Denmark Information
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 17
Home Country: denmark
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 Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:44 am Post subject: EMPLOYMENT IN DENMARK/ DENMARK EMPLOYMENT GUIDE |
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EMPLOYMENT IN DENMARK (Getting a Job)
GENERAL
An attractive working environment. Free and development-focused working conditions in a relaxed and participatory environment.
Danish company culture is characterised by a non-hierarchical structure and open dialogue between management and employees. Denmarks most important competition parameter is knowledge and this is reflected in both the working facilities and the orientation towards personal and professional development.
Danish companies also offer good working conditions, modern conveniences and technical equipment of high standards. Development of qualifications is a high priority and most workplaces offer continuing education to their employees.
Danes take their job very seriously and Danish employees are highly motivated and committed. Danish working culture is team-oriented, and the working environment is characterised by open and informal manners.
JOB HUNTING
English-speaking jobs in Denmark are becoming more and more common. This is especially true with regard to large and international companies who have made or will make English their corporate language. Within recent years, Danish companies such as Carlsberg, Danisco, Danfoss, Lundbeck, Novo and Nordea have adopted English as their corporate language.
A survey has shown that 30% of the chief executives of Denmarks largest companies expect to adopt English as their corporate language within the next 10 years (Børsens Nyhedsmagasin, 2001). Biogen, Dell, DaimlerChryssler, IBM, Nokia and many other multinational companies are represented in Denmark and use English as their corporate language.
A jobseeker who speaks English but not Danish will find that the major Danish and international companies are particularly relevant job targets. However, even in smaller and less international companies the Danish employees speak English at a relatively high level.
Applying
Looking for a job in Denmark is not much different from looking for a job in other countries. There are generally 4 ways to do it. You can:
* Send an unsolicited application
* Use your network Send a solicited application
* Submit your CV to the database of a job portal or a recruiting company
Application and interview
A job application should take up approximately 1 sheet of A4-sized paper. It is usually accompanied by relevant certificates of education, references from former employers and a CV. The application itself should function as an appetizer while the CV is a resume of your experiences and background.
You will normally be contacted by the company after the application deadline, at which point you may be called for an interview. In some business areas, personality tests have become a standard feature of the interview, but you may encounter other tests as well.
You may often be called for more than one interview at the same company before you are given the job.
Unsolicited
If you want to work for a particular company or research institution, you can send an unsolicited application. A brief cover letter and CV should be sent to the company, stating your interest in the company.
The cover letter should specify why the applicant would like to work for the company in question and how the applicants qualifications are of value to the company. You can acquire "insider" information about the company by speaking to people who work there or who are otherwise familiar with it. This can also provide information about job opportunities.
Networking
A large proportion of the vacant positions in Denmarkare never advertised. They are occupied through personal contacts. A good approach when looking for a job is to ask persons within your personal network whether they know of any potential workplaces.
You can contact relevant workplaces, organisations and expatriate networks and send your CV along with an explanation of who you are and your reasons for coming to Denmark.
Finally you can draw on your network in your home country and find out if any of your colleagues, employers or work partners have contacts in Denmarkthat can help you to get an interview.
Solicited
Although most job adverts are written in Danish, more and more companies choose to advertise in English as well.
The following media are useful for finding job adverts:
* Job portals on the Internet. On the workindenmark.dk homepage there is a link to Stepstones categorised English-language database over vacant jobs
* The websites of large companies
* The job databases of recruiting or consultancy firms
* Sunday newspapers
Many companies choose to supplement job ads in newspapers by advertising vacancies on their own websites, and several companies have databases with descriptions of vacant positions.
In Denmark, the public sector is a major employer, and the job portal Public Jobs has a page in English with a list of vacancies that are only advertised in English.
Some Danish newspapers have a relatively comprehensive jobs section in their Sunday editions. Among these are:
* Berlingske Tidende
* Politiken
* Morgenavisen Jyllandsposten
The financial newspaper Børsen has a jobs section on Fridays. All these newspapers have online job portals.
CV database
Popularly speaking, you can also let the job come to you. You can do this by submitting your CV to the database of one of the many job portals or by sending your CV to a recruiting firm, also known as Search and Selection.
WORKING CONDITIONS
The working conditions in Danish workplaces give employees the possibility to create a good balance between work and family life. Generally working hours are 37 hours a week, and everybody is entitled to 5 weeks holiday a year. At the same time, employees generally have a lot of influence on their work, and work-related challenges and competence development are prioritized highly.
Generally, expat workers are subject to the same labour regulations and agreements as Danish employees. Employees posted in Denmarkby an international company are guaranteed the same statutory working conditions as Danish employees.
Working conditions are to a large extent regulated by agreements between the two sides of industry and by the employees. The two sides of industry - management and labour -determine working hours, the minimum wage and rules for dismissal. Questions about holidays and leave, on the other hand, are regulated by law. The law also demands that an employment contract is drawn up.
An employment contract defines the conditions of employment. This is especially relevant for employees in the private sector where collective agreements are rare. However, in the public sector, it is becoming more and more common to negotiate working conditions on an individual basis. |
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