I want to move for a better life, living conditions and better future.
Hello, I'm new to this forum. I'm an American from Los Angeles and would love to find a job so I can move to Switzerland. If anyone can guide me, would really appreciate it.
Welcome to the forum. That is a very wide question that you are asking. It would be helpful if you could give a little more information - what are your qualifications? Experience? Current work/study? Values?
Welcome to the forum Ariana_K and I wish you suggest in your quest. However, it will be a very difficult one. Non-EU or Third State nationals as the Swiss call them are bottom of the jobs queue and can only be hired if no Swiss, EU national or other nationality who lives here and has a valid work permit can be found who can do the job. This is what the Swiss government requires of employers to prove they have done a thorough search for suitable applicants:
http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/…zulassung.html
It’s time consuming and expensive and is meant to encourage employers not to look outside Switzerland/EU for employees if they can possibly help it. So unless your skills/experience are outstanding or you can fill a niche in the jobs market, you will find it very hard to find a job.
Also be aware that as an American citizen you are required by US law to file yearly US tax returns and may have to pay US tax as well as Swiss tax. Swiss banks, due to the incoming FATCA law, are not keen on having Americans as clients so finding a bank who will give you an account is also difficult.
Hey I am from Lugano.
ok it might appear cool at first, but after a while it can become boring. especially if you are under 30yo.
I'd recommend to look for Lausanne, Geneva or Zurich. There are a sort of good chances for Americans... a lot of multinational companies.
However, the problem is the distance... unless you got a top class CV, it will be hard that they ask you to come to Europe just for an interview or to hire without having seen you in person.
My suggestion is the following. Come to Switzerland, try to find a place where you can stay for a 3months or so... and in the meanwhile try to find a job.
I guess it will be hard to immediately find what the job u are looking for, so I d suggest to maybe start working in a bar. usually they pay well-enough to live.
I hope I ahve been helpful
what is your background?
Indeed, that's why my daughter moved to Cevio.
Meanwhile, other daughter is planning to move to LA in January, but will return to Ticino to raise a family, as she and all her friends have decided that Ticino is the best place in the wold to grow up.
Tom
Do you speak Italian Ariana? There are some English speaking only jobs in Zurich, Geneva and a few more places, but not so easy in Ticino.
Welcome onboard.
Since you speak Armenian and French, you should try Geneva where I think there's a good community.
And with the international businesses here, you could have some more chance to find some jobs.
well, just my 10 (swiss) cents.
good luck with your project.
Thank you everyone for all your helpful replies. I will take into consideration all your suggestions.
I'm learning Italian. My background is 15 years in the luxury Swiss watch industry and that is where I want to grow and expand my experience. I'm over 40
One thing I know is that everything is possible in life.
Sincere thanks,
Ariana
Then you’re aiming for the wrong part of the country aren’t you? Most of the watch making industry is up around Le Locle, Le Chaux-de-Fonds and Bienne areas up in the Jura mountains. Are there any watchmakers down in Lugano?
In which case, you are picking the wrong spot. You need to come to the Jura... Bienne/Biel for Rolex and Tag Heuer, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle for Rolex, Patek Phillippe, Cartier, Ebel, Raymond Weil, Dior, Louis Vuitton and so many more, Vallée de Joux for Jaeger Lecoultre, etc- or the Val-de-Travers, where I am : Piaget, Cartier, Choppard, Vaucher, Bovet and the crème de la crème, Parmigiani + several independent watch makers. Not sure which luxury watch is made in Lugano
OoopsMedea Fleecestealer, posts crossed
Without know more about what you do in the "luxury watch industry", if you are on the business side you should probably be looking at Geneva. Rolex, Patek Phillipe, Piaget, Raymond Weil, Vacheron all have their corporate headquarters there. I'm sure there are more.
If you don't want to go to Geneva, Neuchatel or Biel, Bucherer has it's corporate headquarters in Lucerne, which personally I like better than Lugano. I wouldn't even be surprised if you find a luxury watch brand in Lugano.
I'm sure you know more about all that than I do.
Anyway, bottom line, you'll need one of them to want to hire you badly enough to go through the not so easy process of hiring what they call a third country national. It can be quite a challenge. Get that CV formatted in Swiss style and go get lots of stamps! Good luck.
Hi MiniMia
Can you please elaborate on the CV Suisse style and explain what you mean by stamps?
I picked Lugano based on a friends suggestion. I would be willing to live in another part of the country.
I am aware the watchmaking industry is in the Jura Valley
Thank you again
Why, they speak GERMAN in Lucerna!
Tom
I think you can do a search on here (and probably online) to find out how the Swiss format their resumes (CVs). There is a slightly different expectation on what should be included than US formatted ones. One example is to include much more personal data than is the norm in the US.
Stamps, you know, those things that you put on an envelop for the postal employee to deliver your letter to the other end of the world. (I was being funny, or trying to! You'll probably just email those resumes/CVs)
Oh, stop yer fussin'. It's not that bad. I (heart) Lucern.
It's nice of you to suggest, but since the OP is American, she cannot just move here and start working in a bar. A work permit is required, which means OP needs a company to sponsor her and to do that, the company must prove they could not find a Swiss or EU citizen to fill the job. Refer to Medea's post above. Very, very unlikely a bar would be willing to go through the hoops for an American.
Now OP if you're in the watch industry already, use your network to get an interview here. You're more likely to find an employer that way.
There is no Jura Valley. The Watch Valley logo is about the whole of the watch making area in the North West of Switzerland, and not a specific valley as such (the Jura being primarily a mountain chain, which covers Vaud, Neuchatel, Jura and Bernese Jura Cantons). When I say I live in the Jura, people assume I live in Canton Jura, but I do not
Ariana, in your profile you indicate that you are a customer service manager. I am not sure which brand you are with or if you employed in one of the boutiques but as someone who is familiar with most of the Swiss brands it will be very difficult for you to secure that sort of position in Switzerland.
In Lugano there are a lot of assemblers who work from home but of course you would need practical skills and you do not indicate if you have any watchmaking skills.
A great many aftersales managers/customer service managers do speak several languages also. In Switzerland we are desperate for skilled watchmakers mainly.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Only when they can't be understood in Lozärnerdüütsch or Änglisch.
Well, there’s no way you could commute from Lugano to the Jura and back every day so I’d forget about that as a location.
LucaSelm’s suggestion of staying here for a few months could be a good one though. Base yourself in one of the Jura cities and then network/contact the watch companies and see if there’s any possibility you’d be able to get a job here. If there isn’t, then you still have a place to go back to. There’s nothing to stop you job hunting while you’re here as a tourist, you just can’t start work until the permit and visa stuff is sorted out if you can find an employer to take you on. But as 3Wishes says, things like bar work won’t be possible for you as there are plenty of people here who can and do fill those positions.
Also don’t forget that life here is very different from in the US. You may not like it here so moving here without actually visiting the country could become a recipe for disaster. A long term visit of up to 3 months will give you a chance to experience everyday life here.
Did you try to get contacts in Switzerland throught your background ?
adding : you probably already have this list http://www.fhs.ch/fr/addresses.php?list=39 from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH