Job Hunt Tips

Hi all,

I have 5-6 years of experience in digital transformation consulting in London and have been actively searching for white collar jobs in or around Zurich for almost a year so I could join my partner here. In February I resigned and moved here, even though I still didn’t have any final offers.

After the two most successful processes were both frozen/cancelled at the last interview stage for “market” reasons, I realised I needed to get any job just to get a residence permit within the allotted time (luckily I am an EU national). So I am now a hugely overqualified barista as well.

On top of applying to every single semi-relevant job opening I have found (90+), I have been learning German and studying for an MBA entrance exam. I had to find other things to fill my time with since the market is so slow, and it gets quite demoralising only applying for jobs. Unfortunately, I am getting rejections for even the jobs which I have a very relevant skill set, let alone more tangential or aspirational openings.

I have a Swiss style, ATS optimised CV. I include my address and B permit in both the CV and my tailored cover letters. I have been to job fairs. I check job boards every day and I have done as much networking as I possibly can.

I don’t know what else to do to land an English speaking job and would really love to hear from others who have been in my shoes in the past. Cheers.

I guess there’s no real magic formula. Just be persistent and try to find openings through contacts/networks.

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And concentrate on learning German

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I don’t really know what digital transformation consulting is, but if it has to do with any of the IT consultancies, indeed they’re finding their market squeezed and are not only not hiring, but are firing.

My only advice to you is to be patient, build a network as Switzerland seems to be even more “it’s who you know not necessarily what you know”. Also, getting a headhunter activated might open a few more doors than LinkedIn.

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