How to find an internship or job in Switzerland as an immigrant— short term, long term

Disclaimer: The events, meetups, and institutions mentioned in the article are primarily based in Bern. If you don't have time to read the article, you can simply watch this five-minute video.

Hello mates, I’m Chaewon Yoo from South Korea, and I graduated from the 17th batch of the Powercoders bootcamp in December 2023. I started 6-month long internship at Powercoders and Iterativ. Just one week before the closure of my internship, I received two job offers that same day — one via email at 10:01 AM and the second through a Microsoft Teams online call at 10:30 AM. Ten days later, I received another job offer by email. Among these three opportunities, I chose to join Bracher & Partner as a project manager. In short, I found a full-time job within six months of graduating in December 2023. This blog is all about how I received three job offers in Switzerland, a challenging job market if you’re not Swiss.

Let’s go back in time. On the last day of Powercoders, you receive a certificate and a flower on stage, with your friends and family applauding. You feel like a hero. The future looks great, rosy and pink. You feel like you’re on a highway. Powercoders bootcamp is, of course, a highway, equipping you with the essential IT knowledge and business skills you need. With your internship, you feel like you’re on a path to success. You think that, by the end of this internship, you will get an offer from the company and sign a permanent contract.

If you’re an experienced developer, that might be the case. But unfortunately, that doesn’t happen to everyone, especially if you started programming only a few months before joining the PC bootcamp. According to the Powercoders team, there are a few reasons why companies don’t offer full-time contracts after internships. It could be due to the company’s internal issues, such as a lack of funds to hire you. It could also be due to the intern’s lack of IT or soft skills.

Now, there are three ways to cope with this issue. First, you can return to Powercoders and ask to join the Connecting Program. After four months of study, you get a second chance to join Career Day and secure another internship. But if you’ve already used your second chance, this wouldn’t be an option for you. Second, you can look for a job by yourself. I will cover this in the first part of this article. Third, you might want to return to self-study and apply for other programs. I will cover this in the last part of the article.

This was the case for me. I had an internship with Iterativ and Powercoders for six months, but the project we were working on, Jobmate, was in the beta user phase during the 4th-5th months, and it was unlikely they could hire me due to project financing. So, I had to juggle doing my internship while actively looking for a job.

To tell you in advance, I do not have a refugee background. I moved to Bern in July 2022 because my husband, Woo Yoo, has Swiss and Colombian citizenship, and all his family lives here. I never received any help from social assistance; instead, I relied on the Powercoders team to help me with job referrals, reviewing my German cover letter, and conducting mock interviews. My previous job coach was not very available, meeting with me only three times in the past six months. However, my current job coach, Andressa, has been a great help, assisting me with mock interviews and sometimes with coding.

Here are some tips for finding a job by yourself in Switzerland:

Short-term Goals

First thing to do: Go to BIZ

The Bern BIZ is on Fabrikstrasse. They offer 30-minute consultations based on your CV, providing many contacts and advice. This service was very useful. The consultant sent me five documents, one of which included a full list of IT companies in Bern with their emails and phone numbers.

Use LinkedIn

Go to LinkedIn and in the job section, search for “web developer.” You can click on “easy apply,” answer some questions, and send your CV. This way, you can send job applications in just a minute. (My success rate was less than 1% — I had one interview with a political media startup in 2022 this way.)

Use job marketplaces

Visit LinkedIn, Swiss Dev Jobs, or any other job marketplace and search for “web developer” in the job section. Go to the company’s link to find the job application page, and write a cover letter and CV. This method is trickier. Even when using Google Translate and ChatGPT to translate your cover letter into German, there is a high chance the tone will not match the Swiss style. A Swiss cover letter should have a humble tone, which often gets lost in translation. Therefore, you really need a Swiss friend to review your cover letter. Additionally, create an Excel sheet to track the companies you applied to and your cover letters. This helps a lot when applying to similar companies and positions. (My success rate was 1% — I had one interview this way with HEKS.)

Here is an example of my job application tracking sheet.

Make a video CV and attach it to your email application

I made a six-minute video CV back in 2019, and I still use it for my job applications. It would be even better if I updated it in German. People tend to respond at a higher rate when I attach this video CV.

Build and Use Your Vitamin B

I always use my network, or “Vitamin B (B for Beziehung, relationship),” to find a job. In the past 11 years, I’ve worked as a journalist or marketing manager in Korea, China, Germany, Israel, and the U.S. Here’s how:

I found my first job while studying at university. A startup CEO gave a talk, and I asked for his business card and visited his company. Three months later, he sent me to Israel for seven months as a marketing manager. The next year, he sent me to Silicon Valley for three months for business development.

Then, I interviewed a Chinese CEO and mentioned my interest in studying or working in China. He asked if I would like to work for his company and whether I preferred Beijing or Shanghai. Seven months later, I landed in Shanghai, barely knowing Chinese, working for a Chinese media company as an English journalist. I worked there for three years and five months and wrote the book “Do Business Like Chinese Startups.” I also secured €20,000 in funding for my 8-month cycling trip from 13 companies and CEOs, and half of them were my friends.

