i have searched in the forums, but it seems like most related content specify conditions that might not match directly with mine. or failed to use right search terms
i am from a third country, with a B permit as a Ph. D. student at the university. I am considering to apply for jobs in IT as software engineer (well, so many do, right ) before acquiring the official degree from the university (so the 6-months job search law thingy won't apply to me). I try to focus on jobs that require skills that match with mine.
My question is, what are the limitations for third country nationals who would require a new work permit? Am I allowed to apply for contractor positions, or, do I have chance only with full-time employment? And does a 'contractor' job mean I have to be self-employed and set up an Einzelfirma and apply for a work permit myself (which sounds like not possible for non-EU)?
cheers,
fatih
ps: i have been in zurich for about 8 years, worked as a researcher at the uni, as well as developer in the industry (UBS) for a couple of years.
Do you have any prior experience in software industry ? There are lots of IT contractor jobs out there. Non-EUs are considered, but they have to be good in the field they are applying for. After all, company has to justify that they could not find someone for the position from Swiss or EU. If you are a fresher in the industry, then it might be hard to find a contract with a company.
Cheers.
I've got industry experience, too, and i prefer applying to positions that are relevant also in my work in the academia. well, it's by law that they choose a swiss/EU citizen in case one applies for the same position with required skills, so, i'll be filtered out automatically from candidacy anyways.
the question is the status of a contractor. does the company still apply for work permit for the contractor, or is the contractor considered self-employed and has to handle work permit himself (freelancer would be a correct term, i guess)? i am not sure about this second part.
Amandz82 is right. The rule here is Swiss, EU nationals and people who already live here who have a valid work permit must be considered first for any job position. Only if an employer can’t find someone from these groups can they try and get a work permit for a “third country” national which means the rest of the world. It’s time consuming and expensive for them so unless they can be pretty sure of success they’re unlikely to apply.
I don’t think you’re affected on the contractor job side of things, but it may mean your permit gets changed from a B to an L short term permit. I’m not sure if you would be allowed to be self employed on a student B permit, but think it’s unlikely.
As you say, so many are applying for IT and software engineering jobs, it will be very difficult to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
The contractor must be an employee of a Swiss company. In most cases that would mean going on the books of an agency, who will then take care of mandatory deductions, accident insurance, etc. on the contractor's behalf. Of course, there are options, once you're already established, to start your own company, or if the work is of a suitable nature to register as self-employed, but these would not normally be appropriate, or even possible, means for a newcomer to Switzerland.
I myself have worked as a Contractor and have lot of friends who are working as contractors with different IT companies. For all of us, the work permit criteria is taken care by Contracting/Recruitment companies (Darwin, Experis, Swissinx are some of the bigger names). These companies work as a bridge between Contractor and Employers and take care of all logistics (applying work permits, processing payrolls, negotiations etc.). As far as I know, a contractor cannot handle/apply for work permit himself.
Cheers.