Job hunting tips: What are employers in Switzerland really looking for?
Despite historically low unemployment figures and complaints of a skills shortage, some job applicants in Switzerland are still having a hard time finding a job. Two recruitment specialists share their insights on what employers are looking for.
In total, there were just over 250,000 job vacancies in Switzerland at the end of last year. Against a backdrop of 2 percent unemployment on average in 2023, this looks like a good position for job seekers to be in, but the challenge is matching up the available jobs with the available workers.
Candidates with gaps in their careers, older candidates and those with eclectic experience or missing qualifications may lose out if they end up competing head-to-head with someone who fits the job profile exactly.
Recognition
Qualifications are king in Switzerland, and the more specific the better. The first thing foreign residents need to do is to inform themselves on the qualification requirements for their sector to see if they are ready to compete. Foreign nationals are more than twice as likely to be unemployed compared to Swiss nationals.
READ ALSO: How can I have my foreign qualifications recognised in Switzerland?
For certain regulated jobs you need to get your foreign qualification formally recognised to confirm that it is equivalent to the corresponding qualification in Switzerland. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI oversees this area and provides factsheets about the professional activities which are regulated.
In terms of the skills shortage, this applies in certain sectors more than others. According to the latest “Jobradar” published by x28 AG for the last quarter of 2023, healthcare was the sector with the greatest number of positions open, followed by construction, retail, hospitality and IT.
Based in Bulle in canton Fribourg, Ken Cowley of Cowley Brown Recruitment specialises in placing candidates in the healthcare, life sciences, IT and finance sectors. He has observed a high bar being set by multinationals in particular.
“They are looking for that rock star, full-time employee who is willing to give a high level of commitment,” he said.
In healthcare, there is currently high demand, especially for paediatricians, family doctors and psychiatrists, but the Swiss are very strict on recognition of training outside the country, including the European Union, Cowley added.
“I know of a Romanian obstetrician who had to completely re-qualify. I’ve also seen qualified, experienced teachers who find it slow and cumbersome to get recognition of their qualifications.”
The personal touch
Cowley’s advice for job hunters is not to restrict yourself to classic job applications but to use your network to get the message out that you are looking for work. “Although Switzerland is a pretty good meritocracy with a high foreign population participating in the workforce, network and word of mouth remain important.”
“Use that network, whether it’s through your nationality or some other group you belong to, pick up the phone and call people, go to events, use LinkedIn.”
One IT professional currently job hunting in Lausanne has found that the personal touch has got her the best results so far, she told The Local. Apart from contacting former supervisors and colleagues to tell them she’s looking for work, she tells people she meets socially about her situation.
“I was in my local neighbourhood restaurant earlier this week and got chatting to the owner about my job search," she said.
"He said he knew a customer at another table who was currently expanding the team of his IT start-up. I left the restaurant with the man’s card and I have an interview set up for next week.”
READ ALSO: How you can boost your chances in Switzerland of getting a job?
Complications
When it comes to gaps on a resume, Daniel Shalom of Rigby AG, a Zurich-based staffing and IT services company, explains that this is not automatically a problem, especially if the time off is easily explainable.
“The objections from hiring managers tend to be to several gaps or lots of short-term engagements. That can be a flag, which might give the impression that the person can’t settle. The recruitment, on-boarding and training process is time consuming and employers don’t want to risk wasting that investment.”
Recruitment in the IT sector is buoyant at the moment in Zurich to the extent that recruiters have to look for candidates abroad and employers sometimes end up compromising on their wish lists.
Both Cowley and Shalom agree that moving across to a new sector is not that easy in Switzerland, where transferrable skills matter less than sector-specific experience.
There is also the age factor, which is impossible to gloss over in a job application. How much of a disadvantage age can be is hard to prove or quantify. Apart from potential length of service, employers may be concerned that the person would be too expensive or slower to learn new skills.
It’s not a blanket thing, according to Shalom. “I’ve noticed that some employers are glad to employ an older person, for example, to lend stability, experience and leadership to a younger team.”
Cowley notes that older job applicants can be willing to work for less money than they did before. “But if potential candidates are not even invited for interview, they won’t get a chance to show their flexibility on pay or anything else,” he said.
