Swedish Institute (SI) Scholarship Programmes

Enclosure to the application for Swedish Institute Study Scholarships for

studies in Sweden at Master’s level for the academic year 2017/2018
PROOF OF WORK AND LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE (Instructions)
How to fill out the form?

The template consists of two parts: a work experience form and a leadership experience form. In the work
experience form, you can list up to four work experiences; in the leadership experience form, you can list
up to two leadership experiences.

To prove that you have a minimum of 3,000 hours of work experience you must request current or previous
supervisor(s)/manager(s)/HR to sign on your experience in the work experience form. Please use only the
most relevant references to the field of your expertise/studies. If you have the required 3,000 hours of
work experience from one relevant workplace you only need to fill in one of the tables in the work
experience form. Kindly note that applicants that cannot provide proof of a total of 3,000 hours of work
experience in the work experience form will be deemed ineligible. SI makes no exceptions. If four
experiences are not enough for you to meet the required 3,000 hours, we will accept one, and one only
additional page. However, an additional page is only acceptable in this situation.

In the leadership experience form, we kindly request that you explain how many of the hours of work
experience have included leadership experience. For instance, if you worked a total of 3,000 hours at
company X, 2,000 hours as administrator and 1,000 hours as head of your unit, then you should provide
proof of both the 2000 hours as administrator and 1000 hours as head of unit in the work experience form.
In the leadership experience form you should only include the 1,000 hours you have worked as head of unit
(i.e. as a leader). The leadership experience form has no minimum requirement in regards to the number of
hours.
Kindly note that when one single table stretches over two pages, the referee’s signature and the
employer’s stamp are required on both pages.

Who can fill out the form?

If you work in a student organisation at your university, you may ask an employee at the university familiar
with your experience, to sign for the experience. It can be stamped either by the university or the student
organisation. If you work as a freelancer you may ask the professional association or agency, where you are
registered as a freelancer/receive works from, to sign and stamp. If you work in a family business or you are
the owner, we can accept a signature from a client or employee who is not a family member. The client
should sign as a company/organisation and is only allowed to certify the hours that you have worked for
them specifically. You can ask the same person to sign on both the work experience form and leadership
experience form, as well as write the letter of reference for you. If your referee has changed job and is
unable to represent your former or current employer/your client’s company, we recommend that you find
a different referee that still works at the company/organisation and is able to certify your number of hours
with the official stamp of the company/organisation.

Examples of who cannot sign and be used as referee

  Co-workers
 Family members/relatives/partners
 Friends
 Individuals who demand compensation (money, goods, favours, services or other means) from you
in order to give you a statement of reference

Please ask your referees to fill out the appropriate information and sign with their signature, both in the
part for work experience and leadership experience (if applicable). Information should be typed, then
printed and signed by hand, then uploaded as a PDF. If you and the company you have worked at are not in
same physical location, you can ask the company to agree to the content, then type it in your experience
form, send it to the company via email or post for signature by hand and stamping, whereby the company
will scan it/send it to you for uploading. The second step of the application process will be open 1-10
February 2017.

Why does SISS require proof of work and leadership experience?

The reason SI asks for work and leadership experience is that we are looking for candidates who are able to
play an active role in the positive development of the societies in which they live. Ideal candidates are
therefore ambitious young professionals with academic qualifications and proven work experience, that
have demonstrated leadership experience.

SI believes that people who have previous work and leadership experience are able to take the acquired
knowledge from their master’s programme and translate it into a practical context, thus further deepening
the understanding of what they have learnt. All types of work can be counted, including volunteer
experience, internships, employment, and positions of trust (such as presidency of a student council).

Restrictions

The proof of work and leadership experience form must be completed in English and cannot exceed the
included three pages in total (the instruction page and any boxes left empty by the applicant/referee are
exempt). Any additional page(s) will be disregarded. In order to be valid, the work and leadership
experience must be dated, signed and stamped by a referee and the document must be signed by the
applicant. Any other format will be disregarded and not considered.

