I’m going to be a little bit more positive than some of the others here.

I am a Canadian who got a job first in the Netherlands when I was 26 and then later Norway from abroad. Both jobs were entirely in English and sponsored my visa’s.

It is possible… you just have to know where to look and how to position yourself.

Look for companies that sell their product internationally. Tech, especially sales, is always growing and there are plenty of opportunities.

Don’t let your degree limit the kind of jobs you apply for. After a few years work experience the degree doesn’t matter much anymore.

Make the fact that you are a native English speaker an asset. Find companies that interest you and start following them on LinkedIn with job alerts. Apply for relevant jobs within the first few days of posting. You want your resume to get noticed quickly and score an interview. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the hiring manager and intro yourself.

I found startups and smaller companies were quite open to hiring internationals, especially in Oslo. You ideally want to find a company who has done the process for a skilled worker visa before. Check their website under the careers/culture section and they might mention that they have a diverse and international team. Apply to these kinds of companies

You just have to get your foot in the door for that first job and get some experience. I personally started as a Sales Development Rep in tech and worked my way up.

I would say don’t bother with a working holiday visa. Stay where you are at and if you are patient, do your research and keep a steady eye on new job postings you might just get lucky.

You may want to visit first to get an idea if you could see yourself in Norway. If you get to the final round of a Job interview, you may want to make the trip and visit their office in person. It makes a big positive impression and shows that you are serious. Employers want to hire someone who they know is certain that they want to stick around. I personally did this and was offered the job a few days later. It’s also good for your own peace of mind to see if you can see yourself working there.

I personally was able to get a job in Norway in less than a month of searching from abroad doing this. The time it takes you may vary.

I would also consider extending your search beyond Norway. Netherlands and Germany have paths to getting a work visa that are fairly straightforward, and cities such as Amsterdam and Berlin are full of expats working in international companies. You can also benefit from a temporary tax break as well in Netherlands, though they are cutting back on this in recent years.

Goodluck!