The next five jobs I had while living in Germany and Russia came from contacts I made on WeChat, a Chinese messaging app, or friends I met while working as a journalist. However, in Switzerland, I didn’t have many connections. I also tried to reach out to Swiss people on LinkedIn, asking for coffee chats back in 2022, but they were still cautious about meeting new people due to COVID-19. So, I didn’t really have any “Vitamin B” (connections) for the past two years.

Tips for building Vitamin B in Switzerland

Tell Your Network

Inform your Swiss friends, the Powercoders team, and your alumni friends that you’re looking for a job. They might forward job opportunities to you. Apply to the company and include your Swiss friend as a reference in your CV. Alternatively, ask your Swiss friend to send a recommendation to the company. (My success rate: 1%. I had one interview this way with Sieber & Partners.)

Call or Write to Local Companies

My wise friend Vladimir Rakov suggested searching for “IT companies” in Bern and writing pain letters. Understand the company’s problems and explain how you can solve them. If your German is good enough, call the companies and ask for a coffee chat, seeking real human advice. Vladimir found an internship this way without any help from Powercoders.

Go to Conferences

This is my preferred method, and it has shown great success. In 2018, I found a bicycle sponsor for my 8-month cycling trip this way. They not only sponsored two touring bikes but also provided bike equipment for free and taught me how to change an inner tube.

For job searching in Switzerland:

First, find relevant conferences.

Second, get a ticket. Ask Stacy von Cranach from Powercoders if she has a ticket, or contact the conference organizer. I contribute stories to a Korean newspaper occasionally, so I usually get free access to conferences. You could start contributing stories to media in your home country.

Before attending the conference, you need to be prepared. Prepare your 30-second elevator pitch to introduce yourself and mention that you’re looking for a job.

Connect with the speakers and audience attending the conference. For example, Startup Days provides the full names of the 1,300 attendees. I connected with 30 people before the conference and about 50 people afterward. Contact the speakers or anyone you want to meet: I messaged all the speakers at the Uphill Conference before attending and I asked each of them 5 AI questions. I asked the keynote speaker Tobias from Nexplore for a coffee chat, and he even invited me to another AI meetup where I met many people.

Outfit

A Powercoders T-shirt is an excellent conversation starter. I wore it because I was interning at Powercoders, and many people recognized it. Some companies discussed their Powercoders interns and offered me a chance to apply (as was the case with Exoscale).

Clear Your Agenda

When attending a conference, arrive between 9–10:00 AM and network until the venue closes around 7–8:00 PM. Focus on meeting people, and avoid bringing your laptop. Note important details on your phone. Since it takes too much time for me to scan the LinkedIn QR code due to slow internet at the venue, I simply take a picture of their name tag and connect with them after the event. Enjoy the aperitifs and evenings with the people you meet!

Here are four conferences that significantly improved my chances of getting hired:

1. Absolventen Messe (End of March)

This event is where Swiss companies hire fresh graduates from Swiss universities. I attended three months before finishing my master’s degree at TU Berlin in March 2022. Bring business cards if you have them; if not, ask for the attendees’ business cards. It’s beneficial to speak German here and have extended conversations to understand the companies. After spending six hours at the event, I followed up with all the companies I met. As a result, I had two interviews with HAYS and T-Systems. Although they didn’t hire me because they were looking for technical talent, my success rate was over 15% as I sent about 14 emails.

2. Uphill Conf (May)

I highly recommend people to attend this conference. Stacy von Cranach from Powercoders invited me to this conference along with Daniel. Previously a web development conference, the topic changed to AI in 2024. Bring business cards and share your background with everyone you meet, emphasizing that you’re looking for a job. After spending 10 hours at the event, from 9 AM to 7 PM, I collected many business cards and contacts. I followed up with them and applied to eight companies I met there: Nexplore, Adfinis, Lambda IT, Liip AG, VSHN AG, Edorex AG, UMB, and Exoscale. Among them, I got five interviews: Nexplore, Lambda IT, Liip AG, Exoscale, and Bracher & Partner, resulting in a success rate of 62%!

3. BME Day (End of May)

My husband, Woo Yoo, studies biomedical engineering at the University of Bern and is the president of the BME Club. BME Day (biomedical engineering day) is held at Insel Hospital, with free entry. In a packed event room, there are 20 company booths. I was surprised to find so many great biomedical companies looking to hire talent. I didn’t follow up with them, but 80% of the companies were hiring web developers. If you meet a University of Bern student or university student in such major, ask if you can join such events. (I can’t measure the success rate since I didn’t apply due to lack of time.)

4. Startup Days (End of May)

This startup conference brings together startup founders, investors, and various institutions. The ticket is very expensive. For job hunting, Uphill Conf is much better because Startup Days has many startup founders, but they are usually PhD or Master students who started their business within 2 years. They usually attend to seek funding rather than hiring web developers. However, it might still be worth trying if you’re based in Zurich or Lausanne, as many startups originate from ETH or EPFL. It’s still valuable to talk to startup CEOs, though my success rate here was 0%.