The completed form in a PDF format should be enclosed along with your online application (please do not
include this instruction page in the file). REMEMBER – A form that is not signed by the applicant will also
be disregarded.

SI will carry out random checks on the applications and applicants to control any false or misleading
information, including fabricated documentation. Should any false information be found, the applicant will
be automatically disqualified from this and future SI scholarship programmes. Any false information
discovered during the scholarship period will be cause for termination of the scholarship. The scholarship
holder will then have to repay the full scholarship amount to SI.

Should you have any sensitive information in your work experience preventing you from filling out this form
properly, please contact the SI Scholarship Team at sischolarships@si.se.
Swedish Institute (SI) Scholarship Programmes
Enclosure to the application for Swedish Institute Study Scholarships for
studies in Sweden at Master’s level for the academic year 2017/2018
PROOF OF WORK AND LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE (Three pages maximum)
The forms must be completed in English. Any additional page(s) will be disregarded. The completed forms
must be signed, stamped and converted into PDF format.

WORK EXPERIENCE FORM

FIRST NAME(S) of applicant (as written in your passport)      
LAST NAME of applicant (as written in your passport)      
DATE OF BIRTH of applicant (YYYY-MM-DD)      
CITIZENSHIP of applicant      
SIGNATURE of applicant, date and place

FULL NAME of company/university/enterprise  

FULL NAME of the applicant (as written in your passport)      
TITLE/POSITION applicant held during employment      
TIMEPERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT (YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)      
HOURS WORKED in total      
FULL NAME of referee      
TITLE/POSITION of referee      
WORK specific tasks (Max150 characters incl. spaces)    
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee   
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)      
SIGNATURE of referee, date and place

FULL NAME of company/university/enterprise      

FULL NAME of the applicant (as written in your passport)      
TITLE/POSITION applicant held during employment      
TIMEPERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT (YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)      
HOURS WORKED in total      
FULL NAME of referee      
TITLE/POSITION of referee      
WORK specific tasks (Max150 characters incl. spaces)      
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee  
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)      
SIGNATURE of referee, date and place

FULL NAME of company/university/enterprise      

FULL NAM of the applicant (as written in your passport)      
TITLE/POSITION applicant held during employment      
TIMEPERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT (YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)      
HOURS WORKED in total      
FULL NAME of referee      
TITLE/POSITION of referee      
WORK specific tasks (Max150 characters incl. spaces)      
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee      
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)      
SIGNATURE of referee, date and place

FULL NAME of company/university/enterprise      

FULL NAME of the applicant (as written in your passport)      
TITLE/POSITION applicant held during employment      
TIMEPERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT (YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)      
HOURS WORKED in total      
FULL NAME of referee      
TITLE/POSITION of referee      
WORK specific tasks (Max150 characters incl. spaces)      
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee      
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)      
SIGNATURE of referee, date and place

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE FORM

FULL NAME of company/university/enterprise      
FULL NAME of the applicant (as written in your passport)      
TITLE/POSITION held during leadership experience      
TIMEPERIOD of leadership experience (YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)      
HOURS WORKED in total      
LEADERSHIP specific tasks      
 
FULL NAME of referee      
TITLE/POSITION of referee      
ORGANISATION/UNIVERSITY/ENTERPRISE of referee      
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee      
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)      
SIGNATURE of referee, date and place

FULL NAME of company/university/enterprise      

FULL NAME of the applicant (as written in your passport)      
TITLE/POSITION held during leadership experience      
TIMEPERIOD of leadership experience (YYYYMMDD - YYYYMMDD)      
HOURS WORKED in total      
LEADERSHIP specific tasks      
  
FULL NAME of referee      
TITLE/POSITION of referee      
ORGANISATION/UNIVERSITY/ENTERPRISE of referee      
E-MAIL ADDRESS of referee      
TELEPHONE NUMBER of referee (with country code)      
SIGNATURE of referee, date and place