References that speak for you

Swedish employers usually contact references once they are seriously considering you, often after one or more interviews. A recruiter phones or emails the people you named and asks how they experienced working with you. Being asked for references is a good sign: it normally means you are on the shortlist.

The conversation tends to cover practical things a CV cannot show:

• what role you took in a team, and how others reacted to you
• how you handled pressure, setbacks or a difficult situation
• what you were responsible for and what came of it
• whether they would work with you again

Some employers now send referees an online questionnaire instead of calling. The Stockholm School of Economics, for example, gathers references through a digital system, and its privacy notice says referees answer directly in the reference tool and may verify their identity with BankID.

If you have a document from an earlier employer describing your work, it can complement the calls, especially when the referee is hard to reach. See written references below.

The best referee knows you well from real work and can give concrete examples. A former manager or team lead is the classic choice, but it is not the only one.

Good candidates

• a manager, project lead or close colleague from a recent job
• a supervisor from an internship, thesis or traineeship
• a teacher or course leader who saw how you work over time
• a contact from an association, union role or volunteer project where you took responsibility
• for research roles: your PhD supervisor, a postdoc host, a co-author or a head of department

Avoid

• friends, partners and relatives, even if you once worked for them; Swedish recruiters read this as unserious
• someone who barely remembers you, or who only knows you socially

Two or three names is usually enough. Choose per application rather than reusing the same list: a referee who saw your lab work fits a research post, while a project client fits a consulting role. When you move from academia to industry, pair one academic referee with someone who saw you deliver outside the lab, such as a collaborating company, a teaching coordinator or a project funder.

If you are still employed and your current manager does not know you are looking, tell the recruiter. Offer another referee from the same workplace, or suggest they speak to your manager only once an offer is close.

Never give out someone's name before they have agreed. Apart from being courteous, it protects you: a referee caught off guard by a call sounds hesitant, and recruiters notice.

When you ask, cover these points:

1. Permission. Ask whether they are happy to act as your referee for this application.
2. The job. Send the ad and tell them what the employer seems to care about most.
3. Your story. Remind them what you did together, with a project or result they can mention. A short CV helps.
4. Their view. Ask what they would say if a recruiter called, including about your weaker sides. Then nothing will surprise you.
5. Details. Confirm their current title, employer, phone number and preferred email. People change jobs and numbers.
6. Timing and language. Tell them roughly when a call might come, and whether the recruiter may contact them in English or Swedish.

A referee who has helped you before still deserves a heads-up. A short email saying you are applying again, with the new ad attached, is enough.

Referees generally want to speak well of you, so give them something specific to say. Afterwards, let them know how it went.

Many applicants in Sweden write a single line such as "References available on request" at the end of the CV instead of listing names. This is useful when you go to many interviews: your referees are not phoned for every application, and you decide when their details are shared.

Prepare the full list in advance so you can hand it over at once:

• Bring a neatly printed copy to the interview.
• Keep a ready email with the same content to send right after the interview, or when the recruiter asks.

For each referee, state who they are, how they know you, and how to reach them. An example layout, headed with your own name:

References for Maria Lindqvist

1. Dr. Anna Berg, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Example University. My PhD supervisor, 2020–2024. anna.berg@example.com, +46 70 174 06 05. Speaks English and Swedish.
2. Sara Holm, Operations Manager, Example Logistics AB. My line manager, 2024–2026. sara.holm@example.se, +46 70 174 06 06. Speaks English and Swedish.
3. Dr. Lena Novak, Senior Researcher, Example Institute, Prague (CET). Host of my research visit in 2023. Prefers email: lena.novak@example.net. Speaks English and Czech.

A recommendation on a professional networking site can support your profile, but it does not replace a referee the recruiter can contact. For how the list fits with the rest of your documents, see how to write a CV.

Your referees can help long before a recruiter calls. When you are stuck on the cover letter or the profile at the top of your CV, call one of them and ask: "How would you describe me to someone who has never met me?" Their words are often more concrete than yours.

If you cannot ask, imagine the answer. Picture a former manager describing you to a stranger: what examples would they use, which strengths would they mention first? You will probably think of skills you had forgotten to list.

Treat referees as part of your professional network rather than a one-off favour:

• Thank them every time they take a call or write for you.
• Tell them when you get the job, or when you do not.
• Offer to return the favour, for example as a referee for a former student or junior colleague.

A written statement about your work is worth having, particularly if your experience is from abroad. A former employer in another country may be hard to reach in Swedish office hours, or hard to follow on a phone call in a second language. A signed letter lets the recruiter read what your manager thought without needing the call.

