Hello everyone!!!

I am a recent graduate with a BS in communication and i was wondering if there any Swiss companies that are willing or often hire foreigners?(from non-EU states especially) also, i plan on furthering my education in Zurich and i was looking to see if there are any schools here that accept financial student aid from U.S? In the meantime, i am learning german.

Any help and job leads would be appreciated!

Thank you very much.

McDonalds?

McDonalds Where? in the U.S Or Switzerland? That is something to consider. I haven't actually looked into it yet. Thanks,

Work-wise, nope. You wouldn't qualify under the non-EU hiring rules which require not only a university degree, but several years of experience as well. Even if you did have that a Swiss employer has to prove they can't find a Swiss/EU national who could do the job so unless your skills/experience are unique or exceptional they won't bother to apply for a permit for you.

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home...zulassung.html

What do you mean by financial student aid from the US? If you can afford to support yourself you could consider doing a Masters in a Swiss uni since most of them are taught in English. But you're talking between CHF20,000 and CHF25,000 a year living expenses here.

Thanks Medea! And yes my intention is to do my Masters in a Swiss university and what i meant by financial student aid from the U.S was that some international schools are eligible to receive student financial aid from the U.S government on behalf of the student. That is why i was asking if there is such a school here.

Thanks very much.

Medea, she is referring to the federal student loan program in the US. There are student loans available to US citizens who qualify on a financial needs basis for bachelor's and postgraduate degrees.

The question that I think she is asking is if the master's programs here accept this US federal money. I am guessing that the answer is no because if the applicant is needy enough to qualify for the loan, then the applicant is too needy to be granted admission into Switzerland on a student permit.

I don't know this, though. She will have to do some research.

Thanks TheSpouse. I agree, I don't think the unis here accept that kind of financial help. But also agree the OP needs to check with the individual uni to make sure.

This, or perhaps OP has some sort of education benefit after having served in the U.S. military. Some Swiss universities will accept this type of financial aid. I know someone who used the GI bill to pay for schooling here, but I don't know the details of how it worked or what paperwork was involved.

As you say, if it's need-based financial aid (as opposed to merit scholarship) then I am not sure how OP could prove the "sufficient funds" part of the application for a student permit.

The aid available via a US federal loan is less than the difference in cost between a US university and a swiss one. so there would be no point. there are US accredited universities in switzerland that accept federal loans but their fees are way higher than swiss universities. i think they are mostly only undergrad places too.

Here is a link for IMD's program here in Lausanne. Looks like the first 30k must be paid out of pocket and they do accept loans for the remaining 55k from UBS or Prodigy finance. They list the anticipated living expenses at 36k.

https://www.imd.org/mba/admissions/o...fees-expenses/

What do you mean when you say Masters, MBA or MSc/MA? Note right away that the MBA has nowhere near the same standing in Switzerland as in the US, not even if top-tier as in IMD (the only top-tier here), with the exception of a few MNCs and/or American companies located here.

To live a regular student life here and study for a Masters (as in MS/MA or non-fancy MBA) will likely cost you less than in the US. Medea has outlined the required money per year, though of course that is the absolute minimum. Tuition is very little (2000-2500 or so a year). No idea re loans, but TheSpouse's comments seem logical.

As for hiring you - nothing to do with willingness. You simply don't qualify for a work permit at this point and there's no point for any company to even try. Note thay you may likely still not qualify for one even if you complete a Masters degree here first. However if you do, you have 6 months to look for work after graduating, with easier access to work permits. That is the official version, in practice this rule often doesn't help much.

As usual: why Switzerland of all places? Doesn't seem like an obvious choice...

Avecjd, the thing that leaps out at me is that you are setting yourself up for a very rough journey by looking to start your career - in communications, where the ability to, um, communicate is paramount - in a country where you do not speak the language.

As Samaire says - Why Switzerland? And why now?

(Please don't tell me you are yet another starry-eyed American who believes all the nonsense written in the US papers...)

Why not start your career/grad school in the US, where your undergraduate degree has more meaning, or if you want out, why not continue your education in an English speaking country? Get going where you can play to your strengths... and then having established a career, having made your mark, you'd be in a better position as you look for a company willing to go to bat for a non-EU hire.

(But with eyes on the prize, keep at the German in the meantime...)

The other thing you, as an American, have to consider is that currently US taxation is based on citizenship, not on residency as in the rest of the world. So this means that once you start earning a salary you'll need to file US tax returns no matter where you live in the world and might owe the US tax on top of any local taxes. Start your research on that here:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...-aliens-abroad

It's also difficult for Americans to get a bank account here due to the US's FATCA law. Only 3 banks will consider you and to open a basic checking/salary account you'd need to sign a W-9 form to allow the bank to send the account info on to the IRS. The W-9 form requirement applies to any bank outside of the US so moving to a country other than Switzerland doesn't get around that. Also any foreign, i.e. outside of the US, account/s has to be reported on an FBAR form if the aggregate figure comes to more than $10,000 at any time of the year.

Now this may change since Congress is proposing to reform the US tax system, but whether they'll manage to pass any laws to do so and when those laws will come into effect no one can say. So bear the above in mind when thinking about living and working outside of the US in the near future at least. And of course lobby your Congress people to get residency based taxation implemented in the US.