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Finding a Job and Living in Geneva and the Surrounding Area

Something about History and Geography

Geneva is the second largest city in Switzerland and the largest in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Although, the city itself only has 187,000 people (2010), the Metropolitan area, which includes 220 communities, covers large parts of the Canton of Vaud, almost to Lausanne, the other large university city on Lake Geneva, and stretches into France, has 1,250,000 inhabitants.

The city is the third largest financial center in Europe, after London and Zurich, outranking Frankfurt and Paris. Geneva is a global city. Besides being a financial center, it is also a worldwide center for diplomacy and together with New York, the most important international co-operation center because of the presence of numerous international organizations, including the headquarters of many of the agencies of the United Nations, the WHO, the WTO, the ICRC and the Red Cross. It is the home to over 300 international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

That all comes at a price, since it made Geneva the fourth most expensive city to live in the world, after Tokyo, Osaka and Moscow.

The city was founded by the Celts and became Roman in 58 BC when Julius Caesar defeated the Helvetii. It became an Episcopal seat around 400 AD and its rulers changed many times. At the beginning of the 16th Century, it became one of the Centers of the Reformation. In 1536 John Calvin came to Geneva, became its Protestant leader and its Burgers (the free citizens) declared the City an Independent Republic. During the Vienna Congress (1814), some 15 Savoyard and 6 French communities were added to the territory and in 1815 the Republic and Canton de Geneve became part of Switzerland.

Geneva is very compact and the whole Canton only covers an area of 282 km² (108.9 sq. mi) 105 km of its borders are with France and only 4.5 km, borders directly on the rest of Switzerland. Geneva has excellent urban transport and the Swiss Railway System (SBB-CFF) links the city to the rest of Switzerland. There are also fast direct trains to Milan (SBB-Trenitalia - 3 hrs), Paris (TGV Lyria 3hr05m - also from Lausanne, Neuchatel, Bern and Zurich), Lyon, Marseilles, Nice and Montpellier (TGV Lyria), and Barcelona (TALGO-overnight Pau Casals - Zurich-Geneva-Barcelona) in Spain. This city has a busy airport with direct connections all over the world.

The city has a temperate climate with moderately mild winters, usually with light frosts at night and thawing conditions during the day. Summers are pleasantly warm.

The Post Primary Education System

Geneva has an excellent public (state run, meaning financed through the Cantonal budget and federal funding) education system. The University of Geneva (founded in 1559) is a public research institution and ranks No 73 (2011) in the world (Academic Ranking of world Universities). It ranked 4th in Europe in the field of Molecular Biology and 6th in Physics. The undergraduate degrees are taught in French only and to enter, if you do not have a Swiss Maturity Diploma (passed at 18 or 19), or if you are not educated to the equivalent in a French speaking country, you will have to pass a French language (oral and written) entrance test.

The University of Geneva has about 15,000 students and 3,600 teachers and researchers. 36 percent of the students are foreign. There are many associated specialist schools such as the excellent Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

In addition, there are private institutions such as Webster University, an accredited American university which also has a campus in Geneva. The city is home to the Institut International de Lancy (founded in 1903 - Francophone education, ages 3-18 - not a tertiary education institute) and to the International University in Geneva, an International University accredited (ACBSP, IACBE) in the USA (though not in Switzerland), mainly as a business school.There is also the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations another private university (accredited by eduQua - Swiss accreditation) in the grounds of the Château de Penthes.

In addition to university level education, Geneva, like all other Swiss Cantons, offers a sophisticated professional education in almost any area you can think of. The system is based on the Swiss dual education principles which recognizes that a healthy economy requires well educated people at all levels, not just university graduates. At age 15/16, student, who do not go on to university entrance preparation (leading to the Maturite or baccalaureate Examinations) enter apprenticeships (a form of well structured and highly guided internship) for between three and four years with a certified employer. During these years the students will attend specialist schools (Ecole de Commerce or Professional School) and also get trained by their employer. At the end of the fixed training period the student passes a set of exams and gets a Certificat Fédéral de Capacité (CFC) that allows them to go immediately to the labor market and find a job. There is also the additional possibility to obtain a maturité professionnelle (matu pro) which besides the technical/professional side widens their general education.

Types of Recruiters and Finding Employment

We will be using a standard classification for the types of recruiters which we show here. This is as follows:

Headhunters and Top Level Executive Search Firms

The Regional Nature of Recruiters in Switzerland

Swiss executive recruiters and employment agencies are usually locally based. Although the largest of them (e.g. the ones mentioned above) will do searches internationally or across regions, the recruiters shown below will generally limit their searches to the French speaking area of Switzerland (Geneva-Nyon-Lausanne-Fribourg-Neuchatel). Some might even limit their search to Geneva only. Therefore, if you look for a job in Zurich or Basel, or the German speaking area in general, go and look at our Zurich page.

Executive Search Firms and Recruiters

Something about Languages and looking for a Job in the Geneva Area

Although, knowing language other than English, especially French, will help you greatly in your job search in Geneva, it is not a necessity. Though, it is clear that you will restrict yourself to companies where the company language is English only. But you still have several hundred potential employers at your disposal. Most recently (November 2011), several dozen commodity trading companies have relocated from London to the Geneva area. The traders often do not locate themselves in the city, but rather in villages in the nearby Canton of Vaud (Capital city is Lausanne) within easy reach of Geneva airport.

However, once you have established yourself in Geneva, you should go and learn the language (French) because you will find living there a far more satisfying experience in this most international city.