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Djøf - a trade union that safeguards your interests
Join Djøf if you are a professional or a student in social sciences, business and law. We are welcoming everyone, wether you are an experienced CEO or just started studying.
Take a look at what we can offer you.
Join a strong trade union
As a foreign international in Denmark, it makes a lot of sense for you to be a part of a union. And if you work or study within the areas of law, economy, social science, communication or management, then you should consider Djøf.
We represent 111.000 members across the private and public sector, who work at all levels from student assistants to CEOs.
Sign up for a membership today and get counselling about everything from salary negotiation as an experienced professional to what you should be aware of as a student in Denmark.
We will give you the best opportunities to succeed professionally, as well as several benefits including favorable banking and insurance. And if you ever need help in your professional or student life, we are here to help you.
In Djøf our mission is to make sure, our members are in a good place careerwise and that their enviroment at work are satisfying. And we will do the same for you.
As a member of Djøf, we are here for you throughout the entire process, from before you start your job search to when you sign the contract. If you have any questions about working conditions or salary negotiations after you have signed, we are ready to assist you then as well.
To get you started, we have compiled some advices about job searching in Denmark, along with information about your conditions in the Danish labour market. We hope, you will find it interesting.
Job search and career advice
We have a lot of knowledge on how to approach job search in the Danish labour market. And if you need assistance in kickstarting your job search in Denmark, you can read about how to write an unsolicited application or a CV here.
Don't hesitate to call us, if you have any questions regarding the job search process. This includes help to identify your skills, tuning your LinkedIn profile or input on how to write a good CV or cover letter.
Call us on +45 33 95 97 00, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm. You can also write us a mail on djoef@djoef.dk. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
CV and cover letter
Your CV is a dynamic document that you tailor to the specific job you are applying for.
A good CV provides an employer with an overview of your competencies and your accomplishments. Take the time to learn about the company you are about to apply for a job at. The links below provide examples of CVs written by someone applying for work in Denmark.
Examples of a good CV:
How to make a good CV
Write a forward-looking professional profile of between six and nine lines that details how your professional skills match the requirements for the job you are applying for.
List your skills, your degree and any courses you’ve attended in reverse chronological order.
Prioritise the responsibilities, experience and results that are relevant to the position and the firm. Include a good, professional picture of yourself that can be printed in black and white.
Limit your CV to three pages.
How to write a cover letter
Before you get started on your cover letter, have a look at our advice about putting together your application. Are you a Djøf member? One of your membership benefits is access to examples of cover letters that landed other Djøf members interviews that you can use for inspiration.
Limit your cover letter to a single page; use line breaks between paragraphs.
Show how your competencies match the firm’s needs.
Write in the present tense. Use the active voice.
Avoid long sentences. Cut the clauses. Avoid fluff.
Always write why you are passionate about the specific position and company.
Make your cover letter forward-looking; give a prospective employer an idea of what you would be like in the job.
Use subheadings to break up the text.
To call or not to call
In Denmark, it’s normal for potential applicants to call to the contact person before applying for a job. But you should only call if you are going to ask a question that can’t be answered by reading the job posting. If you call the contact person, you will be expected to have relevant, important questions. If the person gets the impression you are calling just for the sake of calling, they will feel you are wasting their time and you will have made a bad first impression. Whether you should call or not depends on the situation; only do it if you need to.
On the other hand, calling the contact person can be helpful. It can be an opportunity for you to learn:
- which competencies the employer is seeking most
- what you should emphasise in your CV and cover letter
Examples of good questions you can ask:
- Which of the responsibilities listed is most important?
- Are there certain competencies that are more important?
- What will be expected of the successful applicant during the first 6 months? the first 12?
- Does the job entail other responsibilities that aren’t mentioned in the posting?
If the posting says you need three to five years of experience, you could try asking what type of experience they are looking for: familiarity with the industry, familiarity with a specific work process etc. If you call to ask questions, be prepared to answer questions.
The contact person may ask you why you are interested, what your background is, what your strong suits are, what you can contribute in the job etc.
Additional material
If a firm asks for additional material, send it; if they don’t, don’t. Send your documents as PDFs to make sure they don’t get altered. If you have material you think will help your case – like references – save it for the interview. If you aren’t sure, ask.
Unsolicited application
A lot of our members find jobs by sending an unsolicited application. Applying unsolicited has the benefit of showing a potential employer that you are interested enough in their firm to take the initiative to contact them.
