The final week of life in Sweden has been truly bittersweet. For my last weekend in Sweden, my roommate and I took a trip to Amsterdam. This was the second country we went to during the internship, and it was honestly my favorite. It was completely different from Sweden and much more crowded this time of year. I enjoyed how chaotic and energetic the city was, plus the food was absolutely amazing. Everything we ate there was delicious. It was also my first time staying in a hostel, which was a pleasant experience overall.

The rest of the time has been spent getting ready to leave and picking up some last-minute souvenirs. I feel like the experience overall has been very successful, not only by my standards but also by those of my host culture. In Sweden, at least from what I’ve picked up on, they define success by collective agreement and efficient performance of tasks. Although my company is on the smaller side, whenever someone is working on a task, it’s typical for employees to look to one another for feedback. We usually complete our tasks independently and, as we near completion, check in with one another for feedback to ensure nothing has been overlooked. Not only is collaboration a big part of their measure of success but so is efficiency. They’re big on work-life balance here and throughout the workday, we’ll have small side conversations about life or work-related topics which sometimes take up a good portion of the day but then we make sure the tasks we wanted to complete for the day are worked on. There also isn’t as much stress on getting things done at a specific time at my company so there is more flexibility with deadlines due to this.

I think a successful employee at my company is very self-motivated, creative, adaptable, collaborative, and has good time management skills. They need to be able to get their work done in an efficient manner but not always rush to do things. There is still a need to have work-life balance and make sure the work isn’t taking over your daily life. Creativity is important because much of the work at my company involves design and marketing, both of which require innovative thinking. This is also helpful for coming up with different ways of doing tasks and relates to adaptability. A successful employee will be able to take a challenge or change in direction very easily and see it as an opportunity for redirection. Collaboration and time management are also big because while you give and get feedback regularly, you also need to make sure you are giving yourself enough time to work on tasks while interacting with coworkers.

I think the behaviors and actions of my host and home country are very different due to culture. At home, the work culture prioritizes work and career over many things in life. I feel like a lot of the time, a person’s identity is based on their career, so it holds a lot of value and therefore requires more dedication. In Sweden, work is still important and people are interested in what others do for work, but it doesn’t carry as much weight as it does back home. As mentioned, they have a stronger emphasis on work-life balance and make sure they still have a fulfilling life outside of work. This prioritization of work-life balance is something I want to maintain, even when I go back to the States because it’s something I strongly value and am grateful to have experienced living in Stockholm. I feel like I learned a lot from working in a professional setting in Sweden and it’s an experience I will carry with me forever.