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.
How do you find a job in Switzerland? Are there any specific points you should be aware of before applying for a job 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 in Switzerland, including 16 major regions.
Examples include the employment region of French-speaking Switzerland in the west (which comprises the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Vaud, Fribourg and Jura), as well as the regions of German-speaking Switzerland and Italian-speaking Switzerland further to the east.
As each of these labour market regions has its own specific characteristics, the attractiveness of the Swiss labour market is therefore likely to vary from one region to another (but also overall in comparison with its European neighbours, due in particular to fluctuations in the exchange rates of the euro and the Swiss franc).
The most attractive sectors in French-speaking Switzerland
In French-speaking Switzerland, the job market is particularly buoyant. It centres on the tourism, hospitality and luxury goods sectors, as well as the wider services sector (IT, banking and insurance). Within these sectors, there is relatively high demand for temporary and fixed-term contract roles, as well as permanent positions.
The city of Geneva is a major centre of attraction in its own right. It is home to numerous international companies and organisations, such as the headquarters of the United Nations, the WHO (World Health Organisation), the ILO (International Labour Organisation) and CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research).
The highest-paying jobs in Switzerland are in the financial sector (banking and insurance). Across all qualifications, this sector offers an average gross monthly salary of over CHF 9,200 (equivalent to more than €8,500). The IT, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors are also very well-paid. To find out more about this, we invite you to read our article on Swiss salaries.
Which jobs are in demand in Switzerland?
According to the website organismes.org, here is the list of the 15 professions with the highest recruitment rates in Switzerland:
- Home helpers
- Care assistant
- Sales staff (particularly in the retail sector)
- Accounting, finance and administrative managers
- Nurses and midwives
- Computer and telecommunications engineers
- Academic and research staff
- Sales and technical sales managers
- Administrative, accounting and finance staff
- Arts and entertainment professionals
- Employees in the hospitality sector (cafés, hotels, restaurants)
- Paramedical professions
- Banking and insurance executives
- Sales representatives
- Trade intermediaries
Please note that the jobs in demand can vary significantly from one canton to another, even within the same sector. The job market is therefore not the same in Geneva as it is in Lausanne, Neuchâtel or Zurich. When looking for work in Switzerland, you should take these cantonal differences into account.
Job hunting in Switzerland: are there any specific points to bear in mind regarding your CV?
To succeed in your job search in Switzerland, you need to stack the odds in your favour. Although your CV isn’t everything, it can prevent your application from being rejected before the recruitment process has even begun. In Switzerland, CV standards differ slightly from those in other countries, such as France.
Whilst French recruiters tend to prefer short CVs (usually just one page), a Swiss CV can be several pages long. Swiss recruiters do, in fact, value CVs that provide a detailed account of the candidate’s full range of professional experience and skills.
For each of your work experiences, it is important to state the size of the company (in terms of turnover or number of employees), its sector of activity and its location. The same applies to your training. Please explain any abbreviations as clearly as possible so that Swiss recruiters can fully understand your career history.
When providing your personal details, please remember to state your nationality. If you are French and wish to work in Switzerland (for example, as a cross-border worker), it is common practice to mention this. In this case, please include the country code for France (+33) before the telephone number listed on your CV.
Another important point: if you mention your B licence, make sure you specify that you are referring to your driving licence; in Switzerland, a B licence is a work permit!
Finally, Swiss CVs very often include a ‘References’ section. In this section, list the names, job titles and contact details of your former employers, clients and suppliers (with their consent). This will enable Swiss recruiters to contact them to discuss your profile and skills. This makes a real difference, even more so in Switzerland than in France.
Where should you start when looking for a job in Switzerland?
Unsurprisingly, job search websites in Switzerland (whether in French-speaking Switzerland or elsewhere) are an excellent place to start when looking for work. Job boards, aggregators and other employment platforms bring together hundreds of job vacancies in one place.
These job vacancies are posted by Swiss recruitment agencies, as well as by major Swiss companies, SMEs and federal, cantonal and municipal public institutions. With just a few clicks, you can get a clear picture of the Swiss job market you are targeting.
Here is a selection of job sites in Switzerland that are recognised for their relevance:
- Jobs.ch: a leading job portal in Switzerland, where you can find a wide range of job vacancies (over 80,000), categorised by role and industry.
- Jobup: over 37,000 job vacancies available, which you can find by searching for jobs by Swiss canton and town.
- Jooble: a website that has become a must-visit, where you can search for Swiss job vacancies based on your desired salary.
- Indeed: currently the largest job aggregator in Switzerland.
Please note: These websites list job vacancies in Switzerland for both foreign nationals and Swiss workers.
However, it would be a mistake to limit your job search in Switzerland to these websites alone: the job advertisements posted there are viewed by hundreds of people. It is therefore particularly difficult to make your application stand out from the crowd.
At the same time, we recommend that you contact Swiss recruitment agencies, send unsolicited applications and be active on professional social media platforms, such as LinkedIn.
We hope this guide to the Swiss job market will help you succeed in your job search in Switzerland. If you’d like to calculate the exact value in euros of your future Swiss salary, please feel free to use our currency converter.
