How to find a job in Denmark as a refugee

Newly arrived refugees and family-reunified people are offered an introduction programme (introduktionsprogram) by the municipality they are assigned to. The stated aim is ordinary work within a year. If you are not self-supporting by then, the programme is extended, up to five years in total. It combines Danish lessons with company-directed activities: guidance and upskilling, company internships and wage-subsidy jobs.

If you receive benefits, expect a full week. The work obligation (arbejdspligt) sets 37 hours of activity a week, and for newly arrived refugees Danish lessons can make up 15 of them on average. Your caseworker sits in the municipality’s employment service — the jobcenter. Since 1 February 2026 municipalities no longer have to organise this as a jobcenter, so yours may use a different name.

The programme is a set of tools, not a job. People who get hired fastest treat each activity as a step towards one employer, and bring their own ideas to every meeting.

A company internship (virksomhedspraktik) places you in a real workplace. The employer pays no wage; you keep the benefit you already receive. That is exactly why it works as a door-opener: a manager can see you work without any risk, and you gain what a Danish employer trusts most — a Danish reference.

A wage-subsidy job (job med løntilskud) is the next rung. In a private company you are paid wages, pension and hours under the collective agreement, and the municipality pays part of that cost to the employer. It is a real job on your CV, and the natural moment to discuss a permanent contract.

• Choose internships where people in your target job actually work. A month in a warehouse is only useful if you want a warehouse or logistics career.
• Agree two or three concrete tasks at the start, so there is something specific to put on your CV and in the reference.
• Keep a short weekly note of what you did and learned. It becomes your CV bullets and your interview answers.

IGU (integrationsgrunduddannelse, basic integration education) is an ordinary employment contract that combines paid work with school. It is open to refugees and family-reunified people who are at least 18 and under 50 when it starts, and who have lived in Denmark for less than 20 years. People displaced from Ukraine can also take part.

The IGU lasts two years and includes 23 weeks of school. Work in the company must be at least 25 hours a week on average. You are paid apprentice-level wages under the collective agreement while you work; during school weeks the municipality pays an education allowance instead of a wage. The scheme currently runs until the end of 2027.

IGU suits you if you want a trade or a sector and need time to build the Danish and skills that go with it. It is also easy to sell to an employer: IGU agreements made after 1 January 2024 carry a bonus of up to DKK 40,000 to the company when you stay the course. Mention that when you ask.

IGU is closed to you, but internships and wage-subsidy jobs are not. Your advantage is depth: decades of work, responsibility and judgement that younger candidates do not have. Lead with it.

Aim for roles where experience shortens the training — supervisor, technician, bookkeeper, quality control — rather than starting from the lowest entry job by default. If your old profession needs Danish you do not have yet, look for a neighbouring role in the same sector where your knowledge counts from day one, and grow into it.

You may work in Denmark from the day your residence permit under the special act is granted. Permits can be extended until 17 March 2027, and the Immigration Service does this on its own initiative if you still meet the conditions — you do not have to apply. Check nyidanmark.dk for the rules that apply to you, because they have changed several times.

Your municipality runs your integration, including employment efforts, through the self-support and return programme (selvforsørgelses- og hjemrejseprogram) or the introduction programme under the rules that applied before. The 37-hour work obligation does not currently apply to people with a special-act permit, and IGU is open to you. Because your permit is temporary, prioritise work that builds skills you can use wherever you end up living.

The honest answer: for many jobs, a lot — especially customer-facing work, care and the public sector. Danish lessons are part of your programme and paid by the municipality. There are three courses — Danish Education 1, 2 and 3 — matched to your educational background, each split into modules with a test at the end.

Put your level on your CV precisely: “Danish Education 3, module 4 (in progress)” tells an employer more than “basic Danish”. Some sectors, especially tech, research and larger international companies, do hire in English; our English-speaking jobs guide covers where to look.

Get your education assessed. The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science states what your qualification corresponds to in Denmark, free of charge; if your documents were lost because of war or flight, you can ask for a background report instead. Doctors, nurses, teachers and other regulated professions need an authorisation from the relevant authority before practising. Our qualification recognition guide walks through both routes, including the current rules for health professionals.

Use the standard Danish format — our Danish CV guide covers layout, photo and length — and then solve the four problems that are specific to your situation.

• Experience from home: translate job titles into the nearest Danish or English equivalent, then add one line on the employer — sector, size, what it did. A recruiter in Odense does not know a ministry in Kabul or a hospital in Aleppo. Keep bullets to results: what you did, for how many, with what outcome.
• Gaps from flight: write one factual line and move on. “2020–2022: Relocated to Denmark; Danish Education 2, modules 1–3” is enough. How much of your story you share is your choice; a CV is not the place to justify it. Our career gap guide has more wording.
• Missing certificates: list the qualification with the institution and year, and add “assessed by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science” or “background report issued” once you have it. Never inflate a qualification you cannot document.
• Danish references and volunteering: put internships and volunteer roles in the experience section with concrete tasks. A reference from a Danish manager, even after eight weeks, is evidence a Danish recruiter can check with one phone call — so ask for one every time.

The Danish Refugee Council’s volunteer counselling service (Frivilligrådgivningen) gives free advice on family reunification, extensions, permanent residence and citizenship, and helps you understand letters from the authorities. It has offices in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Haderslev, Holstebro and Ringsted, and interpreters can be booked in advance.

The Council’s local volunteer groups also offer help with job search and CVs: clarifying your skills, writing applications and preparing for interviews. Use its search on drc.ngo to find a group near you.