How to be the perfect immigrant? A Code of Conduct on how to thrive as an immigrant
How do you integrate well into a whole new country and a new society? For Jonathan Davis, Program Manager at Microsoft, Microsoft played a major role in his integration into Danish society due to Danish culture training and very helpful colleagues. However, according to Jonathan’s belief not all immigrants have the same benefits of a large wellresourced company that can help them, which is why he has created a “Code of Conduct” on how to make it as an immigrant. Jonathan gave a talk on that at Studieskolen where several expats participated.
Photo of Jonathan Davis, Program Manager at Microsoft, giving a talk at Studieskolen
“I believe that immigrants are a hugely positive force to not just Denmark but all countries, where they are. But I feel that sometimes we immigrants are struggling a little bit with mental models and tactics to find ways in which to help ourselves to thrive in a new society. I have a lot of experience in living in different countries, so I wanted to share some of the ways in which I have felt was successful for immigrants to both succeed themselves but also crucially to make our host like and respect us a little bit more.”
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Jonathan is originally from Ireland but moved to England and lived in London for 10 years. In 2004 he moved to Belgrade in Serbia to work on early cloud computing technologies. When living and working in Belgrade, Jonathan founded the largest community for foreigners. Also, he created a code of conduct for internationals to try and help members there, who were arriving fresh in the country to understand what were the sorts of things that would help them to really do well there. “I decided to make these 10 points that any immigrant could use anywhere to be able to both put down their own roots to attach and feel committed and connected to the country that they moved in. But also, to make them happy and successful in the country such as doing charitable work, making sure that they learn the language, they understand the history of the country, pay sufficient respect, they obey the laws - things that we often take for granted.” When Jonathan arrived in Denmark and was about to start working at Microsoft, he thought it was a big corporate company, but it turned out to be really different. That made the difference in his own integration into Danish society.
“It’s hard to be an immigrant, because sometimes you have experiences where you feel a little bit awkward, but thanks to my colleagues, really, they gave me this first big welcome and Microsoft did a brilliant job at helping us get settled” “What I found here in Denmark anyway, was a truly wonderful, ethical, brilliant place to work full of very smart and very generous and very kind people. My Danish colleagues were so enlightened, so generous, friendly that they provided this imitate base for me to rest on for the rest of my experiences here. It’s hard to be an immigrant, because sometimes you have experiences where you feel a little bit awkward, but thanks to my colleagues, really, they gave me this first big welcome and Microsoft did a brilliant job at helping us get settled, understand some of the cultural awareness and sensitivities. They gave us some training to say ‘look this is what to expect, this is how you might see things, this is the Danish mentality which you might encounter’. That was for me the first step in establishing myself here.” This warm and a bit unexpected helpful welcome as well as Jonathan’s many experiences of settling into new countries and societies, made him want to pass on tips, tactics and mental models to help other immigrants. Therefore, he said yes when he was invited to come give a talk at Studieskolen as a part of their newly established initiative “Student Talks”. The purpose of the student talks is to let current and former students share their experiences with each other on how to establish themselves successfully in Denmark, how to build their career and find the key to success.
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“I think that many people don’t have the benefits of a large well-resourced company and people that will help them, so part of what I was doing today was to try and help the new arrivals here at Studieskolen in my own way to perhaps settle better in Denmark.” Besides facilitating student talks, Studieskolen teaches Danish and foreign languages. Every year, more than 8,000 people are being taught more than 30 languages. “We are passionate about making the meeting between people and the encounter between cultures easy and successful. We believe in the fact that languages open doors.”
Jonathan’s Code of Conduct aiming at helping immigrants to thrive in a new society
Thank you, Jonathan
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