Hi everyone,
For the context, I (27M) am French and have been applying for jobs in Copenhagen since nearly 6 months and except few interviews here and there (3), nothing. I'm an engineer in construction and environment in Monaco/France, with few years experience in huge international projects, so I have quite a solid CV, but it looks like it has no impact.
I get refused even for jobs I am overqualified for. I apply mostly on Linkedin or Indeed. I tried to contact some HR directly from Linkedin but no results. Is there something I do wrong ?
My girlfriend is living in Copenhagen so I literally put her address in my CV but it looks like it doesn't help either. I speak fluent english as well, but no danish at all.
I'd love to hear your experiences or any advices you might have because I feel like it's getting pointless... It's the only country and city where I feel that way because I've been applying in many other countries in the past and it didn't seem so complicated and with this weird feeling that I’m just tossing a message in a bottle into the ocean...
Thank you for any help you might have :))
In your field I think speaking Danish is quite important
Jobs that you are over qualified for will most likely skip you, because they will assume that you are only staying til you find a job that matches your qualifications and therefore gives better pay.
With The other jobs, remember that it’s not because you are bad that they don’t hire , it’s because were one that was just a little better then you. So don’t loose hope 😊
I have a French friend, who had to leave within 18 months of trying to find a job within urban environmental landscape and architecture.
She had to give up bc she did not speak Danish. In her industry that was the only dealbreaker that she was not able to overcome.
not so reassuring... thank you though
You have to understand that this industry in Denmark is very small, and very DANISH, so also very network based. It’s a big problem for you that you don’t speak Danish In this specific industry. Also you need to know that the 3 biggest entrepreneurs have gone through several downsizing the past years as material prices had increased significantly since corona, it’s now staring to stabilize but the companies are still downsizing due to lower expectation in growth. So I think you should set your expectations low, tbh. If you were an engineer in software og electrical engineer it would be a different case. You would find a job very fast.
Thank you for all those informations. Maybe I should start to aim for electrical engineer roles, still in the construction field
You probably also need Danish for that + also knowing the local Danish laws reg construction and electricity. I think all 'trades' are quite local usually with limited English (and need of local authorization)
You 100% need to learn Danish or your chances will be zero. Focus on that first.
The problem with construction, specifically, is that a lot of the clients are municipalities etc., and they don't have strong English skills. So the companies are reluctant to hire internationals, and they also attract and retain older employees with poor to no English skills...
Don't know if it will help, but you can try and search in Malmö as well.
He will encounter the same issue there and probably more so bc it's a smaller and less international job market.
I was stuck in the same loop. I ran my resume through an AI rewrite that aligned it to the role and finally started getting callbacks. If you want, I can run yours through it.
I was stuck in the same loop. I ran my resume through an AI rewrite aligned to the role and finally started getting callbacks. If you want, I can run yours through it.