Norwegian and work in the far north

Hi!

Cool that you're concidering coming to Norway. Living in Oslo, I'm not sure I can answer all your questions, but I'll give it a shot.

1) If you speak English (and from your post I figure you're a Brit?), you'll be able to communicate with most Norwegians. Knowledge of English is generally good here. But if you're able to put in the time and effort to get at least a basic grasp of Norwegian before you arrive, that will certainly make it easier.

2) The unemployment rate in Norway is the lowest in Europe at the moment; and as far as I know, there are a lot of foreigners working in the fishing industry, due to it being difficult to recruit Norwegian labor. So yeah, you should be able to find work. But a lot of the fisheries are seasonal - however, if you can find work connected to the salmon industry, that would be year round, I suppose. As for wages, I checked the current tariff rates and they are in the 130-150 NOK/hour range.

3) Tromsø is a wonderful town. But it is not the easiest place to find work in the fish gutting industry - the plants are usually located in remote villages, not in the city. So I wouldn't count on Tromsø being the place to go. Finnmark (the northernmost county) and the Western coast would be my first places to search.

All the best to you!

Edited by: ingeborgv

Hi ingeborgv

Thanks so much for your reply.

You're right, I am a Brit. I know most (young) Scandinavians speak almost perfect English from my travels, but I'm really interested in languages (hence the Thai and Chinese) and wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to learn another. Plus it would widen my employment possibitlies.

Tromsø does sound great, but since I'm going to be working very long hours anyway, I suppose it doesn't matter if I live there or some small village in Finnmark. Maybe after 6-9 months my Norwegian will be good enough to move to Tromsø and find some non-fishing related work.

Thanks for the employment info. It's very hard to find out much with google (in English anyway). I think it's best to just turn up in person. I'll still have enough money to support myself for a while, but if anyone can name specific towns/villages, that would be great.

I think I'll go this time next year with a bike and a tent (I like cycle touring) and just cycle around until I find work. I must admit I was beginning to dread having to go back home, getting a job in an office again, etc, but now I'm actually looking forward to going back to Europe. So different from Thailand, but special in it's own way I think.

Thanks again.

Check out www.nav.no. This page gives you the raw basics what it takes to work in Norway, and it also lists jobs (not all of the adverts are translated...). And yes, it is in english, just remember to press the button on the top of the page! Good luck!

Thanks for that site. Some good general info, but the jobs listed are quite high-level. I think I just need to physically be there to get the kind of work I'm looking for.

You could get in touch with some of the major operators by e-mail - Lerøy (www.leroy.no), Austevoll Seafood (www.auss.no), Aker Seafoods (www.akerseafoods.no).

Also try to get in touch with aquaculture companies as they often need resident minders to far-off farms in Finnmark, especially. Examples are Grieg Seafood (www.griegseafood.no) or Marine Harvest (www.marineharvest.com).

Thanks skrivebord, farm minding sounds interesting.

Hi,

Sounds like a great plan. I have worked a couple of springs/summers/autumns in Northern Norway myself and it was always wonderful.
If you don't absolutely have your heart set on working in the fishing industry right from the beginning, there are quite a few jobs in tourism in the north during the summer, where speaking Norwegian isn't always necessary, though it certainly helps. Some places even provide a place to stay, though then the wages will be a little less. Your language skills might be appreciated. When I traveled up north not everyone spoke English, especially in the smaller villages, so Norwegian is certainly helpful.

The dialects are different from what you'd learn from a textbook, but you'll get the hang of it after a few days. I guess that is the same everywhere, people are happy if you try to speak their language and soften their dialect to help you.