Need some salaries advices

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Hi guys,

This is the first time that I post something, but I need some urgent help. I am graduated in Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering and with two years of experience.

At moment I am interested in try my change in Switzerland. I also have a company offering me a jobs as system administrator in Lausanne and my doubt is about the salarie that I should ask. I think that in Switzerland they usually paid 13 months, so my ideia is to ask 100 000 CHF gros and paying I think about 30% taxes it gives my about 5384 CHF/month free of taxes.

This is my ideia, but I do not know....Can somebody give an opinion??

Thanks and BR.

2
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3
Hi,

Your 30% in tax is a bit high, in Lausanne its around 15-20% depending on where you live. But taken into account all the other things which go off you salary, like obligatory health and pension, 30% is still a bit high... Go for 25% then you have a more accurate, 30% you will be on the safe side.

You can find more about Vaud taxes here: http://www.vd.ch/fr/themes/etat-droit/impots/

As for asking 100k with your experience, well, it really depends on the company also. I would say, ask for a 110K and you will properly get 90-95K. Maybe even lower depending on the company.

As for the amount you are left over with, per month in Lausanne, that is not a bad amount to have left. If you are single, yet still choose an apartment costing around 1500-1800 per month, you would still have something like 3K left after all expenses.

If you need any help or advice getting setup in the Lausanne area, just let me know. I have been through the work here, although with help from a relocation company, but this only helped me understand the system here.

/Peter

4
Thanks for the answers in the 30% taxes it was included health insurance to. My ideia is to join some money of course. I saw some flats to rent around 1200 CHF...

Regarding the salarie I think to join some money I will ask at least 95k.At moment I am working in Nokia Siemens Networks, so I think the companie name will also have some importance in recruitment (I hope....).

BR

5
Well if you're approx my age (28) - your insurance for basic insurance with a high deductable (2500CHF) would cost around 200ish CHF a month (maybe that'd help with your numbers) - and depending on what you want in a flat and where in town - just make sure you have time here. My company here paid for our apartment for just our first month and set us up with a relocation service - its insane how fast flats go here. We went to see a flat that hadn't even been listed yet but the relocation service got word - we were the 2nd people to see it, but as we were leaving we saw close to 20 people lining up to come take a look...this was on a Friday...the apartment wasn't even listed as available until that Monday and of course it was gone that Monday.

Long story short - we finally got accepted to an apartment (just happened to be the one we wanted most anyway) but not for May but June. (we got here the beginning of April) Our price range was around 1500 CHF with charges - this one was 1400 CHF with charges. Oh and the tough part of it all is then paying for a month in temporary accomodations ourselves for May...that part sucks

6
Do you think in Lausanne is possible to rent a small flat rounding 1200/1300 chf?

Thanks

7
It should be possible - tough - but possible. In your negotiations, see if you can get some sort of relocation service (we used Cocooning) thrown in as that helps a ton. The "downside" to that is they try and steer you towards certain areas of town which in our case didn't always match up to the most affordable places. We were told all sorts of reasons why not to look in certain places - bad construction, old/unrenovated apartments, not the best people, etc. Where in town is your job going to be?

8
I do not know yet, I will negociate today the conditions and a first approach. The vacancie said that it was for Alcatel Lucent in Lausanne. I sended the CV to an external recruitment companie (they hired people to other companies as in Portugal).

9
As for Cocooning, I can only recommend them. They helped me basically with everything - housing, insurances, bank account. If you need a good insurances adviser, I can recommend BSC perennial, they are semi-attached to Cocooning, but he gets better prices, than what you find on Comparis.ch.

Although, the apartment we found - we found it on Anibis.ch and our car on WRGfm.com. Anibis is like an ebay-like site, but has a lot of apartments and housing on it. WRFfm.com is the English radio station for Lake Geneva, but it has a Classifieds section, where a lot of expats sell their things.

As for apartments - since Alcatel is almost downtown (its offices are in an industrial area of the center of town), I would also try to find an apartment downtown - but you might need to adjust your budget. In general - even Cocooning advices this - you need to spend 1/3 of your gross salary (max, of course) on housing. Personally, I saw some really bad places, that would make me really sad to live in for the budget around 900-1100, but those were also in the more worse parts of Lausanne.

If you want a nice area of Lausanne to live in, I suggest Chailly-sur-Lausanne (postal code: 1012). The neighborhood is nice, all the shops you need are easily accessible and public transport is good from there. Plus, its only 2 stops from the new metro (m2) and 3 stops to the center of town. I live there myself, I was able to find an apartment there for 1300 CHF and 90 m2, with a nice balcony.

