Hello everyone,

I would like to get a job in Switzerland after my studies. I speak French relatively well and am quite proficient in English. (Mother tongue: Swedish)
I have gotten into EPFL as an Erasmus exchange student for a year (year 1, master).
I will get a bachelor's degree in EE and applied physics and need help to choose what to get my master's in so that I can find employment in CH. I am considering getting a MSc in computer science, mathematics or EE. Which of these do you think would be ideal on the Swiss job market for (jobs in R&D, tech, finance)?

I am a swiss citizen since birth but have never lived there. Will this be advantageous when employers consider applicants? Given my background, would you it is easy to get a job, or is there fierce competition for entry-level positions?

Computer Science or IT would probably be the best bet for a job.

Yes HUGELY, your Swiss & not a foreigner.

That does sounds promising. Since my knowledge in the Swiss languages is limited to French (which I am not fluent in), my primary language would be English, do you still think a multinational company would rather hire someone that is a Swiss citizen? if so, why? Thanks.

Yes I do!
A Swiss company would prefer if at all possible to employ a Swiss person as they possibly can.
A Swiss company which I previously worked for was about 50% Swiss & 50% foreign, a new boss made a decision to not employ any new foreigners & get rid of the foreigners as & when he could. I am able to report that that company has since gone bankrupt.

I have worked for or got insights into many large Swiss IT companies. In many of these companies, you're perfectly fine with English. E.g. my wife works in IT for a bank, and they have a lot of employees from India. They only speak English!

The fact that you're Swiss will save your future employer a lot of administrative overhead - getting work permits, paying taxes at source, etc...

However, in smaller IT companies which do mostly consulting, finding a job is more difficult if you don't speak an official language.

Learn German as well - that will unlock 3/4 of the job market for you. B

All other things being equal "the return of the prodigal" can be a good selling point upon which you can theme your individuality in interviews. This is more likely to make you stand out from among the other candidates than simply waving a passport.

With your degree and languages I'd suggest post-grad study at CERN. You'd probably be welcome there.

The actual subject you study at Master's isn't really that important, unless you plan to specialize. the fact you have a Masters is far more important.

agree... that should be the most searched job ever in the world, not only in Switzerland, plus you are a swiss, so you have big advantage.

My advice would be to get the Master's in the area that interests you most.

In terms of getting a job, it won't matter too much.

You see, to get a programming/software job, you don't really need to be able to calculate O(log(n)) algorithms. You just need to be able to program repetitive, tedious software in a way that minimizes bugs.

A lot of project managers in Switzerland are Fachhochscule people who did a traineeship in in electronics or software for a year or two. So highly educated they ain't.

If you know maths or physics, chances are you know or will pick up programming anyway.

If you do computer science, you do it because you're interested in computer architecture or algorithms. There are only one or two companies in Switzerland that will truly use your skills in that area (I'm thinking Google, maybe), the rest of the "real world" software jobs are actually quite mundane in comparison.

Most of the skills you need to do a job effectively is stuff you learn on the job from more experienced people than yourself or that you learn by doing over the span of several years. Your specialization field doesn't matter all that much.

The reason it is good to get a Master's or PhD is to train you in the discipline of thinking logically and scientifically. CS, maths, and physicis will all provide you with that.

So choose the one you find most fun/interesting. No point studying an area you're not that happy with. Not worth the effort. In the end jobs are quite flexible and no one is going to ask you in a real job situation to derive the Navier's-Stokes equations on the fly.

Forgot to say that there is one exception:

If you want a job in finance, study finance. An engineering background is good, but without knowing the basics of economics and finance terminology, you will have trouble getting hired in that field.

Okay, thanks to everyone who has cared to answer so far.

red_conundrum:
I have actually considererd to choose the field of Mathematical Finance. Mathematics is truly my favourite subject and I also think economics seems fun, but to be honest, I don't have much programming skills except for basic Matlab syntax.

