Hi everyone,

I thought I would introduce myself! I just recently arrived to Zurich. Before that, I was working in Dubai where I met my Swiss partner, and after our expat assignments were over, we decided to come to Zurich (well, to return back here, in my boyfriend's case!) I'm originally from Montreal, Canada, but I grew up mostly in South America, so I also speak Spanish. Unfortunately, I don't speak German yet, and I must say I find it a little hard to have this language barrier...

I'm also a little discouraged with the work situation. I have a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, but find it very difficult to find job positions in Zurich. Most seem to be for electrical/IT positions, especially in the big firms like ABB, Bombardier and Alstom. Any advice for me?

I lok forward to settling down in this beautiful city, and hopefully meet some fellow quebecois! ;-)

Hello Mariejd,

Welcome to Switzerland and the EF.
The language barrier can be overwhelming at first, but in due time you will surely pick up the basics that you need for everyday life.

Finding work can be hard in the beginning but there are loads of threads on the forum with advice and information for job seekers. Keep trying and hopefully you will find a very good job quite soon.

Cheers and good luck.

Welcome to the forum.

Greetings, my fellow Canadian! Welcome to Switzerland. I am also new to the country (living in Basel) and am facing the same language barrier but I've just signed up for German classes so I hope I will be able to make some progress in this area soon. In eight weeks, I'm supposed to have a grasp on 'elementary German' but after two classes, I have my doubts! I'll keep you posted.

I'm the last person you would want giving advice (since I've been here all of 12 days and have not even started a career search myself yet), but I'm wondering if perhaps you could broaden your job search to include Basel and think about commuting from somewhere halfway (or even from Zurich since the train ride is only an hour). The reason I'm suggesting this is that two of the pharmaceutical giants are headquartered in Basel and I can only assume that they need people with your education and expertise. Also, they seem to have a fair number of positions for which the only required language is English.

I'm not sure if that's helpful or not but just a thought! Best of luck with the job hunt and German!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

CHanuck, I love your nickname! ;-)
Looking in Basel is a good idea, & I've already looked into a few pharma companies but it seems they're looking more for pure chemist or scientists... Will keep looking!

Good luck with German (I also looked at a few schools) & good luck with future career search!

Hi, mariejd,

Try looking here: http://www.novartis.com/careers/job-search/index.shtml.

Hi and bienvenue, welcome. Well, no sooner one leaves us... and another arrives. Wonder if she'll become as 'famous'

Could we have a translation of that bit of 'not-English' please?

Aye Salut!

Bienvenue en Suisse! I hope you'll like it.

I am from Montreal too, actually I am from T-R. but feel like a real Montrealaise! I left Montreal 7 years ago.

I also left Switzerland almost 3 months ago. So sadly we won't be able to meet. But if you need informations, if you need just a bit of Quebecois, I am here!

à +

Nil

Hi AM new in Zurich, Hope you are doing well, sorry because I have sent a message in Spanish.

Thanks
Gustavo