If you’re looking for a job in Switzerland as a foreigner, there are a few things you should know to help make your job search easier. Here are our top ten tips:
- Understand the job market: Research the industries and companies that interest you, as well as the current job market trends. Switzerland is home to a strong economy with a variety of industries, including finance, pharmaceuticals, and technology.
- Develop a Strategy: Define the Top 20 Companies you will focus your search on and check if you have connections in those companies. Run expert interviews to understand more about the pain points and corporate culture before you craft your cover letter.
- Focus on lesser-known brands: Switzerland is home to the headquarters of many small and medium-sized companies. They offer a great scope of learning opportunities and you will have better chances to be visible to the HR Recruiter.
- Bring back the Human Touch: Identify companies that recruit in a human way without too many technical interfaces. Build a friendly relationship to recruiters and HR Managers. Connect with everyone you meet in the process via LinkedIn. Be personable and open about your learning from past failures.
- Show your Work Permit and Certificates: Mention that you have a work and residence permit and how long it is valid in your resume.
- Build an Amazing Professional Network: Networking is key in Switzerland, both in-person and online to land a job. Join industry-specific groups on LinkedIn, attend networking events, and connect with recruiters to expand your professional network. Ask people to meet in person and invest in relationships.
- Study the local language: While English is widely spoken in Switzerland, studying the local language (German, French, or Italian depending on the region) will give you a significant advantage when applying for jobs.
- Submit a complete application file: Often you will need to provide all work certificates right away and you need to have complete documents to be taken seriously.
- Be patient: The Swiss hiring process can be tedious because it is a very democratic process and many decision-makers are booked weeks in advance. Before applying speak to the recruiter and find out if you are a good fit for the role. Only follow up after submitting your application if you do not hear anything for two weeks or more. Be patient as the hiring process unfolds. Ask what the next steps are and when you can expect an answer.
- Stay humble: Many foreigners come across as overly confident and that puts recruiters and HR Managers off. Be realistic about your achievements, know your market value and stay humble in the interviews.
You will find more help if you go through the Global Career Workbook. If you found those tips about finding a job in Switzerland helpful and informative, then you don’t want to miss our HireMeExpress program. This program is designed to provide you with even more in-depth guidance and support. Within HireMeExpress, you’ll learn valuable tips and strategies for succeeding in the Swiss job market. We’ll cover everything from building a professional network from scratch and branding yourself in a suitable and modest way to improving storytelling for job interviews.
Angie Weinberger will provide you with personalized guidance tailored to your specific needs and career goals. Whether you’re new to the Swiss job market or looking to take the next step in your career, this program is a great opportunity to gain valuable insights and connect with other job seekers.
👉 Sign up here to receive updates and invites to our upcoming free lunch workshops in the fall. We also share free videos on Youtube via this channel.
Guest post by Oyindamola Adedokun
It is no gainsaying that globalization has truly changed the modalities of doing business in the 21st century. The increased rate of interconnectedness and global interdependence has generated the need for many companies to spread their tentacles abroad if they must have a competitive advantage and wield global relevance in today’s fast-changing global economy. The development and geographical expansion of international corporations are however not usually a walk in the park.
There’s a wide array of expatriation processes that must be networked in order to manage a subsidiary or branch in a geographical territory or culture that is different from the headquarters.
Before we explore the factors that determine whether or not an international assignment is successful, it is only relevant to examine some of the other reasons why international corporations send assignees abroad.
The first reason is position filling (SHRM, 2017). Expats are sent on international assignment mostly if there is a position that no local could fill. This is mostly due to a lack of sufficient skills and expertise that allows one to function optimally in a given role. At this juncture, suitable expats are sent from the headquarters or sourced externally to fill an existing gap. This is mostly a common occurrence in the construction sector.
The second reason expatriates are sent on international assignments is to have them develop their managerial skills by gaining access to an international context of doing business, thereby fostering career growth (UKEssays, 2018). Many multinational companies (MNCs) use expatriate assignments as a leadership development tool. These MNCs often send their managers and executives internationally in an attempt to develop their knowledge of the international economic environment and their ability to work and manage effectively across national borders (Tung, 1998).
Repatriates, who have completed a global assignment, can help establish and expand an MNC’s international business because they possess first-hand knowledge of particular cultural contexts, including information about specific markets and customers. Repatriates understand how the company is perceived in another country and are part of a global social network that can advance the company’s business.