In Sweden you will meet two kinds of document from employers:

• Tjänstgöringsintyg (certificate of employment): confirms your dates, title and main duties.
• Tjänstgöringsbetyg or arbetsbetyg (testimonial): adds an assessment of how you did the job.

Ask for a written document when you leave a job, while your manager still remembers the details. Whether you can insist on one depends on your contract and any collective agreement at the workplace; your union can tell you what applies.

For documents in a language the recruiter is unlikely to read, attach a translation and keep the original available. A letter on letterhead with the writer's title, signature and contact details carries more weight than an unsigned note.

Universities and research institutes follow their own, more formal process. KTH and Lund University, for example, take all applications through the Varbi recruitment system, and each ad sets out exactly which documents to upload.

When references are requested. Several universities ask for references late in the process rather than in the application:

• KTH and Karolinska Institutet request references from their final candidates, after interviews.
• Lund University may ask shortlisted candidates for references when inviting them to interview.

Referees versus expert reviewers. In English, Swedish universities use "referees" for two different things. Apart from your own references, appointments as associate senior lecturer, senior lecturer or professor involve external expert reviewers (sakkunniga) who assess the applicants and may be asked to rank them. At Uppsala University's Faculty of Social Sciences, at least two external experts from other universities review all applications; applicants are told by email who they are, and their statements are sent to all applicants with the recruitment committee's minutes. You do not choose these experts and should not contact them about your application.

After the expert review. At Lund, candidates who pass the expert stage may be invited to interviews, trial lectures, research seminars or tests, and references are usually checked at that point. At Uppsala's Faculty of Social Sciences, the recruitment committee calls shortlisted candidates to interviews or trial lectures and in most cases also asks for references.

Letters of recommendation. There is no single rule. Lund notes that each doctoral position's ad carries its own detailed instructions, and the same goes for postdoc and other posts. If an ad asks for letters or referee names with the application, upload them then; if not, wait until you are asked. When a letter is needed, give the writer the ad, your CV and enough time to write it properly.

For academic referees, name people who can speak to your research independence, your teaching and your collaboration, not only to your publication list. For preparing trial lectures and panel interviews, see the job interview guide.

A referee's name, phone number and opinion of you are personal data under the GDPR. A few practical consequences:

• Ask before sharing. Get your referee's agreement before you pass on their details. The employer then processes that data for its own recruitment; the Stockholm School of Economics, for example, states in its privacy notice that it relies on its legitimate interest and keeps reference answers for two years. Your referee should hear about it from you first, not from a stranger's call.
• Public employers mean public documents. At a state university such as KTH, your application becomes an official document under the principle of public access. KTH's privacy notice for applicants points out that anyone can request it unless confidentiality applies. Names and numbers you list in your CV could therefore be read by others. A "references on request" line avoids this.
• Share work contacts only. Use the referee's work email and phone unless they ask you to give a private number.
• Keep the list current. If someone no longer wants to act as your referee, remove them from saved applications and profiles.

Each university and employer publishes how long it keeps applicant data and what it collects; read the privacy link in the ad if it matters to you.

Many newcomers have their whole work history in another country. That is normal and recruiters expect it, but you can make the check easier:

• Say where they are. Add country and time zone next to each name, so the recruiter calls at a sensible hour.
• Offer email. Note that a referee prefers email or a video call if that is true.
• State the language. Write which languages each referee speaks. If they speak neither Swedish nor English, offer a written reference with a translation instead.
• Prepare a letter. A signed, recent letter from each key referee covers the case where nobody answers.
• Back up the degree. If a recruiter is unsure what your foreign degree corresponds to, the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) offers a recognition statement you can send with your application. Licensed professions such as medicine and nursing have a separate route through Socialstyrelsen.

The same advice applies when a referee has moved to a new employer or country since you worked together: update the title and contact details before you share them.

You do not need a Swedish referee to get a job in Sweden. Two strong references from abroad, prepared as above, are better than a weak local one. Still, a person in Sweden who has seen you work reassures employers that you have settled in, and you can build one quickly:

• A course leader or teacher from a Swedish language course or a university course you take now.
• A supervisor from an internship, a trainee placement or a short contract, even a few months long.
• An association contact where you volunteer or hold a role, for instance in a professional society, a union branch or a local club.
• A collaborator on a research project, a seminar series or a shared paper with a Swedish group.
• A mentor from a mentoring programme, if you join one through a union, a university or another organisation.

Each of these takes some weeks of shared work before the person can speak with confidence, so start early. If your skills come from work rather than certificates, a formal validation of your skills gives employers independent proof. Improving your Swedish helps here too; see learning Swedish.

When you are ready, browse open positions and keep your reference list close at hand.