After her first lesson in the Swedish language, Surabhi Mishra came home and cried. A few weeks into her new life in Stockholm, Sweden, the enormity of the challenge she had taken on, finally hit her. Having followed her scientist husband who came to the Karolinska Institute for postdoctoral research, Surabhi admits that she did little research to understand the Swedish job market. Similar to the Dutch, the Swedes are fluent English speakers. However, “your prospects in the job market, if you are not fluent in Swedish, are bleak, except if you are in the technology or research fields” she says.
Armed with a double Masters in Sociology and Communications, and backed by nearly a decade of working in the Indian PR industry, Surabhi had decided to bet on her resume. However, she was learning rapidly that it would not be nearly enough.
Today, Surabhi is a Partnership Manager at Copperberg AB, a company that organises events for the European manufacturing industry.
How a communications professional switched to a client engagement role in manufacturing is, simply put, a lesson in grit, determination and carpe diem. “What I went through was a complete transformation. I had to unlearn everything. I had to teach myself how to handle failures, how to deal with people hanging up on you or ghosting you. I had to coach myself to not let things affect me and just give everything my best shot. I became much more resilient than I ever was”, she rues.
Surabhi came across Copperberg at a mentorship programme. It was an opening for a sales role. “I had no experience in sales, and yet my interest was piqued as the company offered training. So I decided to give it a go. During the first few months all I did was sell tickets for industry events through cold calls. But this experience steeled me up! In fact, my seniors were impressed when I sold my first ticket within three weeks as, usually, it took longer. I was soon getting very good at it and began to grow within the organisation. Now, I am a Partnership Manager and I work on deep engagement with my clients, offering them solutions for after-sales success.” Surabhi admits that initially, it was difficult to enjoy the job, but now, she thrives on the problem-solving nature of her role in helping her clients in a highly competitive environment.
Talking about entry barriers to the job market, Surabhi explains, “it is a lack of network, not knowing the local language and of course, not knowing what kind of CV will work here”. She began to furiously expand and work on her Linkedin network. She would look up professionals in the communications industry and request a conversation. “I would ask them if it was possible to meet them over a coffee to understand industry practices here. Some of them responded and I learnt a lot in these meetings”. Surabhi enrolled in the Stockholm Dual Career Network (SDCN), a non-profit organisation that helped expat spouses with job-hunting challenges. In parallel, she signed up for mentorship programmes. “From customising my CV to connecting me with companies, these programmes really helped me. I also did an advanced Swedish language course on marketing terminology”.
Surabhi believes that voluntary roles play a crucial part in network-building. The SDCN, where she had enrolled, was looking to build a voluntary team to help with their communication and event strategy. Surabhi took this on, and began to lead the team in their efforts. “I did this for nearly a year and this was a turning point. I got the opportunity to showcase my skills and abilities to a larger Swedish audience. I got very good recommendations from them”. She also did an internship at a technology startup, as a PR person. This experience added to her network building as well. In between all this, Surabhi also had a stroke of luck. Her husband’s organisation was looking for a communications professional to help them tie-up some content. Surabhi jumped at it, though it was only a two month project. She knew that it was an opportunity to actually do some meaningful work and meet people.
Reflecting on her journey as an expat spouse, Surabhi says, “I am really thankful for all the people I came across here and I learnt something from everyone. The biggest lesson is to learn and absorb the new culture and do not hesitate to meet people. Especially at a time like now, with the pandemic raging, it is important to push yourself out and try to show up! ”
