Hi,

does anyone out there work for Swissre and have any comments as an employer? Good and bad......

I don't know anyone who works there, but I have an acquaintance who went through multiple interviews with them (for an IT position, IIRC) and he said he got bad vibes and sensed there were a lot of politics.

My Missus works for them.

She says they are sticklers for following set procedures, and have a reputation in the industry for high quality. Their approach could certainly not be called cavalier. The overall package they offer is at the very top of the range for people working in insurance in Switzerland.

Good luck

Jim

The pay is true especially compared to Swisslife according to my HR contact there.

I have a few friends who work at SwissRe, and they are quite happy with their jobs. If you want to specifically work for a reinsurer, SwissRe is the one to aim for in Switzerland.

Like with any other company, it depends on the people you are working for, the team, the department, etc. Of course there will be office politics, but that exists almost everywhere.

If you are not working in a department directly involved in the reinsurance business (e.g. HR or IT), the culture may be somewhat different. But otherwise, I have not heard anything bad about SwissRe.

I also know a few people who work at SwissRe. They tell me it is a very good place to work, but you have to be up for the challenge. SwissRe employs some of the smartest people in the world. Every other person has a PhD.

What field are you in?

The organization is quite flat (for a Swiss company). If you have a good degree in mathematics, physics, or business, then it is a good place to work your way up. If you have a degree in IT, sociology, or English literature, then perhaps a smaller company is more suitable );

I also hear the company restaurant is one of the best in CH land, and their publications are second to none.

I work at Swiss Re and agree, the lunch restaurant is second to none. Really excellent. And cheap, I pay CHF 150/month for lunch (and breakfast, if I want it). Every day there's a selection of two main courses, an alternative (usually asian) main dish, vegetarian and a sallad buffet. Of couse, you get a soup before the meal, if you want. After, you have a large selection of desserts and good coffee/tee in the cafeteria.

For super-senior mgmt and guests (and occasionally for us mortals), there's an even better restaurant.

For actually working there, well, I don't have much to compare with. I've been in the university world before and this is the first time i work outside that sphere. It's different. Sometimes hard to get used to. Sometimes frustrating. Most probably though, it's pretty much like working for any large company.

A good thing about insurance, here again only based on a small sample, is that people seem somehow nicer than in banks. Not so bonus oriented - possibly since bonuses are smaller.

I'd recommend working for them.

Thank you all - always good to get a few opinions about this stuff.

I have not been offered a job (yet - here's hoping). I am an IT person, with a degree in Mathematical Modelling. The job I am going for looks ideal, and the one person I know has been singing the praises for the last 3 years.

I've worked for a variety of small and massive companies - they all have thier characters and cultural issues. Nowhere is perfect.


Thanks again.

Good Luck, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for you!

Thanks Lynn, very nice of you. I just noticed that you have a groan? How could that be?

Ah some person got upset at me for pointing out that the useful post made by Nathu was full of information they themselves were too lazy to google and instead just posted the question a couple of times on the forum...

My wife recently had an interview with SwissRe - (2020) - they have subjected her to recorded interview on a laptop camera, I tell you horrific experience, stress, wasted 5 days for preparations, and she got fairly stupid questions, just to receive an automatic email from HR somewhere in East Europe that she did not make to the next level. Absolutely disgusting experience, be warned.
Next time we just say we will not take part in their "monkey circus". Doing this they will get actors who perform on the interview, selfies and self-recorded instagram videos, HR went over-creative there.
Will never apply for any position in this company.

Hey John,
I work at SwissRe and have conducted many interviews - none that sound like this. I am very sorry to hear about it. If you are prepared to share them HR contact I will provide feedback internally.

Yeah, that's the way they're doing it since a while, at least, in some departments. They use HireVue, so that they pre-screen almost all the applicants with pre-recorded interviews and then let the HireVue software give them back the candidates entry list and they send you back the pre-built rejection. It's an awful candidate experience but it sounds cool to inexperienced HR and Hiring Managers. Btw It's not so in every department.
As a rule of thumb, unless you're not truly desperate about getting a job, turn down interview invites with HireVue and the likes. They use pseudo-AI to find out whether you cheated or weren't sure while answering the pre-recorded questions.

They used to be a great employer in terms of overall compensation and fringe benefits. Nowadays they have cut some, but still one of the best employers in Zürich, perhaps second to Google and the various other US IT (small) shops (MS, FB, ...) only. Although the Corona pandemic has been hitting them very very hard, and the worst for the insurers is yet to come.

It's not relevant because it was around 10 years ago.. but I remember being interviewed there by 2, female, managers for a fairly technical job.

I thought it went well but was turned down because, apparently... they didn't feel there wasn't enough 'chemistry'.

It wasn't a date... it was a job interview, no problem with rejection and clear feedback.. but really.. 'chemistry' ?

(btw, I'm not an idiot, I know they meant.. 'he's a northern oik' )