Working and staying in Denmark
STADS is up and running
STADS is once again up and running, and you can register for spring classes and exams. The registration deadline is Thursday 7 November at 23.59.
There are some important issues you may want to know more about if you want to stay and work in Denmark after graduation. This page details the most important basic information on Danish salaries and what rights you get in terms of job seeking.
Salary
The Danish labour market has been regulated through collective agreements between employees and employers since long ago. In Denmark, these parties normally meet every second or third year to negotiate the renewing of conditions regarding terms of salary, pension, holiday, and general labour conditions for the sector in question. The negotiation results are stated in the collective agreements that constitute the foundation of rules of the sector for the next 2- or 3-year period.
There is no minimum wage in Denmark. Wages are typically fixed in the collective agreements for different types of work, and the employer is obligated to pay the wages agreed. If you have questions about your wages, you can contact your trade union or other organisations within your area of work if you are not a member of a trade union.
Job seeking residence permit for 3-years
Students having completed a higher educational programme in Denmark are automatically granted a 3-year job seeking period along with your study permit if the validity of your passport allows it. You should, therefore, only apply for a job seeking permit if:
- the validity period of your residence permit as a student was shortened due to the expiry date in your passport,
- you were granted a 6-month job seeking period along with your residence permit, or
- you have completed your educational programme in Denmark after the prescribed period of study.
A residence permit for job seeking gives you the same work rights as you had during your studies: 20 hours per week (15 hours per week if you were granted your permit before 1 January 2015) and full-time through June, July, and August.
The job seeking period gives you the opportunity to find employment in Denmark after you have completed your educational programme. If you are offered a job during the job seeking period, you have two options:
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You can apply for a work permit without limitations or
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You can apply for a residence and work permit based on the job offered
You can also apply for the work permit without limitations after your graduation if you do not yet have a job offer but wish to be able to work unlimited hours outside of June, July, and August.
You can find more information on job seeking after completing your educational programme here.
Why work in Denmark?
Denmark is at the forefront of innovation in a lot of technical and biomedical fields. The same can be said for the field of refrigeration, which I am part of. This is why I persue a career in Denmark. I get to work in proper research and development while also having the perfect work-life balance.
Rojin Gomez from India, MSc. in Mechanical Engineering