Hello Guys,

I am writing for advice,opinions,job leads with regards to working in Switzerland. I am American, my wife is Swiss and she has been offered a great promotion opportunity in CH. So we will be moving in December 2009. We will live in St. Gallen but she will work in Zurich. We have the whole residency/work permit thing figured out, now I just need a job.

I have been looking for a job in Switzerland, around Zurich, in just about every job website I have found. I do not speak German and still have a long way until I learn. However I do speak Spanish fluently. I am hopeful that once there, job hunting door to door will be more effective for me. My professional background is on media communications, but the last 2 years I have been working on Real Estate.

I have been to CH many times and l have a very positive general feeling of the country. I know that it will be a big challenge to move there and I think is a great opportunity to start a new career path. My main interests are creative and lie within, design, architecture, arts, travel, media.

Please, if anyone out there has any advice, ideas I would appreciate your comments.

Thanks,

CV

Both media communications and real-estate are very language dependent. Please learn German fast.

Not necessarily true. I worked in a corporate communications department for years, and there were quite a few non-German speakers working there.

Spanish will help you in that you already know "how" to learn
a foreign language, but German is definitely a plus when job
hunting.

Hi Chris

Welcome to Switzerland. You say you have the work permit figured out...does that mean you have a permit already?

If so, message me as we are looking for 8 new staff in the Zurich area

Best regards

Lee

If his wife is Swiss I don't think he will have a problem with the working permit!

Just a quick note to say thank you, to all of you that have replied with input. All comments,feedback,opinions,suggestions are welcome.

Our situation is a little unusual. We think that in most cases,when couples move to Switzerland from the U.S. is because the husband has gotten a Job,with a multinational, and a big salary therefore he will be the main provider, and most likely the wife will stay home. We don't have children and we both plan to go out and work, but at first,I will have to spend time learning the language, and Job-hunting.

Hey Chris.....

You arent alone... My US husband is the "trailing spouse"....(Im English - we still have a house in Dallas) - Hes not working yet (doesnt need to - but may chose to)- but is being amazing around the house... and keeping me calm with my new job....

AND we dont have children.....

I wish you both the best.....

Regards,
Caroline

I know a lot of husbands who relocate because of their wife's new job. I never assume it is a relocation because of the husband's job.

Many spouses find work. It does take time. Much depends not only on your language skills but on what kind of work you are looking for, whether this is in demand here and whether you have an equivalent qualification that would be accepted here. Sometimes moving can be a great opportunity to do something completely different to what you were doing before. If you are not under financial pressure to work, it is really worth taking the time to learn the local language and explore other opportunities.

Good luck with everything.

At this point, I am connecting with most of the people I know in Switzerland, letting them know I am on the job hunt. I'm thinking maybe since I still don't speak German, I can get in with a construction company as help.

Also What is the opinion on looking for jobs in smaller cities like St.Gallen or Wintherthur?

Does anyboy here belong to the Swiss American chamber of commerce? I think mingling in their events will help get more leads and friends.

How about some of the American or Latin expat groups?

Thanks,

Chris,

If you wife speaks German then you will have a head start. That said don't come here with an illusion you can get by with some German, you will be compeating with native German speaks for jobs and it will take you many months.

In honesty I would look to see what else you can do with your time constructively? What about taking an MBA for example? becoming that fine art painter you always wanted to be?

See my post here.
Learning German to find a job
Mark

I'm in exactly the same position although it's my wife that is American, I am British hausman.

With no German your chances to find employment in smaller places such as St. Gallen or Winterthur are very limited. Your best shot would still be in bigger cities, Zurich, Geneva, Basel or maybe bern.

Good luck,

the job market in switzerland is very tight. many well qualified people who do speak 2-3 languages are unemployed and actively looking. also, they have lived here a while and are familier with the culture and customs. an employer has a big choice and is not about to hire a newcomer, not speaking the local language, and risk culture adjustment difficulties ( the risk is there, albeit maybe not at all going to come up) i would suggest, as indicated above, take a year off, learn german, soak up the local culture and keep active and develop your network in switzerland. ( check out glocals.com. an expat site for english speakers.) there are many opportunities via the networking process. btw, be certain that your permit allows you to work. a residence permit is not per se a work permit! however, if you are enrolled as a student in a course (i.e german) you are allowed to have a part time job.
hope this has been helpful.

All posts have interesting points. Every little bit helps. To learn German is the first step. I understand Zurich is highly competitive city, but not all jobs are for IT guys or Bankers. I will get a B permit, and I will be able to have the right to work. Taking a year off to learn sounds great, as long as I'm ok depending on one income only, which I'm not.

But I think getting at least some sort of part time job will help with the adaptation, culture and language. After a year I will most likely apply for the speedy naturalization process, since we have been married 8 years. That way the employers don't have to put me on the bottom of the list for not being Swiss.

Hi Chris. A friendly piece of advice - Not all the skills you may have mastered in the 'states will be applicable here. You may have to reinvent yourself a bit. You'll need to figure out some way to be productive. If you aren't working, make sure you do something that adds value for someone somewhere. Clean the floors, clean the windows, and clean the neighborhood if you have to. Whatever you do, don't sit around and do nothing. This is not a friendly place for that. You can lose momentum and get stuck in a rut. You won't be happy, you won't like this place, and you won't make anyone else happy. Just work like a slave. You'll be happier for it.

I would not take an entire year off. Learn German really, really hard
for the first six months, and at the same time, look for a job. It is
important to use your German and really, really give effort.

It is so easy to fall back to English.

Thanks for the Advice that is exactly my plan, Learn German and work, work, work and re invent myself. If I don't I'll just stay home loose all momentum. Specially living in a small town.

If you get your German to 'survival' level, then you would do well to get a job (or volunteer, etc etc) doing something where you're forced to speak it. The repetition and exposure will do you wonders, and the frustration of not being able to express yourself will drive you to the vocabulary books in the off hours. You will progress in the language way faster than if you simply do study alone.

When you can speak the language with a natural feel, little grammatical errors and lack of a vast vocabulary are swept under the carpet and can be dealt with later.

That, at least, was my experience (with French though).

I definitely agree.

My French is grossly ungramatical, and my vocabulary is obviously not as extensive as in English, but I can (and do!!) converse fearlessly. Nobody has failed to understand me because I mis-conjugated a verb