Topics covered

• Pragati’s Swiss story
• Coming to Switzerland with a plan
• First actions when you arrive
• Finding a home in Switzerland
• Health insurance
• Finding a job
• Starting a project or side business while working in Switzerland
• The importance of networking and where to start

 

Who We're Speaking With

We speak to Pragati Siddhanti, the founder of the popular blog My Swiss Story, about how expats can get set up and build a successful career in Switzerland.

Pragati shares how she came to Switzerland over eight years ago and has since worked as a technology leader in large, international companies, set up her blog and community, and become a guest lecturer at a Swiss university.

In the first part of the episode, she takes us through the practical steps of getting set up in Switzerland, like getting a permit, housing, and health insurance. Later, we discuss how to find a job and set up a side business or project.

If you liked the episode, don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends and leave a review on your favourite platform. You can also subscribe to our newsletter at rigby.ch/newsletter for more great content about living in Switzerland.

 

About the Episode

We discuss some of the key steps for new expats in Switzerland. The first part of the podcast focuses on practical matters while the second part is all about setting yourself up for success, both professionally and socially.

1. Arrive with a plan: Make sure you have a permit and a job or university spot before you arrive. Coming to Switzerland on a tourist visa is usually a bad idea if you want to stay long-term because it can be hard to find an employer who will sponsor you.
2. Get set up: Many expats get a furnished apartment for a few months when they arrive, so they can register with the council and get a bank account. Switzerland is a very process-oriented country, so these steps should be straightforward, as long as you have all the necessary documentation.
3. Find a home: Since housing is in short supply in popular areas, you may have to look at several neighbourhoods. Many people commute to cities like Zurich because homes are less expensive and more abundant in smaller towns. Prepare your tenant application as soon as possible, and make sure it’s complete.
4. Get health insurance: Basic health insurance is mandatory in Switzerland, and each person is insured separately. Use a service like Comparis to get various quotes and find an affordable provider. Every November, you have a chance to change providers and get a better deal.
5. Get a job: If you’re the trailing spouse, explore all possible avenues to find a job. They might include searching on Linkedin, contacting your network, attending local networking events, and joining groups. You may also have to learn the local language and change your CV to fit with Swiss norms.
6. Start a project: As long as you’re transparent and there are no conflicts of interest, you should be able to start a side project such as a blog, craft shop, or coaching business even if you’re working for a Swiss company. Once your project starts making more than CHF 2,300, you’ll need to declare your income and pay tax.

 

Resources

Pragati’s blog

Pragati’s Instagram

Rigby’s Living in Switzerland Ebook Guide (for newsletter subscribers)

Residence Permits in Switzerland - A Guide for Expats

Checklist for Moving to Switzerland

Banking in Switzerland - A Guide for Expats

Moneyland

Expat Diaries: 8 Steps to Renting that Perfect Apartment in Switzerland

ImmoScout24

Homegate

A Guide to Swiss Healthcare for Expats

Comparis

How to Find a Job in Switzerland, No Matter What

Coffee with a Purpose

 

Next steps

If you got something out of the podcast then please leave a review on your favourite platform. Thank you for listening.

Check out current job opportunities in Switzerland

Send us a spontaneous application

Sign up for our newsletter and receive our Living in Switzerland Welcome ebook guide.

 

Transcript

Kathrin: Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Living in Switzerland. The series is brought to you by Rigby. We are a staffing and project services company based in Zurich. If you or anyone you know of is looking for a new role in Switzerland, or if you're looking to hire, let us know. We'd be happy to help.

The best way to do that is by going to rigby.ch/apply and filling out the form. Then if we have anything that might be of interest, we'll gladly let you know.

Today we are joined by Pragati Siddhanti, the founder of the popular blog My Swiss Story. Pragati is a technology leader, a lecturer and the founder of a non-profit platform called My Swiss Story.

With a background in computer science engineering and a master's degree in business and information systems, she brings nearly 20 years of experience in the tech industry. Also, her platform has become an essential resource for expats adapting to life in Switzerland and has significantly contributed to increasing women's visibility in various fields.

Pragati resides in the picturesque city of Basel with her husband and 13-year-old daughter.

Pragati, welcome to the show.

Pragati: Thank you so much and that was such a kind introduction. Thanks so much for having me here.

Kathrin: It's a pleasure.

Pragati: I'm excited. I'm excited for the episode.

Kathrin: Yeah, me too. Exactly. So maybe we could start by you telling us just a little bit about what made you decide to move to Switzerland.

Pragati: Yeah, I mean, it's, an interesting story and it's a little bit of a myth breaker for expats, especially. You know, my friends still joke about this or there's this perception that when you move to Switzerland, you are going to jump with joy, but that was not the case with us. We moved to Switzerland because of my husband, because of a job opportunity that he had.

So, I was the typical trailing spouse, as they call it. And I was doing really, really well in my career. You know, your social setup is perfect. And I was, you know, living in my home country from the time that I've, you know, I've been living. So, it was not an easy decision and I did not jump with joy and all of those things.

While Switzerland is amazing, and you know, I had had the good fortune of traveling to Switzerland once before. We moved, just on a vacation with no idea that I'm ever going to settle into Switzerland.

But yeah, I gave it a lot of thought and then we collectively decided that this is the best approach for our family. And that's how we decided that, okay, let's do this three-year adventure. It was a limited three-year adventure, which is now turned into eight plus years. So, you can understand that we really, really like it here.

Kathrin: That's how it goes, isn't it? It's like, so many people say, oh, we just want to come for a year, two years, three years. And they just never leave again.

