I think your nativity makes you miss a few problems simply because they never cross your path. For example:
> Language skills... nothing to say here. Every Swede can speak and write English. You won't have problems here.
This is true insofar as that I've been studying Interaction Design in Sweden for one and a half years now (one half year to go) and I have not needed to learn Swedish. However, I've been informed that to get employed in Sweden it's quite vital that you know Swedish. There's plenty of jobs where you don't even really need to know Swedish, but they demand it anyway to give the local people a bigger chance.
To give an example: I know of other students who couldn't get a job delivering newspapers because they didn't speak Swedish because, and I quote "suppose a stranger on the street asks you for directions, how are you going to help them?" which is obviousy part of the job description of newspaper delivery boy.
Can't say how that translates for jobs like UX, although I hear similar stuff from graduates: knowing Swedish is almost necessary if you want to get employed.
I'm quite surprised about your fears at night - I live in Malmö (which has a reputation) and have never felt threatened or in danger at all.
You're partially right here. But for software engineering or general tech/science, English is sufficient. You don't need Swedish. We got a couple of English speakers at my current place of employment and there are no issues here.
But yeah, regarding other types of job, without Swedish, you'll have it tough. My partner speaks fluent Mandarin and English and has a Bachelors degree with honours. Will probably have an incredible tough time finding a job in "Communications". Ugh... Shit degree but you didn't hear that from me.
Copenhagen is a bit more English-friendly in employment from what I gather, even outside tech, so could be an option for people who want to stay in Scandinavia but have trouble finding an English-language job in Sweden. For example the entire Maersk corporation, the largest employer in Denmark, is English-only for corporate business and hiring, except a few jobs that interact with things like the Danish government, local catering, etc. My guess as to why is that Danish tends to be harder than Swedish for foreigners to learn to a level that Danes can understand, so companies don't expect them to.
Some couples straddle Copenhagen–Malmö (35 minutes by train from each other across the strait).
I don't think this is entirely true. I'm a native that have worked in Stockholm for almost 7 years (digital agencies, production companies). At every place I've been we've had at least one person that did not know swedish at all.
> Language skills... nothing to say here. Every Swede can speak and write English. You won't have problems here.
This is true insofar as that I've been studying Interaction Design in Sweden for one and a half years now (one half year to go) and I have not needed to learn Swedish. However, I've been informed that to get employed in Sweden it's quite vital that you know Swedish. There's plenty of jobs where you don't even really need to know Swedish, but they demand it anyway to give the local people a bigger chance.
To give an example: I know of other students who couldn't get a job delivering newspapers because they didn't speak Swedish because, and I quote "suppose a stranger on the street asks you for directions, how are you going to help them?" which is obviousy part of the job description of newspaper delivery boy.
Can't say how that translates for jobs like UX, although I hear similar stuff from graduates: knowing Swedish is almost necessary if you want to get employed.
I'm quite surprised about your fears at night - I live in Malmö (which has a reputation) and have never felt threatened or in danger at all.