After the Conference

Follow up on LinkedIn messages or write an email, attaching your CV, if you want to inquire about vacancies. From personal experience, attaching a video CV increases the chance of getting an interview. Alternatively, ask if they can meet you for a coffee chat. After Uphill Conf, I met Brigitte, Matthias, and Bjorn, who helped refer me to companies in Bern. Brigitte helped me tremendously to find the current job.

Go to Hackathons

Hackathons in Switzerland are fantastic. Real companies pay the hackathon organization team and submit their problems. As a participant, you can choose the challenge given by the company. It’s exciting because you get to work on real problems that the companies face. I love hackathons because they provide great networking opportunities in web development and data analysis. Plus, you get free lunch, dinner, and snacks. I still keep in touch with some of the people I met.

GovTechHack (March)

This annual hackathon is held at BIT, usually in mid-March. You get the chance to meet people working in different departments of the Swiss government. If you’re interested in a government job in the future, work with them and present your idea in front of the Swiss president. I highly recommend participating. Our team, Optifood, presented in front of Viktor Rossi. As the winning team of the GovTech Hackathon, we won a tour of the Federal Archives.

Hack4SocialGood (April)

Hack4SocialGood is an annual hackathon for social enterprises held in mid-April at ZHAW in Zurich. The participating companies include Caritas, HEKS, and other organizations that support society. I joined the Caritas team, and we created a data visualization for the Caritas market and call service. Two months later, people from Caritas contacted us to see if any team members were interested in continuing the project with a budget. I am working on this project with Jeremy at the moment.

BernHackt (August)

BernHackt is an annual hackathon held in Bern in August. I haven’t participated in this one.

Go to Meetups

Join the meetups mentioned in the Alumnus newsletter, written by Stacy. There are great meetups happening every month. Alternatively, go to meetup.com and join Bern JS Talks to connect with web developers. Bern is small, so everyone knows everyone. They will help you or offer valuable advice.

AI Meetup in Bern

Organized by Tobias from Nexplore, this meetup features great speakers and concludes with a pizza networking party.

Be Like Grace

This meetup aims to empower more women to work in the IT industry. It’s organized by Brigitte Hugler, who has a wide network in Bern and is always helpful and friendly. I attended it once at PostFinance and learned a lot about the investment industry.

JS Talks

Organized by several people, including Christian from Iterativ, this meetup focuses on JavaScript topics.

Long-term Goals: Go Back to Studies

You can join the connecting program offered by Powercoders. You must complete a 4-month program to participate in your second Career Day. If you’ve already used that chance, consider returning to studies. Some alumni decide to do this. Enroll in Berner Fachhochschule or your local education center to continue studying web development, data analysis, or similar fields. You could also pursue a Lehre (apprenticeship) for 2–4 years. If you’re motivated and focused, you’ll get the diploma and have a higher chance of finding a job.

You can register at a local Fachhochschule to learn more about web development or data analysis. In Bern, you can take the Passerelle course at BFH.

Ecole 42

If you live in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, consider joining Ecole 42, a private institution of higher education in computer science. The school, which opened in Paris in 2013, now also operates in the Romandie region of Switzerland. Ecole 42 has no professors and is open 24/7. Students are trained through peer-to-peer pedagogy and project-based learning for two years. After this period, students need to find jobs on their own.

Learn Something New

If IT is not your path, that’s totally fine. In fact, I didn’t only apply for IT jobs; I wasn’t sure if I would get any offers from IT companies. So, I also applied to restaurants, hotels, and translator positions. I did a Probetag as a waitress at Fähribeizli, a receptionist at L Hotel, and a translator for a Korean railway company during their business meeting with Jungfrau Railway. I learned a lot from these experiences.

If you want to learn a new skill from scratch, here’s information on Lehre (apprenticeships) and open positions.

Learn German / French

All the above advice is more relevant if you already speak some German, enabling you to network with Swiss people.

Denkmal offers free German, Swiss German and French classes everyday for 2 hours. Chagai Freilander offers language exchange meetup two times a week. Paulus Kirche near Bern station free German class every Monday from 16:00 to 17:30. (A1-B2 level) This is also the place I met Yilmaz and Mohammed who led me to apply for Powercoders.

If you already speak German, knowing some Bärndütsch can be very helpful. In fact, it will greatly assist you in getting by with your colleagues and joining small talk. I made this one-minute Bärndütsch video to help with self-introductions.

Here’s my tip. The best language class is just learning by doing it. Speak the language even though it’s not good enough.

In March 2020, three months after moving to Berlin and during a period when all the German schools were closed, I started looking for a job with an A2 level of German. I even did some interviews in German over the phone. Although I was refused by all the companies back then, it provided a stepping stone for my further job search.

When I attended the Absolventen Messe at the end of March 2022, it was my sixth day in Switzerland. Having lived in Russia for three months and Turkey for two months, I hadn’t spoken German for eight months. Despite being nervous, I pushed myself to speak German and asked companies at every booth if they had marketing manager positions. Just try — Swiss people are polite and will listen to you.

If you have any other job search tips, feel free to comment below. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. In any case, I hope you find a job soon!

With love,

Chaewon