Advise based on real life experience to find a job in Switzerland

Hi Everyone,

That's my first blog entry on EF, hopefully not the last.

I have been struggling for nearly a year now, trying to find a job, it was the period after a financial crisis and everyone seemed to backup on hiring, after 10 months trying, changing techniques, enhancing languages, skills and gaining more personal experience, i managed to get not 1 job but 4 .

I just thought to share some of this experience looking for jobs around Switzerland with people around me, who knows, it might be of a help:

General:

• Job hunting is a job by itself, you must be dedicated, responsible and willing to succeed all the time.
• You're your own boss while job hunting, always get organized in your time, searches and documents.
• Always remember that when you're sending your c.v to a job opening, there's definitely couple of hundreds if not more other applicants competing against you.
• Define your strengths and weakness, if you being refused or neglected all the time, there's definitely something missing in the formula.
• Research the Swiss job market within your domain, check if there's any skills required that you don't have knowledge about, start to find resources to learn and train yourself, internet got everything nowadays.
• Patience, determination and strategic thinking is your way out, the moment you feel down, you are several steps back, job hunting is a WILD RACE.
• Keep in mind that most Swiss company's are so strict, discreet and time means a lot for them, so they won't ask except for what they exactly need, that's why you need to be on the head of competition.

Covering letter and C.V:

• Make sure your covering letter is very strong, representative of all your skills and capabilities, this is the MAIN reason an employer would be looking at your C.V, if sending application via email, your email body is your covering letters.
• List highlights of your stongest skills in your covering letter
• If you got experience in various domains, custom build your C.V for each, never merge all in one, it causes conflict for employers.
• If your work experience can be proven by prints, projects or by any solid meaning, make sure to collect everything, present it with your cover letter and C.V when sending the application.
• Subscribe to all job site RSS feed with your preferences, you will wake up everyday morning with a whole list to go through.

During the Interview:

• If you are selected for as a candidate, you'll probably be required to pass 2 interviews, first interview is the general selection (so you still got competition with other candidates), second interview you're most probably close to getting the job but still you got 30% chances to be refused.
• During the first interview, you have to be more formal, straight to the point, confident and totally concentrating in the questions, there's always a hidden purpose behind them, consider it as skills and psychological test, they want to get the flavor of you, who you are and what are you able to do.
• Never jump to conclusions or praise your career by words they HATE THIS, just reply to the questions, be short, clear and brief.
• Present a little personal flare during the interview within the formal frame, you definitely will need to leave an impression and be easy to remember while interviewing the other candidates.
• When asked about your salary expectations, politely request an offer remember you're un-employed with ZERO income, what you get can be definitely better than what you have
• Second interview is where things gets more intimate a bit, at this stage you're being tested for your ability to integrate within the work climate, blend with the team, perform multi tasks, stress management,...etc, be chilled and show a positive attitude all the way, you're 70% in, this is your chance to walk out with a contract.

On my next blogpost, i will try to summarize what was the most effective methods that can probably get positive results, also some useful resources that you might use.

For now, have a nice time reading

Mo