Dream Job Alert: IKEA Wants to Send You to Copenhagen to Learn About Happiness
This is not a drill: IKEA is sending one lucky winner to Copenhagen for two weeks in September to find out if home is the source of happiness.
IKEA Denmark is looking for a happiness hunter to uncover just what makes Danes some of the happiest people in the world. They will be sharing their experiences on IKEAHomeView.com and followed by a camera crew, who will be producing a mini documentary on their two week pursuit of happiness in Denmark. In exchange, the happiness hunter will be set up with a temporary home in Copenhagen, “ready to be filled with happiness,” receive an average Danish salary, and connect with locals via home visits, guided tours, talks, and dinners.
Denmark is consistently ranked as one of the world’s happiest countries, coming in at number 2 in this year’s World Happiness Report. “We know that Danes have a strong emotional connection to their homes which they perceive as a safe space for wellness and ‘hygge’,” Lene Gaarde, Country Communication Manager at IKEA Denmark, said in a release. She detailed that in a Life at Home study conducted by IKEA in 2017, in which more than 20,000 people from 22 different countries were asked to describe feelings for their homes, 9 out of 10 Danes said they felt peace and happiness.
“That led us to think whether happiness in reality arises from the Danes’ authentic life at home,” said Gaarde. Hence, the search for a happiness hunter—specifically a non-Danish person—so they can get an outsider’s perspective on Danish homes and their way of life.
The IKEA happiness hunter is a curious person that loves to travel, meet new people, and explore different cultures. They must be at least 18 years of age and comfortable being in the spotlight. Travel expenses will be covered, and as an added bonus, IKEA is throwing in free köttbullar (meatballs) at their restaurants.
“If happiness arises from an average Danish life and home, our happiness hunter should experience that, too,” Gaarde said. “It is an anthropological task, but there’s no need to be a researcher to be the candidate we’re looking for. As long as you’re equipped with a large dose of curiosity and have the courage to get involved in the investigation and share it with the rest of the world, you might just be the right person for the job.”
Interested candidates must submit their application here by July 1, 2019. A winner will be selected mid-July and announced at the beginning of August.