What are the chances of me finding a job if I were to move to Switzerland? I am 22 years old and will have a B.Sc in Computer Science in a few months time. I have Canadian citizenship and my knowledge of German is around A2/B1. I intend to move to the Zürich area to look for work. Can I expect to find work within a couple months after arriving (assuming I am ambitious enough to put forth the required effort to find work)?

Thanks all!

Hi,

I am not in CH but trying to get there, so let me give you my experiences which may help.

Its a really tough job market, I have 9 years Software Engineering experience and I am struggling to get a position but this is aslo owing to lack of German and French languages. (I speak 3 languages, just the wrong ones). I am EU as well so no hassles with work permit.

Lets do a quick adv/disadv. Lets start with the bad news

a) No EU/Swiss passport. Big problem. Companies have to prove lack of skills available within EU/CH, in order to sponser a work permit for you. Since you dont have any formal work experience, the chances of this happening are very remote in my opinion.

b) No work experience. However if you have a portfolio of university projects then that may help to demonstrate that you know what you are doing.


c) The job market at the moment is very tough and there are more candidates than positions.

The good news

a) You have german qualifications which you can build on to learn to speak fluent german, which will mean you wont get binned for 95% of work here.

b) You have a degree.

c) You are young and you dont need a lot of money to live.


Some ideas may be to try and enrol for language or MSc at a Swiss univeristy and get a student visa and work on your career once resident. I am not sure what the regs are but you shoudl be able to work part-time and if you want to get a job in CH once you are resident it may be easier. Once studying here the option of unpaid internships and building contacts becomes open to you, while you build up your german skills.

The other option is to get some experience in Canada first, but it really depends whats more important to you.

I agree with the previous poster. Being young and having already some German knowledge is a great advantage. I also suggest that you enrol for an MSc, there are many options here, and luckily you may be able to do a language course as part of your studies. Being about to finish your BSc is a great time to apply too. The other great advantages is that Swiss employers do regular job fairs at various universities to hunt for talent.
The downside is that you would probably need sponsoring (perhaps your parents wouldn't mind supporting you for another year and a half), but if you are bright and hardworking you might get student work while studying.
Have a look at one programme...

http://www.unifr.ch/acadinfo/pdf/mas...t&scrollbar=0&

...and don't be put off by it being in a French speaking city, the MSc is actually in English, and your German is probably good enough for communicating with the locals - they might not want to speak German, but will understand you.
Of course, you can always try Zürich (the ETH is very renown in Computing), where you won't need any French, but I hear it is very expensive to live there.
Hope this is of help!

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Adr1ana

There is an exchange program between CH and CAN for young people. Do a bit of Googling and you will find it.

Once you have spent some time in CH you will have the German at a level that will be workable (if you put your mind to it). You might then be able to work your way into the CH permit system even though you have a non EU passport.

Good luck.

Hi,

Just one thought: Currently, I am under the impression that most people in Europe entering the job market directly from university also have a M.Sc degree (which is something completely different than a research oriented M.Sc. as in the US).

I am not familiar with the Canadian system, but in most European countries a B.Sc. does not really prepare you that well for the Job Market, whereas in the US it does (and I assume that Canada is similar to the US).

The bottom line is that if you apply to smaller companies you should provide sufficient information regarding your suitability to the job market, as they may not consider the B.Sc. degree itself sufficient.

Good luck!

Here is the CH link:

http://www.swissemigration.ch/themen...x.html?lang=en

I'm glad that all of you have been clear in explaining the difficulties. I understood that but now I am more aware of what I am dealing with. Unfortunately what I am beginning to see are some real problems that may be too large to tackle. It isn't what I really wanted but I think I will look for work in Canada, continue practicing my German and then try again at a future time to see if I can lessen the hassle of moving to Switzerland. I guess that will be at a time when the job market has turned around and I have some experience under my belt.

Also, about the schooling. A B.Sc in Canada definitely prepares you enough for the job market and I find most people here do not immediately pursue a M.Sc. I guess it's different from Europe but even if I did want to continue my schooling, I simply don't have the funds to do it.

I have found this exchange program you speak of and suddenly it gives me hope that this can work out for me! In fact, it's exactly what I had in mind when I first started considering a move to Switzerland. Thank you so much for mentioning this!!

You are welcome. Glad to help.

If you can work things via this program, the question of visa/permit is a non issue for the first while. Once you are into the CH system (have CH experience, have proven to your employer that you are worth supporting etc.) it is much easier to move to a regular B permit even though you have a non-EU passport. It will be up to you to get the language skills up to speed and to add value in whatever you are doing. To my mind, a very reasonable chance. As they say, success is in your hands.

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Do or do not, there is no try(ing). Yoda