Here is a long story short - i decided to follow my husband to Switzerland early this year (January 2nd to be precise) deciding to leave a great job and career i have. And this is not the first time i have decided to follow my husband but this time i had a better profile and better paying job than him. I come here (and yes i am still theoretically employed because my company hasnt released me out yet) and decide there is no harm in applying to jobs here. thanks to EF i know where and whom to send my CV to and here i am - just 23 days and i have had 4 interviews, 2 more next week - all very eager to hire. these are great jobs with great companies but i am not really as excited as i should be. I don't want to travel around the world again and i want a less mobile job. given my past experience and profile, i guess that is the kind of job i will get. Is there any hopes that i will get a less 'glamorous' profile or should i be happy that my CV is getting attention albeit no German/French language skills and take up whatever comes my way?

My two cents: take the job you like the most (or that you dislike the least) out of the pool of offers. Then give it a few months and see how it goes, and eventually start looking around for something that suits your needs and taste better.

I've read in multiple places, here and elsewhere, that while looking for a job in Switzerland, previous Swiss experience is highly valued. I believe it might give you an additional advantage - aside from your qualifications - over other candidates later on, especially if you are looking for a change of field and have limited local language skills.

Good luck!

happy? you should be ecstatic... you should take the evening off and go celebrate. seriously, you are doing well and should be proud..

everything else is a minor detail.

You should be very happy! What industry do you work in? Curious to see who is hiring these days...

Thanks! Made me feel better Well, i am not being modest but i dont think i can be proud. I would be ecstatic when (and if!) i get a job where i can come home everyday to be with my family rather than travel all over the world.

Having come from a company that is closing down for over two months now with 20+ people looking for jobs, you should be "ecstatic". So far, few have been that lucky from my previous company... if you need it, take it. If you can afford to be picky and chose, then why not .

Yes, please tell us. I've been looking for a job for a while now.....

Industry is management consulting. Domain - Energy & Utilities.

In my opinion, no.

If you have a choice, which it seems like you do, you take the one that best suits the lifestyle that you want to have*.

The other thing is, as you probably know, if they ask you in for an interview, then they believe that you have the skill-set that they want. Now they just want to see if they can work with you/they like you. And this is your chance to do the same with them.

* things that came into consideration for me- easy travel to work, cool people to be with all day, an in-house gym

Make a list! (I love lists )
eg: its more important that i get to work in a big company with lots of different people than that i travel around a lot... yada yada..

Oh, kinda luxury problems people have sometimes. Reminds me of this other post: 150K net (200K gross) in Geneva?

i could do without an in-house gym I do agree that i need to take up one with less (or better no travel at all) which is what suits me the best. Call me insecure, but i do get a little worried that if i decline any of these because of travel, then what if i dont get a job at all

Wish i could take a peek at my future and what it has in store for me

The Swiss consulting industry is pretty domestically-focused, so you shouldn't be doing the kind of four-nights-away-from-home travel that you're fearing. It's also a great way to build a network in Switzerland while getting a paycheque at the same time.

If I were in your shoes, I would take the hit for a year and work in consulting. At the same time, I would use it as a launch pad to look for a career in industry -- each of your clients are also potential employers, and they are much more likely to hire someone they know and trust (eg, you!) than an unknown off the street.

Alternatively, you might find that consulting in Switzerland suits you. With a primarily Swiss client base, you can either commute daily (eg, Zurich-to-Basel) or at least minimize travel time if you're working further afield. It's much less likely to be sent from the Swiss office to, for example, Beijing or New York, than it is if you're based in London.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised that language isn't an issue in your verticals - they're the sorts of industries that tend to be demarcated along country lines and subsequently very wedded to national languages. I think applying directly without German / French language skills would be tough, but building credibility via a couple of consulting engagements might be just the right thing.

if there's a travel obligation even uttered make sure it's in any contract presented to you.

Contract, schmontract. Consulting is a job where you're expected to go where the client is. Regardless of what your contract says, if you refuse to go where your clients are, you'll miss your billable targets and you'll be shown the door.

It's a great job, but there's zero job security and you're only ever as good as last month's utilization report.

Congrats on the offers I'd be really surprised if you can get away from the traveling aspect of management consulting though. Kind of comes with the territory unless you joined an internal consulting / corporate strategy department within a large firm. Maybe that could help guide your decision.

good luck!

I agree with basically everything Village Idiot said, especially, as I said in my earlier post, to try it out for a while and then, from there, move on to something that better suits you needs.

To top up VI's excellent advice, some further points to consider: where are your clients? Mostly Swiss-based, mostly international, etc. If the first, then it is possible that traveling within Switzerland will take up the bulk of your time, rather than extensive travel abroad.

Also, how extensive is the international reach/network of your potential employer(s)? I bring up this point from my personal experience because, for example, it might be the case that your clients are 90% international, but the company you work for has an extensive network and local presence, and each project can be successfully managed centrally with coordination with your local affiliates in the place where your clients are - this cuts down considerably the international traveling time: the local affiliates do the "ground-work" with the (local) client - interviews, on site visits, etc., and then you act as a coordinator and manager of the whole project from your location in Switzerland, with minimal, if at all, travel abroad. Challenging, but interesting, and definitely a point I would look into while choosing one company or the other.

As far as the irony in some other posts, I was going to ignore, but I have a big mouth and I'll say it: it's not at all a "luxury problem". The OP has a skillset that is clearly unique and in demand, and therefore has the benefit of having options - great for the OP. The expectation to be able to manage and continue a successful career while at the same time meeting the personal goal of being there as much as possible for her family is a totally legitimate one. As I said, if we have the "luxury" of having options, it's only natural that we aim for the best.

Much different scenario would have been if the OP had said: I desperately need a job right now to be able to feed my family - the response in the thread would also have been much different IMO.

Good luck once again!

That is great that you usually get a good job than your husband but that never happen always and it will be better to stay a place where you get a perfect cahnce for the future.

Hey Congrats. I've been hearing that it is tough to get a job without knowing the local language, but now after seeing your message I'm kind of relaxed. Congrats once again for the offers & All the very best for your future. Even I'm searching for a job & I'm from order management background. So if you don’t mind, can you please share the websites through which you could find jobs? It would be of great help for me if I can know the correct source to hunt for jobs.

Thanks & Regards,
Yesh

That is indeed what i heard too and i guess to some extent it is true in that it completely depends on the profiles you are aiming for. for profiles that cater to the local market, i would even now think that language indeed would be a singnificant factor. I applied directly to the firms that can use my expertise and i can PM you those firms if you are interested. There is also an excellent thread here giving the list of companies where English is the language used as well as a list of recruiters.