But you are also contacting an employer at a time, where they don’t have any open job positions. Therefor you must convince them, that they need another employee, and that you are that employee.
Be specific
The goal when making an unsolicited application are simple: be specific and show the firm how it will benefit from your competencies.
To be specific you need to research the market and make a list of potential employers that match your competencies and wishes.
Then you gather information about the different organizations. It could be the company’s industry, its customers, competitors, strategy, finances, mission, culture and challenges.
You can get a lot of information from old job postings. Fx what competencies and types of experiences, that the organizations value. Other ways of gathering information are the companies’ websites, social media and your own network.
Search broadly
Don’t limit yourself to a single firm. If you’ve applied for a job, you probably did a lot of legwork to learn as much as you could about the firm and its industry. You can use that information and apply for a job at one of the firms’ competitors.
You can use Google or LinkedIn to find related firms.
Writing an unsolicited application
To catch the interest of the recipient, state very clearly why you are applying. You can do this are by writing:
- Why you are a good hire: why are you sending your application to this person and what is it you can contribute with
- What your competencies are: what can you do and how is it relevant to the company
- A conclusion that suggests meeting over coffee or that lets the recipient know that you will follow up by e-mail or telephone
- And include a CV that specifically addresses the company’s needs.
See an example of an unsolicited application
We recommend e-mailing unsolicited applications directly to someone you’ve spoken with already. If you couldn’t get the name and e-mail address of a specific person, you can send it to the company’s HR department.
Remember that the GDPR requires companies to obtain your permission before they can process your data. You can give your permission in advance when you send your application.
Calling the firm
It makes a lot of sense to call the firms, you are applying at. This is a great way to get a feel for the firm, get some pointers you can use in your application and attract some attention before sending the unsolicited application.
There are different strategies you can use, for example the ‘short-and-to-the-point’-approach, where you efficiently tell the firm you are interested in working for them, and that you would like to send them an application. Or the thorough approach, where you have prepared some questions and identified a specific person you would like to talk to.
Read more about the different strategies*
*The strategies are in danish
Terms of employment
If you are new to the Danish labour market, it is a good idea to become acquainted with work life in Denmark, including contracts, salary negotiations, dismissals and resignations, the social ground rules and much more.
Do you need a contract review?
Send us your contract for a professional assessment of the terms prior to negotiation with your future employer. Make sure to provide your phone number, so we can contact you if you would like the feedback by phone. And please indicate if there are any items in the contract we should be particularly aware of.
You can send your contract to kontrakt@djoef.dk.
The contract review is only for members of Djøf.
Salary
In Denmark, you generally negotiate your own salary if you are employed in the private sector. However, part of the private sector is regulated by private-sector collective agreements concerning salary levels and terms of employment. As a private-sector employee, your salary will be a gross salary including pension.
Salaries in the public sector are regulated by collective agreements, with Djøf members generally covered by the AC collective agreement (negotiated by Akademikerne – Danish Confederation of Professional Organisations). The salary is a net salary to which is added approx. 17.1-18.3% in pension.
You will typically negotiate your salary once a year. Use our salary calculator to get an idea of your market value in Denmark.
Salary benchmarking
As a member of Djøf, you have access to statistics and calculations for the average salaries of our members. This gives you a benchmark for the average salary in a specific position based on your information regarding education, seniority, job title, industry and geography. Djøf’s salary calculator is based on annual reports by members working in the private-sector and salary statistics from the public sector.
*the calculator is in danish.
Bonus, pension and salaried employee status
Bonus
If you have an agreement on bonus, section 17a of the Danish Salaried Employees Act guarantees that upon your resignation, you are entitled to a proportional share of the payment you would have received if you had continued to work for that employer until the time of disbursement. Thus, you retain your entitlement to an already earned bonus should you leave the employer.
Pension
Your employer is not obliged to make pension payments unless previously agreed. If you are offered a pension scheme, your employer generally pays at least two-thirds of the agreed percentage rate of your salary, while you pay one-third. Djøf recommends paying 16-18% of your salary to a pension scheme.
Salaried employee status
The vast majority of Djøf members hold salaried employee positions. In Denmark, a salaried employee primarily works in the business and office sector, in a warehouse position, or provides technical or clinical assistance services. An employee must have been employed on average for more than 8 hours a week to be covered by the Salaried Employee Act.
