English Television or Media company in Switzerland?

Loka22 · #1 01.11.2011, 02:28

Hello!

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but hopefully you lovely people will be able to help me out

I currently work in the TV industry here in little old New Zealand. I work in a technical role dealing with tape dupping, ingesting, playing out TV, organising and setting up Satellite feeds etc etc

I am heading to Switzerland for a holiday soon and was hoping to investigate some TV or Media companies in Switzerland as I plan to move there one day! However, my German and French is very lacking so I feel I am very limited!

I was wondering if you guys could point me in the direction of some English speaking media companies? I would prefer TV work if possible but am open to other alternatives as I do freelance as a camera operator and editor so can work outside of a techincal role.

Cheers

fatmanfilms · #2 01.11.2011, 07:03

In TV you will need to speak the local languages, in Facilities houses or higher end production then English is possibly enough, if your good at your job.

	Quote:	Loka22
	Hello! Not sure if this is the right place to post this but hopefully you lovely people will be able to help me out I currently work in the TV industry here in little old New Zealand. I work in a technical role dealing with tape dupping, ingesting, playing out TV, organising and setting up Satellite feeds etc etc I am heading to Switzerland for a holiday soon and was hoping to investigate some TV or Media companies in Switzerland as I plan to move there one day! However, my German and French is very lacking so I feel I am very limited! I was wondering if you guys could point me in the direction of some English speaking media companies? I would prefer TV work if possible but am open to other alternatives as I do freelance as a camera operator and editor so can work outside of a techincal role. Cheers

dawiz · #3 01.11.2011, 07:15

	Quote:	Loka22
	I am heading to Switzerland for a holiday soon and was hoping to investigate some TV or Media companies in Switzerland as I plan to move there one day! However, my German and French is very lacking so I feel I am very limited!

Frankly, the media companies here are dominated by people who don't only speak German, they mostly also hold an M.A. in German, sociology, media studies - all of which are massively language-oriented. I minored in media studies myself and have yet to find a Swiss media company where English (or anything except for German, French and / or Italian) is spoken. Most companies look for people who speak at least two of the official languages.

Also, the Swiss media landscape is extremely limited - outside of public TV and radio plus about 2-3 bigger newspapers, there's absolutely nothing. Most areas in Switzerland don't have any media companies at all but are instead served by larger corporations in the bigger cities. There are close to ZERO media jobs available in Switzerland and the number has been on the decline for 15 years or so.

Apart from that, you'll find it very difficult to obtain a work permit here if you don't have a Swiss or EU passport.

Sorry to say this so bluntly: you'll either have to get C2 (fluency)-level German or you'll be struggling massively to find anything.

Peter