Re: [tlug] Looking for Summer Internship in Japan

[Attila Kinali <attila@example.com>]

Moin,

Oh..kay... I thought something was not exactly right when you mentioned
you weren't able to find a job in Switzerland, but i couldn't point
a finger at it until now...



On Wed, 18 Mar 2015 00:02:26 +0900
Benjamin Kowarsch <trijezdci@example.com> wrote:

> "Let's see, this guy is very experienced, likely he wants more money, I
> don't need such an experienced guy for this work and as I have a very
> constrained budget I am not even going to invite him for an interview."

Let's change this worldview a bit:
I'm between 30 and 40, have a MSc in electrical engineering and did earn
more than a 5 figure salary in Switzerland on my last job which i quit
4 months ago. Or as i wrote earlier, i was able to almost double my salary
within 8 years of graduation (compared to what i got right after graduation).
I could demand that much money exactly because i have lots of experience and
i am quite senior in a few fields. But it also took me quite some time to
find a job. I got my last job after 8 or 9 months of looking for a new one.
Or rather, letting a small head hunter company do it for me. I went to 5 
interviews in that time, but i probably rejected twice as many companies,
as not fitting my skillset, or uninteresting (that was after the head hunter
pre-filtered stuff for me). On the other hand, i am sure i could have goten
quite a few other jobs that would have probably been interesting too, if i
would have cut down on my salary demands by 10% and definitely a lot of jobs
when going 20% down (which would still have been a quite decent salary, btw)

Also, to put this into releation with something you know better:
as an electrical engineer you earn 10% to 20% less for the exactly
same job as an programmer does. For pure electrical engineering jobs
it's usually over 20% less than for programming/computer science jobs
that need similar levels of education and experience.

So, what is the difference between you and me...
 
> When I had entitlement to unemployment benefits in Switzerland worth 70% of
> my prior income I offered companies to work for any amount they would be
> willing to pay, no matter how ridiculously low it may be. The Swiss
> unemployment office would have paid the difference for one year. Their
> system encourages people to work. If you can find even a part time job in a
> supermarket while on benefits, the combined pay from your part time salary
> and your benefits will be higher than what you would have not working that
> part time job. Trouble is, I lived in France across the border and my
> entitlement was suspended unless I took up residence in Switzerland which
> was impossible to do without a job. So I offered to work for much less than
> any unskilled or graduate entering the workforce, just to get in. Still,
> nobody took me up on it.

.... This is the difference!

You lived in France, while you wanted to work in Switzerland.
Bad, bad idea! Yes, it's possible. Yes it works. But you make
yourself more difficult to hire, a lot more difficult!
The paperwork for a company to employ someone not living in
Switzerland is enormous. You have to be a really good match
until someone will accept to go trough this much of paperwork
just to hire you. Or you need exceptional skills that they see
as benefitial, that nobody else has. Otherwise you compete
against all those people who already live in Switzerland
or are willing to relocate to Switzerland. Both are much less
a hazzle than someone living in a different country. Heck even
getting you and your wife a visa is easier than that paperwork!

Also, the big bulk of programmer/computer science jobs
is around Zürich. There is some stuff around Biel, Lausanne
and Geneva, but the computer or computer dependent industry
there is much smaller there. You would have had more luck as
a mechanical engineer in that area.

> This is always the tenor. Too senior. Overqualified. Too old.

This just decreases the absolute number of potential jobs.
But that's to be expected if you move out of the drone market.
The jobs are still there. They are harder to find (often passed
around between friends or collegues or job hunters, but never
publicly announced), but they are still there.

BTW: Overqualified is often used as an excuse to say
that they do not want you, but do not want to say the
exact reason. It could be that you are not a good match
for the job, that you are too expensive for your skills,
or that they didn't like your nose. Figuring out what
the actual reason is, is a very hard to acquire skill.
I have not managed that yet and know few people who do.

"Too old" is actually an excuse that they might not use.
And you can sue them for that too. (with very little
cost on your side as well)


			Attila Kinali

-- 
< _av500_> phd is easy
< _av500_> getting dsl is hard