You can follow this link for many more articles on working in Switzerland.
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In total, there were just over 250,000 job vacancies in Switzerland at the end of last year. Against a backdrop of 2 percent unemployment on average in 2023, this looks like a good position for job seekers to be in, but the challenge is matching up the available jobs with the available workers.
Candidates with gaps in their careers, older candidates and those with eclectic experience or missing qualifications may lose out if they end up competing head-to-head with someone who fits the job profile exactly.
Recognition
Qualifications are king in Switzerland, and the more specific the better. The first thing foreign residents need to do is to inform themselves on the qualification requirements for their sector to see if they are ready to compete. Foreign nationals are more than twice as likely to be unemployed compared to Swiss nationals.
READ ALSO: How can I have my foreign qualifications recognised in Switzerland?
For certain regulated jobs you need to get your foreign qualification formally recognised to confirm that it is equivalent to the corresponding qualification in Switzerland. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI oversees this area and provides factsheets about the professional activities which are regulated.
In terms of the skills shortage, this applies in certain sectors more than others. According to the latest “Jobradar” published by x28 AG for the last quarter of 2023, healthcare was the sector with the greatest number of positions open, followed by construction, retail, hospitality and IT.
Based in Bulle in canton Fribourg, Ken Cowley of Cowley Brown Recruitment specialises in placing candidates in the healthcare, life sciences, IT and finance sectors. He has observed a high bar being set by multinationals in particular.
“They are looking for that rock star, full-time employee who is willing to give a high level of commitment,” he said.
In healthcare, there is currently high demand, especially for paediatricians, family doctors and psychiatrists, but the Swiss are very strict on recognition of training outside the country, including the European Union, Cowley added.
“I know of a Romanian obstetrician who had to completely re-qualify. I’ve also seen qualified, experienced teachers who find it slow and cumbersome to get recognition of their qualifications.”
The personal touch
Cowley’s advice for job hunters is not to restrict yourself to classic job applications but to use your network to get the message out that you are looking for work. “Although Switzerland is a pretty good meritocracy with a high foreign population participating in the workforce, network and word of mouth remain important.”
“Use that network, whether it’s through your nationality or some other group you belong to, pick up the phone and call people, go to events, use LinkedIn.”
One IT professional currently job hunting in Lausanne has found that the personal touch has got her the best results so far, she told The Local. Apart from contacting former supervisors and colleagues to tell them she’s looking for work, she tells people she meets socially about her situation.
“I was in my local neighbourhood restaurant earlier this week and got chatting to the owner about my job search," she said.
"He said he knew a customer at another table who was currently expanding the team of his IT start-up. I left the restaurant with the man’s card and I have an interview set up for next week.”
READ ALSO: How you can boost your chances in Switzerland of getting a job?
Complications
When it comes to gaps on a resume, Daniel Shalom of Rigby AG, a Zurich-based staffing and IT services company, explains that this is not automatically a problem, especially if the time off is easily explainable.
“The objections from hiring managers tend to be to several gaps or lots of short-term engagements. That can be a flag, which might give the impression that the person can’t settle. The recruitment, on-boarding and training process is time consuming and employers don’t want to risk wasting that investment.”
Recruitment in the IT sector is buoyant at the moment in Zurich to the extent that recruiters have to look for candidates abroad and employers sometimes end up compromising on their wish lists.
Both Cowley and Shalom agree that moving across to a new sector is not that easy in Switzerland, where transferrable skills matter less than sector-specific experience.
There is also the age factor, which is impossible to gloss over in a job application. How much of a disadvantage age can be is hard to prove or quantify. Apart from potential length of service, employers may be concerned that the person would be too expensive or slower to learn new skills.
It’s not a blanket thing, according to Shalom. “I’ve noticed that some employers are glad to employ an older person, for example, to lend stability, experience and leadership to a younger team.”
Cowley notes that older job applicants can be willing to work for less money than they did before. “But if potential candidates are not even invited for interview, they won’t get a chance to show their flexibility on pay or anything else,” he said.
You can follow this link for many more articles on working in Switzerland.
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