Hello everyone,
I'm Jess, and will shortly be relocating from Glasgow, UK to Basel for work, along with my trusty sidekick, Zola the black Labrador.
I'm an Australian who has been living in the UK for 8 years as I have dual Aussie / British citizenship. When Brexit was voted in, I was fortunate to find some Irish ancestors and was able to get my third citizenship
I don't speak a word of French or German, so I'm very excited about the upcoming language challenge!
I have been told that there will be a relocation package for me but I'm not sure what's included, and I'm a little overwhelmed by the volume of paperwork required for this move so I'll shortly put some questions up in the relevant sub-forums.
Just wanted to say hi to everyone, thanks for all of the great threads so far which have been super helpful, and hopefully I'll get to know you all a little better as I get settled into my new life.
Hi Jess, and welcome to Basel!
Welcome to the forum and soon to Switzerland.
Welcome to Basel!
Not sure who is "bringing" you to Basel, but most likely you'll get 3 months of temporary housing, a language class voucher, and.... well, I have no idea what else
When do you arrive? I'd be happy to meet up, and my husband would be happy to meet your dog
There are also a few Basel specific ex-pat groups that you might find useful.
For what's in your relocation package, ask! Then ask for more! ;-)
Cheers for the welcome, folks!
I'm hoping to hear more about the relocation package today or tomorrow - it's all very exciting! What's the Swiss approach to negotiation, is that 'the done thing' or something to be avoided...?
I'll certainly be happy to meet up with folk once it's safe to do so (and bring the dog of course ) - I'm not sure what life is like for you guys at the moment in terms of Covid - here in Scotland we're still in lockdown with only essential stores open, assuming it's the same there too?
Volume of paperwork? Your employer knows you’re Irish right? There should hardly be any paperwork.
Oh for sure, my employer knows but there still seems to be a lot, as far as I can tell, e.g. residency permit (Permit B, I think), and I need to find a local address (I think I will just AirBnB for the first 3 months) which is required to get a local bank account... ah, the joy of moving!
Honestly, I'd be surprised if the relocation package didn't include temp housing. But then again, I guess I'm assuming that you're with one of the Big Pharma companies...
As for negotiation, I guess it depends on your situation. My first few jobs here I was just happy to get the job and the money, etc, seemed fine. On my last contract, I was a little miffed about the situation and asked for more money and more holidays and they gave me both. So....I guess it doesn't hurt to ask as long as your request is inline with expectations.
Note that there are a few websites for rentals. I'd suggest starting in Basel Stadt and maybe Baselland. Everything is easy to get to with public transportation
- https://www.homegate.ch/en
- https://www.immoscout24.ch/en
- https://www.immostreet.ch/en/
BVB - tram and bus network: https://www.bvb.ch/en/fahrplan/liniennetz/
BLT - additional tram and bus network: https://www.blt.ch/en/service/private-hire/network.html
Anyway, let us know what other stuff comes up that you need to know more about
Hi Jess, and welcome to the forum! You'll find that there are many Aussies kicking about on here, and even more scattered around Switzerland.
My experience haggling with Swiss people is that they are a bit surprised, which makes them accept deals more in the haggler's favour - I haven't tried that when negotiating for an employment contract, though.
The covid measures are fairly relaxed at the moment, compared to some. Pretty much all shops are open normally (restaurants the big exception - delivery or takeaway only). Masks on public transport and inside public buildings (including shops, of course) and a max of 10 people meeting inside in private buildings (15 outside).
You should settle in pretty well, and I hope you've got a great moving package!
Also, there is this link that will cover more than you want to know about the current Covid in Switzerland - and its in English!
https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home...es-bundes.html
Thanks for the welcome, guys!!
It's all official now, I've received my employment offer and will be resigning from my current role in the next few hours. It's very exciting!
I'm not experienced with relocation packages but I'm happy with what's in mine - they'll cover travel costs, furniture removal, rent for the first 3 months and a lump sum payment for incidentals, + German lessons.
With the whole covid thing, I'm going to work remotely from the UK throughout May, and then I'll likely head across to Basel in June some time. I can't seem to get a Swiss bank account before I get there, so hopefully they're fine paying my salary into a UK account.
I've been reading about the terrible time some people have with trying to find accommodation with a dog, and that's making me a bit nervous too! I'm sure we'll get it all figured out somehow. I'm just super excited to be moving to the land of mountains and cheese!
While it might be tricky getting accommodation with a dog, you'll find everywhere else is pretty welcoming to dogs - many cafes & restaurants, for example, will let you have a dog along when it's well-behaved.
Congratulations on getting the new job, and I hope the move is smooth when you head over!
Thanks araqyl!
That's great to hear about a dog-friendly city. She's only 8 months old so she can still be pretty boisterous, but i'm working on teaching her some manners
Theres loads of paper work to kick off and it is daunting. But once its done and you're in the system it becomes easier and kind of maintains itself.
Dont be put off! Basel is quite a cool place with a good expat scene. And its Switzerland so everything is close by.
If you have dog-specific questions, our resident expert is Melloncollie. She knows everything there is to know about having a dog in Switzerland.
Also, if you can't find an apartment with a garden (yard), there are plenty of Doggy Day Care businesses where your little girl will have lots of company and entertainment while you're at work. Assuming, of course, that you'll have an office to go to one of these days
this is awesome to hear, thank you DantesDame! On my ever-growing list of questions for this forum is one about doggy day cares and dog walkers
Basel is a terrific city! You can get along pretty well without knowing French or German, but I would encourage you to take advantage of the German language classes. Having some basic German is very helpful.