Samira Westlin’s husband Tobias got a job at Stegra. Through Boden’s job matching and relocation service, Samira also quickly found a new job here. She is now an employment consultant at JobbCenter in Boden.
– We moved here on February 14, my job was settled in April and I started working in May, summarizes Samira Westlin, who was smoothly integrated into Boden through the municipality’s relocation service and job matching.
Samira and Tobias Westlin lived in Gävle and had reached a point where they were both looking for jobs throughout Sweden. They searched from Ystad to Haparanda, Tobias as a maintenance mechanic in heavy industry and Samira as a newly qualified public health strategist and behavioral scientist.
Tobias’s maternal grandparents come from Lill-Pite and he played hockey in Kiruna when he was younger.
Samira’s family comes from Iran but had good memories from her parents’ time in Boden in the 1980s. Besides northern Sweden calling for workers at a time when many other places in Sweden are struggling with unemployment, the Westlin couple also had a longing for the north. They decided that wherever the first of them gets a job, that’s where they’ll move. It was Tobias who was offered a position at Stegra.
MOVE FOR LIFE
– Already during recruitment, Stegra asked Tobias about me, the dog and our life. It felt good with a workplace that understood that it’s not just workers but people who are being hired, says Samira.
Samira began focusing on jobs in Boden, which today offers a wide range of professions, including through the website Move to Boden.
– I got a lot of help from the relocation system. I uploaded my CV, received emails with matching suggestions and got quick contact. I was immediately booked for a visit to JobbCenter and it meant a lot to feel that there was someone waiting for me here.
As brand new arrivals, they were also offered to join the now established and recurring “Boden tour,” which is done through Boden’s relocation service.
– We probably wouldn’t have taken the time for that otherwise, but it was also really great and fun to see more of Boden and meet others, she tells us.
Samira got a position at JobbCenter in Boden, where she is now one of the employees who matches others to jobs and studies.
Tobias works as a mechanic in the team that ensures that over 200 traverses and cranes inside Stegra’s site function flawlessly, and training of the operators who will use them.
– I feel incredibly grateful and really feel that Stegra gives me the chance to grow and develop. And not just professionally, but as a person too. The spirit and mentality that spreads inside Stegra is incredibly inspiring, says Tobias.
“HERE YOU CAN BREATHE”
– My parents came from Iran and took chef training here in Boden. They were very happy and my father always said that in Boden he could breathe. That has stayed with me for 40 years. Now I live here and I can’t describe it better myself, says Samira.
Samira tells how after 35 years in Gävle she has found home in Boden. A place where she, her husband Tobias and their English Staffordshire bull terrier Nero have all three found their place.
– It feels like Boden is in a development that we fit into. If you want to, you get the chance here. Boden feels so genuine. There’s a we-thinking, ambition and very warm people, she says.
PART OF THE HOCKEY FAMILY
Both Tobias and Samira have a genuine interest in hockey and they quickly found their way to Boden hockey. There, Tobias is now a fitness coach for Boden hockey’s U18 and U20 teams.
Samira works within the match organization. They are at virtually every game and have gained a large social circle in the hockey family.
They also found a three-room apartment centrally in Boden.
– It couldn’t have been better, here we have two minutes to my job and Tobias has seven minutes to his, there are nice walking paths and our dog Nero also loves being here, says Samira.
They have had time to look around the municipality and county, found ski trails, the recreation area Gruvberget, exercise loops and other excursion destinations.
– Now Boden is home for us.
TEXT: ANNA BERGSTRÖM
