Hi,

As posted elsewhere, I'm actively on the market and am narrowly focused on establishing a permanent base in Switzerland. So... slim pickings for roles (or even interviews) in Switzerland, but... I'm being chased by a very large (and profitable) international company based elsewhere (they do have a small office in Switzerland). They are looking for very specific experience which I have (they're apparently in a fairly desperate situation, but won't go into more detail) and are holding a gold plated carrot in front of me AND are indicating they could accept me being quasi home based in Switzerland and commuting say 80% basis.

Do any of the forum members here do this (I've heard of people working in Switzerland but living elsewhere, not quite the opposite)? Any advice? How's the experience been for you?

Thanks

I commute on a 50% basis and I want to stop. Depends on domestic situation though.

They must be desperate if they want to move you here (or do you pay for that) and then pay you to fly every week and stay in hotels....

Knowing what you do for a living, I would say that they do need your special skills if they are making dumbass decisions like that!

That last point gave me a good laugh after a frustrating Friday

The role is not one which requires being based in any particular location as it requires a lot of travelling (regardless of where one is based) and is a global role.

While they may not pay for my actual relocation to Switzerland (not discussed that yet actually; but if not relocating to CH then they'd want me to relocate elsewhere to one of their larger locations... so they'd incur moving costs anyway - they've given a list of cities on 3 continents to choose from, I countered with Swiss cities and instead of scaring them off they were very accomodating).

They are quite desperate as they have a situation which is bleeding money and have expensive interim people on it... so getting a permanent person (even with move/travel) would still be a net saving for them.

As I'm single, no kids, I'm flexible - the question is on how sustainable it is and whether one really enjoys Switzerland flying back Friday evening late, and out Sunday evening or Monday... I think intuitively I know the answer of course. But I read your new born baby thread and it is very nice to wake up, open the curtains and, well, just love where you are.

I know you are "desperate" to move to Switzerland but what I don't understand is why you would take a job which would mean that you aren't even IN Switzerland. For me QOL is being able to enjoy where I live and not have one of us flying off every 4 days.

This of course is your own decision but personally, I wouldn't pay Swiss rents & expenses to not actually live in Switzerland. If it were me, I'd pick a less expensive / more convenient place to be based from.

If you haven't done it, 80% commuting takes it's tole very quickly. I used to work 60% away and living in hotels 3/4 days a week might sound like fun. In reality it's so very much not fun.

I had a friend who was based in Switzerland but would fly back for the weekends. So he ended up not having any social life at all in Switzerland. He had few people to spend those weekend with. So he started also spending the weekends away. That lasted a bit more than a year, IIRC.

You might want to consider how it will look on your CV is you leave after a year because you just can't take the commuting or expense of keeping an unoccupied base in Switzerland.

Just something things to think about.

__________________

The serious point i find isnt so much the obvious thing about being away from home, which is less of an issue for you if you are single but

1. Health...lots of flying, lack of exercise, no home food
2. The mindnumbing boredom of staying in hotels and watching cnn and eating room service
3. Lack of ability to plan your social life because you will be travelling
4. Difficulty to get a clear division between work and non-work life. You will find it hard to switch off

The job would need to be perfect and the terms astronomical to attract me to an 80% travel job

Yes, the health point is a big issue. I used to work in consulting in the past and spent a LOT of time in hotels (late nights at office, too tired to drive back, projects in far away places, etc) - i can live with being in a hotel room (bring a good book!) but I gained so much weight

Anyway, easy to currently play "hard to get" for a change - based on job content / company it's not extremely appealing. Location and $ may be good - but as mentioned in another thread, I'm very comfortable (too comfortable to be honest) in my current job so the jump has to be a real improvement, not just a change for change's sake.

That's why I loved to travel all around!