With salaried employee status, an employee acquires certain entitlements in relation to his or her employer, such as a fixed notice period in connection with resignation, a reasoned explanation for dismissal and salary during sickness.
It is not possible to agree to deviate from the Salaried Employees Act or to deny an employee their rights as a salaried employee.
Working hours
The standard work week in Denmark is 37 hours. Generally, the actual work week for Djøf members is 42 hours a week. If it is important to you that you work no more than 37 hours a week, this must be clearly stated in your contract.
Your working hours may not exceed 48 hours on average per week over a four-month period. You are entitled to 11 hours of rest within a 24-hour period, and you are entitled to one full day (24 hours) off a week.
If you are to be paid overtime or have the option of taking time off in lieu, it must be stated in your contract.
Student jobs
If you are employed for more than 8 hours a week in your student job and you are a salaried employee, you have certain special rights. For example, a period of notice depending on your seniority, a right to a reasoned explanation for your dismissal and salary during sickness.
Holidays
In Denmark we have a concurrent holiday system. That means, that you earn 2.08 holdays pr. month, that you can use the following month. In a full year that gives you 25 days off.
You will be able to use your days off during the period of the 1st of September till the 31st of December of the following year. This means that you have 16 months, known as the holiday period, to use the days off you earn in a single year. The longer period gives employees a greater degree of flexibility when planning their time off.
Many people get more than the minimum of 25 days mandated by the Holiday Act. Different workplaces call this extra time off by different names: floating holidays, the sixth holiday week or something different. These extra days are not, and have never been, regulated by the Holiday Act. Any rules for how these additional days off are to be held are agreed on during collective bargaining or by individual agreement with employers.
Taking time off, that you haven't earned yet
If you’d like to take time off even though you haven’t earned enough days off, you can ask your manager if you can borrow from what you will earn for the remaining part of the holiday year and then pay those days back during the holiday year.
If you choose to do it that way, you will pay back what you owe with the 2.08 days off you earn each month.
One thing to be aware of: you can’t borrow more days than you can earn the right to during the rest of the holiday year. And, if you resign before you have paid back the days you have borrowed your employer will deduct the value of the days you owe from your final month’s pay.
Sickness
As a salaried employee you’re entitled to time off with full pay when you’re ill, regardless of how long you’ve been employed or how long you’re ill.
If you can’t go to work because you’ve become ill, you need to call in on the first workday you are out.
Once you’ve told your employer that you are ill, you don’t need to provide updates about your situation. That said, people normally do give their employer an idea of when they might be back at work again, if they can.
You are not entitled to paid time off to care for an ill child unless it is stated in your contract or the company handbook, or you have some other prior agreement with your employer.
Parental leave
You are covered by the regulations set out in the Danish Salaried Employees Act and the Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth unless otherwise agreed with your employer.
As a mother, you are entitled to four weeks leave prior to the expected date of childbirth and 14 weeks leave after the birth of your child. During this leave of absence, you are entitled to 50% of your salary.
As a father, you are entitled to two weeks leave in connection with the birth of your child. During this leave of absence, you are entitled to parental leave benefits.
Both parents are entitled to an additional 32 weeks of leave from the 15th week after childbirth. However, there is only one pool of parental leave benefits for 32 weeks which you, as the parents, must share between you.
Most members of Djøf now have an agreement that includes better benefits in connection with childbirth. Typically, both parents are given full pay over a set period of time.
Dismissals and resignations
If you are given notice, as a salaried employee, you are entitled to a reasoned explanation for your dismissal from your employer. If the dismissal is unfair, you have the option to make a claim for compensation. However, you must have been employed for at least one year at the time of dismissal before it is possible to claim compensation.
Whether your dismissal is deemed unfair depends on a specific assessment. Djøf can help you with this assessment.
According to the Salaried Employees Act, an employee must give one month’s notice of resignation at the end of a month.
The employer’s term of notice varies depending on how long you have been employed according to the following model, as stated in the Salaried Employees Act:
- Before the end of 5 months’ employment, the employee must be given 1 month’s notice.
- Before the end of 2 years and 9 months’ employment, the employee must be given 3 months’ notice.
- Before the end of 5 years and 8 months’ employment, the employee must be given 4 months’ notice.
- Before the end of 8 years and 7 months’ employment, the employee must be given 5 months’ notice.
