Bartending jobs in Switzerland (or Austria)

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Hi, I am a 28 yo guy from Norway, considering looking for a job at/nearby a skiresort in the Alps. I love traveling and living in other parts of the world, and I am currently living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. I dont like the fall and winter in Norway, so I try to escape it as often as I can.

However, I like snowboarding and kite surfing, and I have always wanted to see the Alps, so I would love to combine a visit there with a job for the winter season or something like that.

Not sure what country would be best, either Switzerland or Austria (or another country?), but anyways I am very interested in hearing about Switzerland.

My relevant experience:

Bartending course from Barcelona in 2010. No work experience as of yet though.

1 year as a server in Disney World, Florida. Here I learned about a lot of things related to the food and beverage industry, but we only served beer, shots and a couple of simple drinks.

I speak fluent Norwegian and English, intermediate Spanish, Swedish and Danish, a little bit of portuguese and I still remember a little bit of German from the 3 years I had it in middle school, but I dont think I would be able to communicate very well in German.

My main occupation has been EMT, and that has been my job for the most part when I have lived in Norway.

Do I have a chance of getting a bartenderjob with this little relevant experience or would I have to have some actual bartending experience to be even considered for a job?

How are the salaries there? Not that I am doing it for the money, bc I can almost certainly get a better paid job home in Norway, but I would like to know if I would need to save up a lot of money before going there or if I would be able to support myself from the salary from the job once I get there, and maybe even be able to save up some money.

I had to work my butt of for 6 months before I finally had enough money to stay here in Mexico for 4-5 months (without a job), and I want to know if I need to do the same before going to Switzerland.

What parts would be the best place for me to go looking for a job?

A place where I could go snow kiting nearby as well would be a really big plus. I am thinking that maybe a place with a lot of foreigners and seasonal workers would be best, since ime they are generally easier to get to know and more interested in making friends than the locals.

Do you need a car to get around there, or is the public transportation sufficient enough?

What time of the year would be best to go down there to look for a job? I would prefer to do the actual job search when I get down there, so I need to find out what parts of Switzerland would be my best bet to go to.

It was a lot of questions, I know. But I hope someone can help me out, and if you know something about how it would be in Austria as well, I would be really grateful.

PS. The reason I want a bartender job is because I have never actually worked as one, just taken the course. I was hoping for my first job here in Meixco, but they changed the rules for foreign workers just a couple of months ago, so now its impossible to get a bartending job for me the legal way here.....

In Norway I have my EMT work, and I need to maintain my skills there as much as possible so back home in Norway I need to be working as an EMT.

2

Ambulance Service in Austria in generally provided by the Austrian Red Cross, if that is wear your goal lies...

3
Thanks for the tip, but fluent language is so important in that job, so it would take me at least some months of immersion in austria-german for me to be able to work there.

Besides, I wanna try bartending for a while, since I never actually worked as it, just took the course.

4

I think you’d have the same problem here. You would need fairly good spoken and written German and/or French to make it as a bartender/waiter. How are you going to understand drink and food orders without them?

5
In Switzerland, I think you could try some ski station, mostly English speaking. I'm thinking about Verbier in the French part... but maybe it would be easier for you to try in the German part, maybe Davos, St-Moritz, Gstaadt.... Sending some CV around wouldn't cost you anything (except some time) I wouldn't come here without job. The ski station I'm thinking of are really expensive.... Also on a salary level, Switzerland pay more as Austria, but life is also more expensive.

6
I was hoping that maybe they have some places that has a lot of foreign tourists, and wouldnt be so picky about the language. Besides, it is a lot less job to learn the phrases and things you need to learn in a bar or restaurant setting than all the things you need in an EMT job. As a server in the restaurant in Disney World I got along just fine with the latin american guests when with the limited spanish I knew at the time.

7
Thanks for the tips. You are prob right, I should start looking before I go down there.

8
Not sure where you go skiing, but in most places I have been on the German speaking side were many waiters Eastern German. They do not speak Swiss German either since they only come for the peak season... and I do not see at all why a waiter at a snow bar needs to be able to write German - it's not like the Polish or Italian chef could read it anyway.

9
So you have no job experience and no language skills...interesting.

If you want work in Switzerland in gastronomy, unless you are working in a Pub, and remember those jobs are already highly sought after even by people not working in bars previously, that it is tough to think you will get one without knowing someone, then you must know the local language.

It is not enough to assume that in a ski resort you will hopefully have enough tourists there that will want to converse in English, and, fingers crossed, there will be no natives that will want to order a drink in German, French, Italian, or Romansch. An asset on a ski station these days is Russian. Your boss will more then likely be speaking in a native language, and trust me, they have the pick of German and French speakers that work seasonally as it is.

Almost no one will be hiring in Switzerland for the rest of what is left of this Winter season. You will have to focus on next year. Plenty of time to learn some basic German or French. If you are serious, learn some basics, and come back here in 6 months, and I will give you some contacts or useful sites to find work.

Austria pay wise is terrible compared to CH. But, cheaper expenses. How old are you? And why not go to a ski station in the US or Canada if you have permission and the language skills to work there?

10
Maybe because all the computers, credit card machines, ordering forms, ordering phone calls, the boss, some customers, other german speaking employees, german speaking customers calling for info or reservations, menus, are in German. If he doesn't understand stand German, not likely he understands Swiss either. But he certainly isn't going to get hired with zero experience and zero language skills.

11

I have to agree with Confloozed, yes there will be foreign tourists but also many Swiss so you could be dealing with German, French and Italian on a daily basis, not to mention the occasional Romansch speaker as well. And frankly why would you expect Belgium, Dutch, German, French, etc, tourists to speak English when they’re on holiday in Switzerland?

The seasonal ski resorts jobs are highly sought after in all countries so employers have their pick of staff. Why would they hire you, when there are others speaking several languages and therefore better able to cope under pressure in a busy resort?

Your ability to work out sums and give change will also be tested as waiters/waitresses over here tend to carry money pouches and do the taking of money and giving change back at customers’ tables. It’s not done by customers going up to the bar till and paying there as they would in the US and UK. So you’re going to need to be able to count/figure in at least one, and preferably two, of Switzerland’s languages.

I think you do need to come over and visit some of the resorts, ask around and get a feel of what would be possible for you to aim for. Then work on the languages and see if you can find a job here in a year or two’s time when you have more to offer potential employers.