A general question:
How hard is it really to get a job in Switzerland for someone with my background? In my home country, Sweden, "polytech" graduates can find a job quite easily, provided of course that one speaks the language. Still, Sweden has very high unemployment among youngsters. Therefore, I am dubious as far as my professional objectives are concerned, I dont speak German at all and my "merits" would be: having studied for a year at the EPFL and being a swiss citizen. I am guessing there are some people on this forum who has been in a situation similair to mine.

Coming straight out of university and searching for work in Switzerland will be tough, most companies look for experienced and specialised staff who can walk into the firm with minimal training and ramp up time. You need to have exceptional grades in your field to be the exception.

Your advantages are:
Swiss citizenship is a huge advantage
Studying in niche areas that are uncommon yet valuable to the firm. Mathematical finance could be a strong niche area.
French is great if desiring to work in the french speaking area (i.e. Genf)

Disadvantages:
Being Swiss but not really understanding how things work here. It would be good to spend some time here just to get a feel for the country and how it operates. Understand the dynamics.
Lack of German. You will get by without it if you have a great niche career or bring a wealth of experience, or target multinationals.

You could try and target firms that offer internships or graduate placements. With mathematical finance I think you would open up doors. Im thinking companies like Swiss Re where english is the main language, but they value innovative strategic thinking and modelling in the financial space.

AnAustralian:
Being Swiss is surely only an advantage compared to those who aren't. I mean, there's gotta be many graduates from EPFL and ETH looking for a job in, say, mathematical finance, who have lived in Switzerland their entire lives and obviously speak german and french fluently and probably english as well.

Grades - So far I am only slightly above average from my BSc in electrical engineering and applied physics. In Maths, I do better but I'm not sure if I could make it to the top of the class.

Either way - Isn't German quite important even in Geneva? I mean the big companies probably have many employees in german speaking such that german is an important working language.

My guess is with a degree in Mathematical Finance, and picking up a mainstream programming language on the side on your own (i.e. C# or Java), you'll have no trouble finding a job, in Switzerland or most places in Europe (France, Germany, UK in particular).

If you can get an internship prior to graduating, you'll have valuable work experience to show. So make that a priority. Some experience is better than straight out of school wet behind the ears being clueless about how the corporate world works. Especially here in Switzerland where hierarchy is important.

My point is: you will have no trouble finding a job if you're good at what you do. So be good at what you do. And choose something for the love of it, not for the money or job security. Trends change, markets change, finance is hot right now but may not be so in 20 years when you're 40 and have a family and 3 kids to look after. But a smart person like you seem to be should be able to adapt to these changes easily. Don't worry too much and enjoy your studies. Work hard, of course, and look for ways to broaden your skills into practical areas of specialization with internships or side projects. You seem to have the right attitude looking towards the future and I have no doubt that whatever field you choose of the ones you mentioned will provide you with a very rewarding career.

All the best!

Hi Inf,

Sure, when competing against other Swiss, then being Swiss is just par for the course, but when asking expats on an english forum if being Swiss is an advantage, then yes it is.

Im not sure about programming as a strong profession in Switzerland. More and more programming is getting outsourced these days. Many IT related jobs are client facing, delivering projects or providing expertise in a certain area operationally to support business functions. Software development is probably still sought after, but I am not convinced it would be a great way to go if selecting a niche area, unless the programmer is developing a really innovative system etc.

I came to Switzerland 30 years ago for a three month stint as a praktikant in ZH, speaking almost no German, fresh out of school, working at a very old-school Swiss-German company.

The company spent the next four years trying to get me to come work for them, which I eventually did. When I moved to Ticino after four years there, my German still sucked.

So, didn't need a Swiss diploma, didn't need German, didn't need experience, and my grades were slightly below average (for my school).

Tom

P.S. French, however, was indispensable!

I'm sorry. I just can't see being Swiss as a particular advantage if you don't speak the local language at all. Not anymore. This might have been true before the door to EU citizens was opened. Back them (way back before 2007 ) it was even difficult to hire EU's so they were happy to have Swiss citizens even if the didn't speak the local language.

Now you are completing for English only jobs with other EUs. You have no advantage really.

Anyway, I'm not saying it's impossible. Look at Tom! But you are not in for an easy ride.

Good luck!