- After this time, the employee must be given 6 months’ notice.
When you are appointed to a position, a probationary period is generally agreed upon (section 2(5) of the Salaried Employees Act). Your employer may give you 14 days’ notice of dismissal during the first 3 months of your employment. A probationary period clause is currently included in the majority of our members’ contracts.
If you become sick over an extended period of time, you need to be aware of section 5(2) of the Salaried Employees Act:
If you have been sick for 120 days within the past 12 months, it may have been agreed that you can be dismissed with 1 month’s notice. However, for this to apply, you must be sick at the time of the dismissal and the dismissal must take place immediately following the end of the 120 days of sickness.
Customer and non-competition clauses
A competition clause is an agreement between you and your employer that you may not seek employment or hold interests in a competing enterprise after your resignation.
A customer clause is an agreement between you and your employer that you may not have a business connection with your employer’s customers and/or other business connections after your resignation.
A clause therefore limits your mobility in the labour market. Before a clause is valid, it must meet certain legal conditions regarding maximum duration, financial compensation etc.
We encourage you to contact Djøf before accepting any clause of this nature.
For students
As a student member you will be a part of a strong community of over 20.000 students in Denmark.
With an affordable insurance, a favourable bank agreement and discounts on books, you can use your money smarter and maybe on something you really enjoy.
Furthermore you can take a shortcut and learn R, Python or Excel with our on-demand study courses or participate in exciting case competitions with likeminded students.
And if you ever need counseling regarding your current study job or how to get one in the first place, we are here to assist you.
About us
Djøf is a trade union formed by its members with the objective of safeguarding their collective and individual interests in the labour market. We are politically independent and are managed by Djøfs board of directors and divided into 6 sub-associations, each representing specific areas of employment.
We are interested in developing society as a whole. In contributing to solutions within both the private business community and the public sector. In building bridges to other professional groups and taking good care of our democratic society founded on the rule of law. In helping to bring society together.
Djøf is not an unemployment insurance fund, and we do not handle issues regarding unemployment benefit and unemployment insurance. Djøf recommends membership of Akademikernes a-kasse for unemployment insurance.
Membership details
Membership fees
| Membership | Fee | As a new member you receive |
| Public-sector employee | 1057 kr./once a quarter | 3 months for 0 kr. |
| Private-sector employee | 1017 kr./once a quarter | 3 months for 0 kr. |
| Self-employed | 633 kr./once a quarter | 3 months for 0 kr. |
| Unemployed | 381 kr./once a quarter | 3 months for 0 kr. |
| Student | 147 kr./once a quarter | 12 months for 0 kr. |
All fees are including membership of the collective agreement negotiation fund, special dues etc. Dues are charged once a quarter, though the first amount can be charged in mid-quarter.
For all new members except students
As an employed, unemployed og retired member of Djøf you will get the first three months of your membership for 0 kr. It means, that you can enjoy our many services for 0 kr. in that period. To receive this discount you are not allowed to have been a member of Djøf for last 12 months. In total you can only have 2 periods, where the first three months costs 0 kr. In this case there has to be 12 months between the two periods, for you to enjoy the offer.
For students
As a student member of Djøf the first 12 months of your membership costs 0 kr. It means, that you can enjoy our services for 0 kr. in that period.
In order for you to enjoy this offer, you are not allowed to have been a member of Djøf for last 12 months. In total you can only have 1 periode of 12 months for 0 kr.
For members of our Nordic partner unions
If you are a member of one of our Nordic partner unions, you can become a member of Djøf for free.
Our Nordic partner unions include:
- Akavia – Swedish Association for University Graduates
- Samfunnsviternes – Norwegian Association of Social ScientistsNorges
- Juristforbundet – Norwegian Association of Lawyers
- ECONA – Norwegian Association of Business Administrators
- Samfunnsøkonomene – Norwegian Association of Economists
- Lakimiesliitto – Association of Finnish Lawyers
- Yhteiskunta-alan korkeakoulutetut ry – Social Science Professionals in Finland
- Lögfrædingafélag Ísland – Icelandic Lawyers Association
The agreement between the Nordic associations provides you with the option of free membership for a maximum of one year. To qualify for free membership, you must keep your membership under normal conditions with the association where you are already a member, and you must apply for free membership of Djøf as soon as you take up residence or begin looking for a job in Denmark.