(edit title) Structural Engineering Companies With English as a formal language Options

[Somebody]

Do you know any companies based in Sweden
employing international staff where English is spoken?

[Migga]

You should take a look in this thread, it might hold some answers;
http://www.thelocal.se/discuss/index.php?showtopic=27514

Otherwise I`d guess companies like Tyrèns
http://www.tyrens.se/en/Services/Konstruktion/

or Sweco might fit the bill;
http://www.swecogroup.com/en/Sweco-group/About-Sweco/

[John.Smith]

There is a shortage of structural and construction/civil engineers in the Northern parts of Sweden especially in the mining sector. I suggest looking at the various recruitment firms such as Manpower also check out Linked In jobs section and Stepstone.se.

Depending on the role and how hard the employer is finding people to recruit then the language might not be a big deal.

//J:S:

[gplusa]

The language isn't a deal breaker, but it will limit what you can do and therefore limit your short term value to the company. Swedish is the working language in the engineering industry in Sweden and you will need to be at least seen to be making an effort to learn and speak the language. The good news is that most large engineering design companies will view a language weakness as a short term weakness which can be fixed. You need to be technically sound and show a willingness to interact with your professional colleagues. If you have any previous structural experience involving bridges, then that's the route to take. Bridge engineers are in short supply in Sweden and those who are employed are fully booked for at least the following year.

[Somebody]

Thanks for your posts guys.
Of course this is Sweden and Swedish is spoken here,
but let's be honest about it, you need I guess 3-5 years of hard work to say
you can speak Swedish, to write, to understand and to speak proper language.

In the meantime it is not easy and it is like taking a few steps backward.
Therefore I have thought perhaps there are some companies like Sweco where people from around the world
are working together and they have to communicate in English.
I have heard that Cowi does it in Danmark when it comes to bridge engineering
and they speak English at their office there, but I am not a Bridge Engineer..

[ahm]

Im with speaking English as formal working language especially in construction companies and ,other private sector companies.

But its little impossible cause Sweden like any european country dealing with thier home language like Germany ,France,Holland,Spain,,,etc

I think Norway for this point better if im right!

Actually , if the market (private companies) is in English then Sweden will be the ideal country in the world ,wich is hard for them to convince of such thing.

English is not language while swedish ,german ,spanish french,,, are langages , English is Global & universal language not only a language.

[PDX]

but let's be honest about it, you need I guess 3-5 years of hard work to say. you can speak Swedish, to write, to understand and to speak proper language.

You need 3-5 months of hard work to be semi-fluent in the language (enough for a professional setting with a limited/focused vocabulary). This is not Korean, where you'd need perhaps 2-3 years .

~~~PDX~~~

[gplusa]

It doesn't quite work that way. Even with Sweco or the other large international engineering companies. I work for one of those as well. If you are sitting in a Swedish office, the working language is Swedish. 95% of your work will be for Swedish customers. On the rare occassion that you will work with English speaking colleagues or for an English speaking client, your workmates will be able to converse well enough in English to get the job done. It's not a huge advantage having a native English speaker in the ranks. I do the occasional formal translation work, or check overseas tender documents but, even then, the conversation I have about the document is in Swedish. You don't know if you've done something correctly if you don't correctly understand both languages at the right level. It took me about 3 months of working before I could prepare drawings at the required level of Swedish. As PDX says, it's not that difficult when you are dealing with a small repeating technical vocabulary. It probably took me another 18 months until my written Swedish was sufficient to prepare formal specifications and tender documents where correct use of teminology and context is vital. Until then I was reliant on the help of my work colleagues, which in turn meant that I wasn't earning my keep as well as I should have been able to. Today its no longer an issue, but you have to be prepared to taking a step backwards in order to take a step forwards. If it sounds too much like hard work, try another country.

[John.Smith]

+1

[Somebody]

You need 3-5 months of hard work to be semi-fluent in the language (enough for a professional setting with a limited/focused vocabulary). This is not Korean, where you'd n ... (show full quote)

You need 3-5 months of hard work to be semi-fluent in the language (enough for a professional setting with a limited/focused vocabulary). This is not Korean, where you'd need perhaps 2-3 years .

~~~PDX~~~ ... (hide full quote)

yeah, maybe 2-3 weeks only?
now, think over of what you have written..

I am talking about fluency and not picking single words out of conversation.
This does not count.

I would say everybody needs at least 3 years to get there unless
one has a real talent to learn languages or... is German
and spends all free time studying Swedish.
No offence

[PDX]

3-5 months to learn Swedish with hard work is easily doable. Once you try learning a Slavic, Asian or African language, you understand how close Swedish is to English. Yes, you will be making some mistakes and it will be obvious that you are a foreigner, but you will speak better than 99% of taxi drivers and will be able to function in a professional environment.

I am speaking from my experience and what I have seen what truly motivated people can achieve. 2 years is sufficient for a truly difficult (for us Europeans) language such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese or Korean, and that includes learning an entirely new alphabet!

This assumes, of course, learning primarily via self study and professional one-on-one tutoring. Sitting in a classroom a couple evenings per week, I can see how it could take 5 years to learn Swedish

~~~PDX~~~

[Somebody]

I have to agree with you on that...and of course it is also very indyvidual thing
how much time one needs to learn a new language

[For all]

What specifically interested "Structural Engineering Companies"

[Kibiri]

You need 3-5 months of hard work to be semi-fluent in the language (enough for a professional setting with a limited/focused vocabulary). This is not Korean, where you'd n ... (show full quote)

You need 3-5 months of hard work to be semi-fluent in the language (enough for a professional setting with a limited/focused vocabulary). This is not Korean, where you'd need perhaps 2-3 years .

~~~PDX~~~ ... (hide full quote)

I am speaking from my experience and what I have seen what truly motivated people can achieve. 2 years is sufficient for a truly difficult (for us Europeans) language such as ... (show full quote)

I am speaking from my experience and what I have seen what truly motivated people can achieve. 2 years is sufficient for a truly difficult (for us Europeans) language such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese or Korean, and that includes learning an entirely new alphabet! ... (hide full quote)

You mention Korean twice. Maybe all non-Latin look the same to you, but actually Korean is phonetic in a very nice way. You can learn the alphabet in a week, and start reading everything (without understanding, obviously).

[PDX]

I agree, the fact that it is phonetic is very convenient and makes learning pronunciation a non-issue, but it is only a part of the story.

I found some supporting sources for my arguments I made earlier in this thread (in addition to my personal experience):

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Language_Lear...nglish_Speakers

Swedish is listed in Category 1, requiring 23-24 weeks for proficiency. Korean is listed in Category 3, requiring 88 weeks out of which half to be spent in the country.

~~~PDX~~~