/P

10
Thanks for the help. So you think that for 1400/1500 CHF I can get a nice flat in a nice place am I right?

Thanks

11
Thanks to all for the answers, just one more, I worked some months in Duesseldorf in Germany, do you think that the price of food in more expensive in Germany or Switzerland? It is just for compare. Thanks

12
in real terms or in monetary terms? was this before the €uro or after?

13
Hi, I was there at few months ago. It is just for compare prices, for example, if I buy in supermarket, the prices were almost the same as in Portugal (a bit more but not much)...The big difference to Portugal is everything that involve services (taxi, restaurants,etc) BR

14
Hi Jorgferr,

I don't think you will have any issues with that. Check here: http://immo.search.ch/1012,623x584,-...ieten,-1500CHF

Here are some tips:

1. Find a place, that has been listed recently. The places that are two weeks or older are gone already. The nice places are gone within 2-3 days.

2. Check every morning after 10:00. Then most of the adds have been posted.

3. Check Anibis.ch also, since a lot of really nice and cheap places get posted here. Just like this these:

http://www.anibis.ch/n/1684997

http://www.anibis.ch/n/1701676

http://www.anibis.ch/n/1701691

4. Most of the places you need to call yourself to current tennant and arrange a viewing of the apartment. Afterwards you need to call the housing company and sign up for the apartment. Often you need to provide a copy of your workcontract, possibly even you permit or permit application.

5. Most places you need to make a down payment of at least 2 months rent + the rent of the month you are moving in. So, its three months rent you need to pay at most places. To get around the down payment, use SwissCaution ( http://www.swisscaution.ch/en ). In the premium calculator fill in the downpayment amount. With a rent around what you are planning, except that you first payment is circa 250 CHF. Then aftwards you pay per year around 200 CHF max... Very easy to sign up and most people here in Lausanne use it.

6. Pressure the housing company for an answer - but be nice to them. As soon as you have signed up for the apartment, ask for the name of a person speaking either your own language or English at the company (if you are not already talking to that person). Then start calling every day around the same time +/-1 hour to check if there is any news.

If Alcatel offers you relocation service from Cocooning (the most used company in Lausanne) then they will take care of most of this for you. When I used them, I was told "just pick the apartment you want, and we will make sure there is a 95% chance you get it"... And they were right, as soon as I had picked my apartment, they used their connections to make sure I got it...

As for the food prices, like Lob said, where you living in Germany before or after the Euro. Although, in general count on the fact that vegetables are more expensive and in general food prices are higher here. But on the other hand, you earn accordingly.

/P

15
Well, if you were there only a few months ago, count on the price here maybe being 5% more in general... Meat and vegetables are in general 10-15% more expensive, but as said.. you earn accordingly. We are two people in our household (and we eat alot and indulge ourselves) and roughly per month we spend 1200-1500 on groceries.

As for example prices check here www.leshop.ch , this website is the online shop for the largest supermarket here: Migros. The prices on the shop are slightly higher than that of in the shop itself, but it gives a good picture of the prices.

But, say you earn 95K, you plan to live in a circa 1.5K per month apartment... I wouldn't worry at all, at least if you are alone....

Currently I earn now 88K per year, before 80K (without any bonus's and stock options) and we have no problem living two people of this salary, even with a really good health insurance with a low (300) deductable and a car.

/P

16
Are you planning to move here with family or just by yourself? Also, do you expect to buy a car when you come here?

17
I want go with my girlfriend and as soon as possible the ideia is for she gets a job (she is hight graduated to take care of kids, but in Portugal she can't get a job...) as soon as possible. The ideia for a 5000 chf net, is to spend till 1500 in apartment rent, maybe 1300 ?? in other expenses (we do not want car) and try to save the rest. Then after she gets a jobs in a hotel,cleanings,etc then we can think in a more comfortable apartment and so on. BR

18
Hi Jorgferr,

You are much in the same situation as I was when I moved here last year. I started work in Morges in January and setup everything here, i.e. house, car, insurances and got settled in with my new job, then 6 months later my fiancé moved here. As for your girlfriend you might want to check if she can work in her educational field here, as some job areas require a Swiss certification, I am just not sure, if child-care is one of them.

She didn't work until last November/December, since she was enjoying life here and taking French classes, but also due to the fact, that we had many visitors. When she applied for a job, she had one within a week. Both her and I work in callcenter/customer service area and we are multi lingual, so it it quite easy to get a job.

I would say, that even with my salary it was quite easy to get by here, so I wouldn't worry too much. Of course, it is easier to play it safe in the begining and then look for something better later on.

If you need any help when you get here, let me know.

19
Here is a good starter apartment in a price range lower than you set and also in a good building and area:

http://www.anibis.ch/n/1704036