Another reason why multinationals send expats on international assignments is to enter a new market. Expats are sent on assignment to a new territory to analyze the market to see whether the company’s products or services will attract clients and users.
The last reason is to control and coordinate the global activities of a company (Bonache et al., 2001; Harvey and Novicevic, 2001) as it is in the company’s interest to integrate its transnational activities. Through their expatriates, the companies seek to replicate the values and objectives of their home offices in the culture of the branch where the international assignment is taking place.
Having discussed some of the reasons why companies send expats on international assignments, I will now examine five important factors that determine success in international assignments for expats.
The factors that contribute to the success of expats on international assignment can be classified into 5 categories: job knowledge and motivation; relational skills; flexibility and adaptability; extra-cultural openness; family situation (Arthur, Bennet; 1995, cited by Weber; 2004).
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- Job knowledge and expertise. The importance of possessing the technical skills relevant to a role cannot be overemphasized. This is one of the major factors that guarantee optimal work delivery in an international assignment. As already mentioned, one of the reasons multinational enterprises send expats on a foreign assignment is to transfer skills and knowledge to a branch. Suffice it to say that one can only transfer the skills and expertise one possesses.
- Relational skills. Accepting to go on an international assignment is invariably accepting to leave the people you are already familiar with to interact with a new set of unfamiliar people and colleagues. Relational skills go beyond the knowledge of the business model and professional experience to include personal traits such as patience, trustworthiness and honesty, empathy and understanding, reliability and dependability, influence, and persuasiveness.
- Flexibility and adaptability. These refer to one’s ability and willingness to respond and adjust to changes by balancing your core beliefs to accommodate the norms in one’s current environment. An expat would only be successful to the degree he or she is able to adapt to new processes, methodology, and procedures.
- Extra-cultural openness. The concept of cultural intelligence captures an individual’s capacity for successful adaptation to new and unfamiliar cultural settings and ability to function easily and effectively in cultural environments worldwide including situations characterized by cultural diversity (Earley & Ang, 2003; Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). It is an individual’s capability to deal effectively with people from a different cultural background and understanding (Earley & Ang, 2003). International assignments involve going to a country with an array of different cultural preferences. In order to avoid stress and frustration, an expatriate must possess some level of global competency.
- Family situation. The family situation is a key factor that determines whether or not an assignment is successful. Organizations have the responsibility to cater to their employees during an international assignment. However, does this care and concern extend to the expat family? After all, the success of an international assignment cannot be taken into account separately from family support. As a matter of fact, people would choose to leave their international assignments in order to save their marriages (Weinberger; 2020).
Getting a coaching session with Angie Weinberger could already be a step in the right direction of making an international assignment successful. You can so sign up here to receive offers for free online workshops and updates on the upcoming HireMeExpress program.
About the Author
Oyindamola Adedokun is an experienced Mobility Professional with expertise in talent mobility across Africa. He is experienced in engaging proven measures to provide both SME (Small and Mid-size enterprises) and Large-size multinationals end-to-end support in on-boarding expatriates in Nigeria.
With his practical experience, Oyindamola manages a broad range of Immigration facilities such as STR visa, Temporary Working Permit, CERPAC, Quota Approval from the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Interior. He also consults potential foreign investors who are trying to explore the many untapped opportunities present in the Nigerian market on the legalities of establishing a foreign enterprise in Nigeria.
With a demonstrated history in the oil and energy sector, Oyin currently manages the immigration facilities of well over 100 expats in one of the leading oil servicing companies in West Africa.
References
Earley, P.C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Earley, P.C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural intelligence. Harvard Business Review, 82, 139-153.
SHRM. ( May 2017). Managing International Assignment https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/cms_010358.aspx
UKEssays. (November 2018). Motive For Sending Managers Abroad As Expatriates. Retrieved from
Weber, T. (2004). What Are The Critical Success Factors In Expatriate Assignments?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/34588
Weinberger, A. (2020). Assignment Failure on the Rise? The Solution is to Prevent Family Separation – Part 1 https://globalpeopletransitions.com/avoiding-assignment-failure-through-family-issues-seven-key-provisions-for-your-global-mobility-guidelines-part-2/
