I am a recent graduate from law school (JD) and I want to move to Switzerland from the States but I don't know my chances of finding a legal job in Switzerland. I have been looking since August and I haven't found anything yet. Any advice from anyone?
Thank you!
The search function will likely be your friend. This thread may help as well. American Lawyer Living in Zurich and Looking for Advice
I know several US/UK qualified lawyers who work for banks in Switzerland but, unfortunately, I don't know of any legal vacancies.
Good luck with your job search.
In addition, I'd imagine the majority of vacancies require fluency in local language and would prefer Swiss-qualified lawyers.
It would be very costly for you to come over and look for a job in Switzerland, and the chances of return are very low.
Sorry to rain on your parade, maybe others can speak from experience..
Would you happen to know of any websites where you can look up jobs in NGO's or non-profits? Or does anyone know of any openings?
Thanks to everyone for their responses!
I wish you luck in your search and will offer my two cents--since I am in a somewhat similar position...
The area of Switzerland is going to make a big difference. If you are looking for public law/NGO work, it seems like Geneva is the area to be. I am in the Zurich area--and like you have my J.D. (+ a few years work experience). Most of the opportunities I am finding are with multinational corporations (banks/insurance/food products-distribution/big pharma) and are compliance/regulatory based. Pure legal counsel positions often (not always) require Swiss bar admission or degree from Swiss or German school (makes sense--as they want someone who is ready to facilitate transactions within the local legal scheme).
Unlike law firms in the U.S., Swiss companies seem to be more interested in the totality of your work experiences. If you have pre-law school work experience, you may be able to leverage this. If you looking to get your start in the professional world, you may struggle a bit. As discussed by previous person--getting a visa is not a simple process. For a company to sponsor you, it needs to show that you are uniquely qualified to do a job, and this is much harder to do at an entry level.
Lastly, patience and flexibility will be your friends. I hope it works out for you.
- in french and german but a good site to have an overview of the sort of jobs which the market offers, here
HTH!
You can apply for vacancies at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and look at the websites of different Geneva-based human rights NGOs. Amnesty Switzerland and most of the Swiss NGOs will require you to speak German but you could probably get away with English only in Geneva (although obviously having French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or another widely-spoken language will open doors).
The best way to start out may be to do an internship in an NGO or at the UN. Unfortunately, they tend to be unpaid and life in Geneva is far from cheap.
I am just trying to inquire more into NGO's and perhaps being able to find a job there. I must have over a couple dozen applications out by now and I am finally receiving even acknowledgement that my CV's are received but still no luck in even getting to an interview. Just a frustrating process.
Thank you for all your help i have been looking on www.unjobmonster.com and totallylegal as well as jobs.ch.
Personally, I think in your situation you'd be better off racking up some more voluntary or paid experience in the US ( http://www.idealist.org has a huge number of opportunities advertised) and then doing an LLM in human rights. If you're not enrolled as a student here and in possession of a student permit (they're called B permits and allow you to work for 20 hours a week while you're studying), you're going to find it extremely difficult to get a job. Most NGOs won't sponsor a non-Swiss, non-EU employee unless they're looking for particular skills or experience that they can't readily find here. If you're still set on coming to Switzerland you could also start learning French, even if you don't end up here it won't be wasted.