Strange Behaviour in RAV Office

Complaints Corner
21
my question was actually based on judging whether the OP is entitled to use RAV; it's my impression that RAV have certain expectations both before and after contacting them and I'd use the sites mention in the big thread found when searching for "english speaking companies" on this site for leads for a new job for me.

22
This seems like an overly broad generalization to me. I think it depends greatly on the country you obtained your degree or qualifications in, how it will be received upon immigration to a new country.

To the original poster, I would persist with applying for IT jobs through agencies. There are many IT jobs in Switzerland which do not require any German (which means you can work, while learning the language, which is important IMO). Try the UK job boards (just do an internet search and you should find some) - quite often there are IT jobs listed there for which the employer is willing to take someone with no local language skills.

Edited to add: When I suggested the UK boards, I meant search there for jobs in Switzerland. Many agencies recruit to fill IT positions in Switzerland on those boards, and you have a good chance of finding positions there that do not require the local language.

Best of luck with your search.

23
Hi Krati,

As mentioned previously I don't know your circumstances, educational background, which field you work in etc etc. but I found the staff at Elan IT (they don't just deal in IT) to be the most helpful and professional of all the agencies in Zurich.

Give them a call and good luck!

24
well i have B permit..and I married to B permit holder..her answer made me upset for 2 days but after getting some response from some companies, i am fine.

I just want to know..where i can complaint against her..so this must not happn to others in future.

25
Ok well, I posted my complaint here b'coz i wanted to know, to whome i can complainted against her and sorry but if they hired such kind of person who mixed there personal life with professional one and instead of helping people they make them in trouble then i must say that they are bastards down there at the RAV and they are..........they should know..to whome they should hired....not only the basis of this that they can speak german.........thats all

26

I disagree. I have a Swiss passport and went to a RAV office when I moved here from Canada, in the hopes that the RAV would help me get a start into the job search since I didn't really know what to do. The people in the office were utterly rude and unhelpful, all they gave me was a piece of paper that listed job search engine websites!! As if I can't find that on my own! She told me they only help people who are drawing social benefits, which I was not.

It makes me so mad because it's our tax dollars who are paying their salaries!!

I will never go to the RAV again. I think it's the best to just look for a job yourself.

27
But they do only help people who are on social benefits. The RAV/ORP are really only set up to help people who are in difficult situations and have few qualifications and/or work in the local market.These are the people who really need their help.

As a newly returned Swiss you could have drawn social benefits. Since you will never have contributed any taxes, we tax payers would have foot the bill.

28
Actually, I think it is the same in the US. You don't get to use the unemployment office unless you are officially 'unemployed', being able to collect unemployment benefits.

29
I'm not sure I see what your problem with the RAV woman is. If you do not have the recognised qualifications then she will only help you find unskilled labour. She is making you aware of the facts (however unappealing).

However, if you manage to find a job yourself with these qualifications then good luck to you. It may be that certain companies will accept (at their discretion) qualifications which are not officially recognised. It is not the job of the woman at the RAV to determine this (but there is no harm in self promotion and you do seem to be putting this effort in).

Based on the information you have given I don't see what grounds you have to lodge a complaint (unless there is more information you have not shared)

30
what do you mean by a recognised degree, if you get degree in switzerland then its recognised otherwise not, and i am sure she nener went higher then schooling....so she didn't know about this....And in RAV Office her work is to help people if she can, not to speak shit.

and i am sure that i will find my job by myself....as i already had some phone talks.

31
If you had a problem with the lady at the RAV, you should have asked to see her supervisor straight away. After event complaining in my experience will get you nowhere.

32
Krati,

You are concened that someone is "looking down on you" and considering your degree to be inferior to one obtained in Switzerland and yet at the same time, you are belittling the lady in the RAV who "never went higher than schooling" and telling her how she should do her work. It sounds to me like she gave you a pretty realistic answer and backed it up with some personal experiences.

Good luck with your job search and "phone talks"

Jekyll

33
What are you saying? Did you get your degrees in Switzerland? Where are your degrees from/in?

34
Krati,

There are stupid/unhelpful/impolite people everywhere, but there seem to be more of them in government offices and (amazingly) customer service.

Sounds like you ran into one.

My suggestion: forget about it, and use it as experience. You've learned the RAV will not help you. Now go and do your own thing (i.e. find a job on your own, Music Mole was right: lots of companies will not require German, especially in IT, look and you will find, but you need a lot of dedication and patience). Complaining to someone about her will not help you nor her nor the next person. After all, do you think she will change her ways even if someone tells her her demeanor is unacceptable? People who are mean to others are so because there is something lacking in their lives. Your complaining/getting her into trouble will not change this (on the contrary).

Maybe you're right about being annoyed. You were right to post a rant in the complaints corner. Yeah, I agree, some people suck.

But trying to somehow get "payback" for your mistreatment will not help you feel any better (it will make you waste valuable time writing letters to some complaint office when you could instead be researching a company or otherwise preparing for your job search!), nor will it ultimately help anyone, either.

Hang in there, keep searching, you already got the B permit so that's half the battle won already. The rest, is, if you think about it, comparatively easy.

Good luck!

35
again, without trying to sound like a broken record, if I was looking for IT jobs, I'd not be at the RAV.

I've even given you a link this time: [[Swiss Job market] English-Speaking Companies](http://www.englishforum.ch/employment/324-swiss-job-market-english-speaking-companies.html?highlight=english+speaking+companies)

36
miniMia, I think she meant to ask that if she had her degree from Switzerland, wouldn't it have been accepted elsewhere?

Krati, one word -chill. Many people you encounter in life will not always be nice and helpful. But thats just life - not always fair! And you can't live your life trying to get revenge on every person that upset you!

I suggest you take it in your stride and spend all that energy on actually finding and 'getting' the job you're qualified for. You'll eventually feel much better knowing you got it without anyone's help.

Things have a way of working out eventually. Good luck.

37
ya agreed......thanks a lot to u and everybody....This discussion is finished from my side........i will try my best to get job here.

Thanks once again

38
Hello, this is absolutely not correct. The RAV are as the name suggest a work agency. They are an intermediary position between the unemployed person and the potential employers and additionally act as agents for the varîous unemployment funds, that is those that pay benefits.

Anyone can use the services of the RAV from an employer to an employee to an unemployed person and they are meant to provide you with personal assistance and advice relating to your situation. There are no preconditions such as you must be claiming benefit...

39
You have not provided any information about your qualifications (degree, level, university etc) therefor it is hard to know who is correct in this situation. If the RAV woman was correct about your degree not being recognised over here, then I still fail to see what she did wrong in her dealings with you. You havn't mentioned her being impolite or rude (which you have clearly displayed in your posts). It may be frustrating to know your degree isn't as highly thought of over here, it doesn't mean you have done less work and isn't a personal attack on you. Like others have said, just chill out a bit and drop the attitude . If you think she is incorrect about your degree then ask someone else at the RAV to clarify (better to do this then to get them all pissed off with you by launching into a rant/complaint)

40
Krati, so far you've made nine posts and I still don't understand exactly what the basis of your complaint is. If you can't explain it to us in 9 attempts I don't see how you're ever going to explain it to the RAV.