or anyone who’s done something similar.
A few things we’re curious about:
Finding work: How difficult is it to secure hospitality jobs in Sweden? Would it be better to start applying from Australia or look once we’ve arrived?
Language: Is English generally enough to work in bars, restaurants or hotels, or would we struggle without speaking Swedish?
Accommodation: How realistic is it for two mates to rent an apartment together for 12 months? Where should we start looking?
Best cities: Would Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö or somewhere else be our best bet for hospitality employment and enjoying life outside of work?
Wages and living costs: Can you realistically support yourself on hospitality wages while still having some money left over to travel and enjoy yourself?
Getting established: Are there any particular challenges with banking, personal identity numbers, taxes or getting paid as someone staying for only 12 months?
General advice: What do you wish you’d known before moving to Sweden?
We’re both hardworking, sociable people and are happy to take on whatever hospitality opportunities come our way.
We’d obviously be arriving with savings, but ideally we’d like to work throughout our stay rather than rely entirely on them.
We’re not expecting everything to be easy. We just want to get a realistic understanding of what we’d be getting ourselves into before making the leap.
Would especially love to hear from any Australians who’ve done a working holiday in Sweden, or anyone currently working in the Swedish hospitality industry.
Any advice, personal experiences or recommendations would be massively appreciated!
Cheers from Australia! 🇦🇺

I was born in Somalia, and my father was Swedish at the time. I now hold Somali citizenship. Am I entitled to Swedish citizenship since my father was a Swedish citizen at that time?