Guide to Job Hunting in Switzerland
With its renowned companies and high salaries, Switzerland attracts many people every year who are looking for work in a country where life is good. As competition is fierce, job-hunting in Switzerland requires careful preparation.
• Switzerland's job market is divided into 101 employment areas, each with its own sector specifics and level of attractiveness.
• In French-speaking Switzerland, tourism, hospitality, luxury and financial services dominate, with Geneva as a major hub (UN, WHO, ILO, CERN).
• The best-paid jobs are in finance, with an average salary above CHF 9,200 gross/month, followed by IT and pharma.
How do you find a job in Switzerland? Are there specific points to be aware of before applying for roles in the Swiss labour market? Which professions and sectors are hiring in Switzerland?
This guide to job hunting in Switzerland summarises the key information for you.
How does the labour market work in Switzerland?
Switzerland can be divided into several labour market regions, each with its own specific recruitment needs. According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), there are 101 labour market regions across Switzerland, including 16 major regions.
These include the employment region of French-speaking Switzerland in the west (comprising the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Fribourg and Jura), as well as the regions of German-speaking Switzerland and Italian-speaking Switzerland further east.
As each of these regions has its own particular characteristics, the appeal of the Swiss labour market is likely to vary from one region to another (and also overall compared with its European neighbours, particularly due to fluctuations in the euro and Swiss franc exchange rate).
The most attractive sectors in French-speaking Switzerland
In French-speaking Switzerland, the job market is particularly dynamic. It is built around the tourism, hospitality and luxury goods sectors, as well as services more broadly (IT, banking, insurance). Within these sectors, demand is relatively strong for temporary and fixed-term roles, as well as permanent positions.
The city of Geneva is a major hub of attraction in its own right. It is home to numerous international companies and organisations, including the headquarters of the United Nations, the WHO (World Health Organization), the ILO (International Labour Organization) and CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research).
The best-paid jobs in Switzerland are found in the financial sector (banking and insurance). Across all qualification levels, this sector offers an average gross monthly salary of over CHF 9,200 (more than €8,500). The IT, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors are also highly lucrative. To find out more, take a look at our article on Swiss salaries.
Which jobs are in demand in Switzerland?
According to the website organismes.org, here are the 15 professions most in demand in Switzerland:
- Home carers
- Care assistants
- Sales staff (particularly in retail)
- Accounting, finance and administrative managers
- Nurses and midwives
- IT and telecommunications engineers
- Teaching and research staff
- Sales and technical sales managers
- Administrative, accounting and finance technicians
- Arts and entertainment professionals
- Hospitality staff (cafés, hotels, restaurants)
- Paramedical professions
- Banking and insurance executives
- Sales representatives and agents
- Trade intermediaries
Note that the jobs in demand can vary considerably from one canton to another, even within the same sector. The job market in Geneva is therefore not the same as in Lausanne, Neuchâtel or Zurich. Your job search in Switzerland should take these cantonal differences into account.
Job hunting in Switzerland: are there any particular points to know about your CV?
To succeed in your job search in Switzerland, you need to give yourself every chance. While a CV isn’t everything, it can stop your application being rejected before the recruitment process has even started. In Switzerland, CV conventions differ somewhat from those in other countries, such as France.
While French recruiters tend to favour short CVs (usually a single page), a Swiss CV can run to several pages. Swiss recruiters value CVs that set out the candidate’s full range of professional experience and skills in detail.
For each role, it’s important to mention the size of the company (in terms of turnover or number of employees), its sector and its location. The same applies to your qualifications. Spell out abbreviations wherever possible so that Swiss recruiters can gain a full understanding of your career path.
When it comes to your personal details, remember to state your nationality. If you are French and wish to work in Switzerland (for example as a cross-border commuter), it is common practice to mention this. In that case, include the French country code (+33) before the phone number on your CV.
Another important point: if you mention your category B licence, make it clear that this refers to your driving licence; in Switzerland, a permit B is a work permit!
Finally, Swiss CVs very often include a “References” section. List the names, job titles and contact details of your former employers, clients and suppliers there (with their consent). Swiss recruiters can then contact them to discuss your profile and skills. This genuinely makes a difference, even more so in Switzerland than in France.
Where should you start your job search in Switzerland?
Unsurprisingly, job search websites in Switzerland (whether in French-speaking Switzerland or elsewhere) are an excellent place to start. Job boards, aggregators and other employment platforms bring together hundreds of vacancies in one place.
These vacancies are posted by Swiss recruitment agencies as well as by large Swiss companies, SMEs and federal, cantonal and municipal public institutions. In just a few clicks, you can get a clear picture of the Swiss job market you’re targeting.
Here is a selection of job websites in Switzerland recognised for their relevance:
- Jobs.ch: a leading job platform in Switzerland, with a wide range of vacancies (over 80,000) sorted by role and sector.
- Jobup: over 37,000 vacancies available, searchable by Swiss canton and city.
- Jooble: a site that has become a must-use, letting you search Swiss vacancies by desired salary level.
- Indeed: currently the largest job aggregator in Switzerland.
Please note: these sites list vacancies in Switzerland for both foreign nationals and Swiss workers.
That said, limiting your job search in Switzerland to these sites alone would be a mistake: the vacancies posted there are viewed by hundreds of people, making it particularly hard to stand out.
Alongside this, we recommend contacting Swiss recruitment agencies, sending speculative applications and staying active on professional social networks such as LinkedIn.
We hope this guide to the Swiss labour market helps you succeed in your job search in Switzerland. If you’d like to calculate the exact euro value of your future Swiss salary, feel free to use our currency converter.
