i have been searching for a job for over 3 months and no luck, not even one interview. currently, i am living in a non-eu country and beginning to think the problem is that i am non swiss/eu. however, i have previously been employed in switzerland.

briefly, my qualifications:
2007 completed business degree from top canadian business school
2007-2009 1st job in zurich for an alternative investment manager, as a private equity analyst. stayed in the position for 3-months, and quit before the 3-month period due to hr and mgmt basically misrepresenting the position during the interview stage. was doing more operational and accounting(BORING) work, than analytical and quantitative as was presented and promised during the interview stage. on top of that, swiss employer ended up relocating me after 2 months to east europe office and my salary was cut by 2/3, and wanted me to stay there for 2-years. i decided that this would be a waste of my skill and since i'm an ambitious individual, decided to quit.
mid 2007- started 2nd job for an american investment bank(structured finance) in zurich,focusing on a specialist sector. took a long time to process visa papers, and could only get an L. loved the job. it was a dream job. problem- swiss authorities denied permit extension after 18 months, with a lame explanation that i was too young, non swiss/eu. employer tried everything, including going out to advertise my position, interview swiss and local candidates, to prove they couldnt find someone with the specific skill. authorities denied extension, and i was forced to leave switzerland.
after that, moved to east europe, started a private investment advisory firm and have been doing ok in $$$ terms, but after a while i realized that i am really missing quality infrastructure, healthcare, respect for laws, and safety from crime, mafia that switzerland offers, and especially the working environment in switzerland. started searching for a position in switzerland over 3 months ago, but like i wrote, not even one interview so far.

i have swiss references, work certificate recommendations from previous employers, so i am wondering if the current situation is just sooooo bad, that for us from non-eu, there is a very small chance currently in todays market?

The problem is that not so much in Switzerland there is a huge crisis, but in the rest of the EU. So all the Schengen members from Greece, Spain etc run away and via internet search jobs too. I am facing the same problem. Locally, in the banking sector many bankers are ditched and most of them non-Swiss. The export faces troubles with the expensive CHF so that mix is not good to get a job (anywhere) On top of that the official figueres (like everywhere) look different, Switzerland has a very low unemployment rate for the simple fact that the immigrants loose their jobs first and are kicked out of the country. I know of a Croatian man who worked here 10 years, raised his 3 children here, got an accident at work and they took out the residence permit and threw him out. So 3% unemployment sounds low, but you should see the figures of migration as well. Many people come in and compete on the labor market and just as many leave again desolutionized. Register with all recruiters and even more important make sure you know people, all the nice jobs go via via here. Good luck!

Everyone & their brother is looking for a job in CH. There are several EU countries in trouble and they are flocking to better economic climates. Switzerland seems to be high on the list.

You have lots & lots of competition from Swiss & EU nationals. Unless you have some special skills or serious connections, you're SOL.

I thought you said you were fluent in English.

Can't really follow the thread....forgive me if I misunderstand, but I guess you are mid-20s, 4 jobs in four years with two different employers, want to work in Finance sector but nothing boring and you are non-EU?

Is that pretty close?

I agree. btw, a very sad story regarding the croatian man.
Good luck!

May I ask if you are a Swiss? If you are a Swiss, would you agree that it would be better for Switzerland to go back to not having any agreements with the EU and to allow for equal treatment of foreign, educated, and qualified workers, regardless of whether they are EU/non-EU?

I really don't see a problem IF the person is educated and qualified AND the Swiss employer is willing to employ him/her.

The problem is the uneducated, unskilled, illegal workers that are coming from the new EU/non-EU.

Why not have the same, fair treatment for all foreigners? Why not go back to the old system?

I looked for 5 months and only got a few hits. This is with 10 years of experience in a highly desirable field and tons of references. I have had 5 jobs in those 10 years in the states and have always had multiple offers within a month or two of interviewing. I think my lack of French was an issue but the places that I was applying to were English speaking offices. Swiss people like to hire Swiss people. It's that simple.

OP - ignoring my question?

The market is really bad. Lots of investment institutions and banking gear towards outsourcing and restructuring. The best is to stay with your current employer and continue looking. Market will start picking up by Xmas but not as much as it used to be…

The Swiss economy can only get worse than it is now, with the global / euro crisis and persistent pressure on the CHF. The effects won't be fully felt until next year. The economy has been remarkably resilient thus far, but time will tell.

There are loads of jobs going around here- if you are a trained watch maker.

You've got a "business degree from top canadian business school" but you can't understand the benefit to Switzerland of the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU? Interesting...

Really? Since you're obviously a red-hot analyst, perhaps you'll share with us the data on which you base this rather surprising insight...

I'm not Swiss.

I don't have a problem with the agreements with EEA/EU necessarily. But I do think that locals (in whatever country) when equally qualified should always have precedence over everyone else.

I think all the people who are complaining they can't move to Switzerland now forget that it's a very small country and well, they didn't think of moving to Switzerland when their own countries weren't in a mess, did they?

To be honest, I have a problem with all these "skilled and educated people" who feel they are somehow entitled or more "skilled and educated" than everyone else. We've had a few of those these last few months.


Really!??? I'd love to do that!

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Weird... thats exactly the same as me (although I was at 4 jobs in 13yrs). I too have been looking for 10 months and so far I have only had interest from a non-profit that could only pay about 50% of market rate due to limits set by the foundation (typical where the limits were set by people in minnesota usa and are wondering why they couldn't get anyone in switzerland at what would be a decent rate in the middle of nowhere usa) and another job that would require traveling every week and only being home for sat/sunday.

The free movement of people is only one of several agreements making up the bi-laterals. Others include preferential access to EU markets for Swiss goods and services, the right for Swiss firms to quote for business on public contracts within the EU on the same basis as EU companies and so on. There is a lot more at stake than just work permits.

Jim2007

The Swiss government doesn't exist to please non-Swiss. I suspect that principle holds true for governments in most countries E.g. for the same reason the US won't allow every single smart, educated Indian in to get a job. I think I read you're Canadian, I do appreciate the points system used there - seems very transparent and fit for purpose.