I have only been here for two month, and I'm already missing my routine of going to work and being productive. I will give my best and learn the language , however that does not mean i'll get a job I really want...which is a sad thing.
How are you guys coping?

I'm with you Rinx...although I have really enjoyed my time here, it is odd for me not to be going back to work as August approaches (I've been a high school geography, history, and economics teacher in the U.S. the last ten years). I am working part time (very part time) as a tennis teacher with some of the English forum crew, and I'll begin teaching some English courses at the end of September. I guess for me, I am realizing that some or a lot of my self-esteem/self worth comes from what I have been doing as a teacher. What is kind of funny about this is that I've always been a person who really enjoys time off--I am not even close to being a workoholic. So, I'm a little surprised at the void I feel from lack of work.
But, to be positive, I enjoy a lot of my house-man responsibilities that I am taking care of for my wife. I really love cooking, and I don't even mind cleaning that much compared to most men.
I have a lot of faith that I will find full time work in the next few months, and I hope that you do too since it seems that you want to as well. I wish you the best in your adjustment to this stage in your life.

Hi Arizona Ben,
Thank you so much for sharing your story;
You know, it is so much easier when you know you are not the only one going through this 'no work nonsense'. I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only one in the 'boat' , but it is so much easier when you hear it (reassurance seeking I suppose...). I've been told by so many people to reeelax... and take one step at the time...However, as you say, it feels as if you've lost a part of your identity and now you need to learn how to readjust without it. LOL. Everything seems like a slow motion footage. I hope I don't sound like a sad person.. You seem to have a positive personality and that will take you far. I wish you all the best. Thank you :0) Have a lovely weekend.

You are definitely not the only one in the "unemployment" boat. I noticed you are in Basel, so feel free to come hang out with some of the other "indefinite vacation" crew as I like to call us. I usually go to the Wednesday afternoon wine bar activity in Zurich as well as coffee on Wednesday mornings in Baden...have met quite a few cool people this way. I've been meaning to head up to Basel for one of the EF events--the curry night sounds cool. Have a good weekend as well. I hear the fireworks for Swiss National Day (or whatever it is called) are really great there.

Haha, I like 'the indefinite vacation' term! Yes , I will have to crawl out of the house one day. Enjoy the fireworks.

If you aren't planning on going further afield. the fireworks in Baden are pretty good too. They are launched from the castle ruins and one of the best places to watch them is from the Hochbrücke (the big bridge between Baden and Wettingen). That's at 22:00 tonight.

Other stuff going on today is listed on the Baden.ch website here,

i know how you feel

i was unemployed here for 9 months. that was not very easy (and i'm faaar from workaholic too!). the bad thing is that i let it drag me down too much and i was completely blocked so i couldn't really focus on the language, make friends etc. if I could turn back time I would try to really keep positive and believe people who told me that it would happen (ie finding a job).

so now you have to believe me when i say: it will happen!

(please someone quote this message for me in when i start whining in september, when the contract for one of my two part time job's ends, in case it's not renewed! ;D)

I also find it a bit tough some of the time, and I also am no workaholic, but I have several none paying projects that I am involved in. One of them may start to be salaried in due time. It is tough though.

thats a good thread. i remember being unemployed for some time, and it can be very tough indeed, even if you receive unemployment benefit. it can be tough on self esteem, and can be really depressing.

one would think that with six months off, it would be a holiday but it isnt. instead of doing all those things that you always dream of doing when you have time off, its isnt neccessarily easy to achieve that.... although i did enjoy doing a lot of snowboarding at least !

you just have to keep it up, keep going, and eventually hard work pays off.

krlock3.

Hi Rinx,
The best advice for you is never give up persevere, persevere, persevere!
I hadn’t been working for a while in the previous country I was living as I had enough of the petty way things worked there. I was looking for a year for job in Switzerland for a year before I came here. I had so much negativity from the Swiss agencies. You can’t speak German, you haven’t got university education etc ...so negative.
I’d spent my whole life working in the Finance industry. I was told you will never get a job in a bank let alone a Swiss bank. Bla bla bla!! In the end I decided i’ve had enough of this i’m just going to Switzerland without a job and within 3 months both myself and sister both have good jobs both in the biggest Swiss banks! The agencies where wrong ha ha!
So ignore the crap just believe in yourself and never give up!
It’s not nice to be without work, I used to be a contractor I know. Things could be worse, that’s the way I always look at it. Be positive keep smiling and laughing at life. There are no guarantees you just have to put a lot of hard work and effort in, and when you are kicked down you just get up and start looking again with a smile.
Cosmicgirl

Cosmicgirl

Nice post. Some of the agencies haven't a clue. Makes me wonder, whether or not some of us can start our own agency! I think I could do better than some of the ones I have seen and I am a pretty good judge of people. Not even an office is needed at the outset. This could be a part even of the EnglishForum.ch.

