Hello,
I am about to start my second year in the music composition master’s program at the Bern University of Applied Sciences. I am a composer and as an artist it is almost impossible to find a regularly paying job in my field. The only way to earn money for my compositions is to work on commission. This happens a few times a year.
As a Non EU/EFTA student I was not allowed to work for the first 6 months. After that, I got a work permit for 15 hours a week sent by the school, but after applying to a few places I found out that this document is not enough to get a job.
Among the places I applied are JustEat and Uber Eats. Both companies rejected my application because I didn’t have a work permit.
But there is a vicious circle. If companies apply for work permits on behalf of the employee, how can my job applications be rejected when I don’t have a work permit?
I have a few questions I am curious about.
1- With a good level of English and entry-level German, is it close to impossible for me to find a job here, whether it is related to my department or not, that gives me a work permit and that I can extend my residence permit after I finish school?
2- Is there a municipality or government agency that I can apply to look for a job?
3- Is it possible to get a work permit individually without applying for a job and then apply to Just Eat or Uber Eats with this work permit?
Thank you in advance for your answers.
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You simply can’t have a work permit because you’re a student. If you want a full time job then you have to give up the student permit. You can’t have both. Try other places; also check at your uni if there’s a jobs offered postings place.
There are different types of "work permits" - as a student, you can only have one that limits you to 15hrs per week.
I would call the UberEats help center and ask them if they hire people on limited time (max 15hrs) contracts. I would be surprised if not. You may even contact the local geminde and ask them for a written/letter confirming you are allowed to work, and send it to ubereats
Otherwise, places like coop/migros may be an option
You should be able to work up to 15 hours with your study permit, but I bet you Uber and Just Eats aren't familiar with this and are also erring on the side of caution as I can imagine many "sans papiers" people might try to apply for such relatively low-level jobs that don't need much language fluency.
The place to go is the permit office at your commune of residence to
a) confirm your ability to work
b) ask for a written attestation that you can show to prospective employers.
Best of luck, and hope your musical studies go well!
Fellow musician here who had to deal with these issues just a few years ago.
As a non-EU student, any employer needs an authorization from the AWA to hire you. It's just a formality (they just want to see that you are not working more than you're allowed, and that the job's condition are in line with the standards of the field), but it usually costs the employer money on top of the hassle of dealing with the paperwork, so some employer don't want to go through the trouble. So to your third question, no, you can't apply for an authorization in your own. Each employer needs to get an authorization to hire you.
To you first question :
I don't think finding a student job would be impossible in your situation. However, if you're hoping that you can use it to extend your permit after your studies, I am afraid you'll be disappointed. To get a permit after your studies, you need a single position, 80% or more, in your field of expertise, that's a specialist or manager position,for which no qualified candidate from Switzerland or the EU could be found. Obviously, for people like us, that essentially doesn't exist. Short of being married to someone who is Swiss or has a permit of their own, it's virtually impossible to stay in Switzerland after your studies in music (the only exception is winning an audition at a major orchestra and theater). Germany and France are friendlier to freelance artists.