Anybody else think that a lot of agencies over here are crap, and that we could do just as well? Certainly the job databases could be structured a lot better than some I could mention!

yes, but its not always that smooth as cosmicgirl had it. 3 mths is not that long to find a good job.

anyhow, chin up and best foot forward.

krlock3

Oh I am not saying it would be smooth running from day one, but the more I think about it, I am pretty sure it is an idea that could work well. There are a good mix of people on this forum, from all over the place, (of course most are employed), and they know ex-pat way of thinking.

I have to correct you there is wasn't smooth at all. I was unemployed in the country i was in before for sometime due to discrimination and bullying in the workplace. I was looking for a job in Switzerland a year before coming here and had had numerous telephone interviews and flew over 3 times to different companies here.I can't tell you how many jobs i was qualified for and just got rejected as did my sister.

I took a chance and i know that if you perserve at something you will finally get there whether its right or wrong for you.The rewards are high here.

I believed in myself and what i had to offer and there was no way i was going to let some stupid agency or anyone stop me.

I had to sell my apartment and had to relocate my furniture at my own cost to Switzerland.This is all in storage and i am now living in a serviced apartment which was very difficult to get booked into. My sister had a 3 month notice so she too had to make herself unemployed.

Believe me it has not been easy! Its the way that you deal with it that was the meaning of my post. I try to keep a sence of humour about life when things have been difficult and they have in the last years. That is why i had to emigrate from previous country i was living in.

Its all about positive thinking..

Indeed these two things sense of humour (never leave home without it) and positive thinking - make up for a lot of counterweight against the negativity of being down and unemployed.

Not well, actually. The longest I've been without a job was two weeks. Right now, I'm heading to nearly six months and it's becoming depressing.

I used to be a university/college lecturer in communications and cultural studies so becoming a homemaker is...well...hardly what I had in mind when I moved here to join my hubby. My French is barely passable which makes employment really tough for me and well, I pick the worst season to look for a job. Plus job agencies won't even look at my resume because I don't speak fluent French. Never mind that my English probably beats the crap out of these people and supposedly "native" English speakers...I don't know why it's so hard for people to accept the fact that an Asian can speak equally good English.

I'm trying my best to stay optimistic - I do a lot at home; weave, knit, spin. I'm even toying with the idea of setting up an online shop. Anything to stop myself from feeling down.

What doesn't help is this - people back at home and my hubby's distant relatives/friends all bugging me about my job hunt, why I haven't found a job yet, I should do this or that, or worse, thinking that I'm sponging off my hubby. =.=

Yep, I definitely agree with this. People who constantly ask me whether I have found a job yet and who give me "helpful" advice (like how I should look for a job in Zug because there are lots of english-speaking jobs there, never mind that it's the other side of the country) are incredibly annoying. As is the habit of every stranger I meet asking "so, what do you do?" as their opening question.

I'm actually feeling okay about the fact that I'm not working at the moment (even though it's not a normal situation for me), but people always giving me the impression that they pity me for not having a job, or that they want to help me by finding me one always make me feel like I "should" feel bad. Which I then sort of do. Sigh.

yep, and even marginally worse are those who go on and on about how "there are lots of jobs out there" and "it should be easy to get a job at XYZ as they are hiring".

Its not that easy.

keep trying though!

I'm really looking forward to my extended time off when my wife and I move to Switzerland in 4 weeks! One thing that I would like to do with this time is volunteer for a good cause. I think this could help the types of people who feel useless without a job. I'm not that type of person as I feel like jobs are only for money (so if I have money, then forget about it!). But I am so fortunate that I feel like I should give something back.

I agree the worse thing is when people just assume its easy when they are not the ones looking and being rejected straight off. I was lucky in that respect i was the only person that was saying 'it should be easy there are loads of jobs out there ' and depending on what day i was having i didn't have to listen.