Pragati: Yes, exactly. So that's exactly what happened to us. And it happens to so many expats around me. I have so many friends, so many families that we talk to, came for like a limited period and, boom, it's eight years and we are still here. And we call it a home. Basel is pretty much home now.

Kathrin: Oh, lovely. And so, you've been really busy since you moved to Switzerland. So maybe tell us a little bit about what you've been up to and all the things you've been doing.

Pragati: Yeah, totally. Life's been, I think I've overworked in the last eight, eight and a half years. There have been beautiful, you know, there's a lot of beauty in Switzerland surrounding it, but there's a lot of work that goes into kind of settling in.

And yeah, the blog was actually the first thing that I started when I moved here. There was no job. There was no teaching that was happening, but it was My Swiss Story. It's pretty much synonymous to my journey of an expat in Switzerland. So, it was probably, I landed here and I was like, okay, life's changing so much. I need to document this. And it started as a personal blog.

I did a university degree. I did a master's in business and information systems after I landed here because I did not want to completely again jump into a corporate role.

Kathrin: Right.

Pragati: So I did that. And then I went back to, you know, working in the corporate world.

I joined IBM, was there for a couple of years. And then as I said before, and you also said in your introduction, I've now been with Accenture for the last five and a half years.

Kathrin: Okay right.

Pragati: Like, when I came, my family, I mean, we were a young family. Both me and my husband are getting older, but so is our daughter.

We came here with a five-year-old and now I have a 13-year-old. So we've really seen her call this home, right? Yeah. The way she has a sense of belonging to Switzerland is very different from the way we still feel. We still feel that we are expats, right? Expats will always feel that way. But it's very different with the children. So, I always say that she's our Swiss child, she's the Swiss child to Indian parents.

And it's pretty amazing to see how, you know, cultures blend together.

Kathrin: Yeah, amazing. I mean, she's got obviously a completely different experience of Switzerland, I'm sure. And yeah, it sounds like she settled in really well.

Pragati: Yeah. Fully integrated, can speak, use her as like, my translator all the time and you know. The way she thinks is very different from the way another kid of her age in India would be. You know, the thought process, the mindset, the cultural kind of, nuances.

This is very, very typical of the culture. So this is something that I see in her that I wouldn't probably see in my nieces and nephews.

Kathrin: Oh right, okay. Amazing.

Pragati: And then, of course, teaching. I wanted to just quickly say that about teaching. This was, because I came and I did my master's, I never thought my roles would flip and I would actually become a teacher and teach in one of the Swiss universities and yeah, I mean, it happened and I'm a visiting lecturer and I think this gives me almost the same amount of joy that My Swiss Story does, right?

Both of them are passion projects. My main profession is being in technology, but these two are seriously very close to my heart, passion projects. It's my way of giving back.

Kathrin: Absolutely. Yeah. It sounds like you've done loads of different things.

Pragati: Absolutely, and I seriously wouldn't have it another way.

I loved each experience of, you know, doing these different things. And I think people at work will not believe that I have this creative streak and I have a blog and I have this community thing and blah, blah, blah.

But yeah. It's, you know, it's different facets to your personality and you keep discovering them and being an expat sometimes gives you an opportunity to come out of your, you know, your usual stereotypical shell that you live in.

Kathrin: Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. And it's so important. You don't have that built in, sort of, family network and everything if you're an expat. So, you almost have to explore various things, because if you just do work, you're probably going to have a very sort of, poor social life in the end. So, you almost have to get out there and try different things and meet different people. And it's really quite... you get to sort of nurture things that otherwise you might not.

Pragati: Absolutely. Totally agree. I think it's one of the most difficult and one of the most rewarding things as an expat. And you can take it as a challenge or you can take it as an opportunity. When I came here, I took it as an opportunity that, yeah, I'm starting from zero.

Like how many, how many people get a chance like that? It's like a blank canvas, middle of your life, and you can paint it all over again. So, this time you do it the way, you know, with all the life lessons that you have learned. So, for me it was an opportunity to kind of move here and start afresh.

Kathrin: Yeah, for sure.

And so, let's talk about if someone else wants to do the same, if someone wants to come to Switzerland and get set up. So, what are some of the first things that you have to do, just maybe practically speaking. You want to come to Switzerland, maybe you already have a job, but what are you going to start with?

Pragati: Yeah, I mean, before I go into like the more operational stuff of this, I get this question, like, I think I get this question on my Instagram the most, is like, I want to move to Switzerland, what do I do?

Kathrin: Yes, of course.

Pragati: And there's no easy answer to this, because in my case, I moved because my husband had an opportunity and there was someone who wanted to sponsor his visa and get him here.

You know, and, and that's, been the case with so many families that we'v seen here or people move for education and things like that.

But my biggest advice to people listening from maybe outside of Switzerland, don't come without a job or a plan or something that you've already lined up for yourself.

Kathrin: Okay.

Pragati: Otherwise, things could get really, really difficult for you and you might leave something back home, which was really well set up for you. I'm a little bit of a risk averse person, maybe because I'm older now. And you know, my adventurous streak is now kind of coming down, but I feel like you don't take a drastic decision.

And it's with any country that you just move into, right? Because there's going to be, there's so much that you're already going to deal with when you come into a new country.

If you don't have, say, a permanent job, or if you are going back to university, whatever it is, then that could be really, really stressful because you're going to worry about that every single day that you’re living here.

Kathrin: Absolutely.

Pragati: And if you're with a family, just imagine, then you have the burden of your family because you made that decision to come here.

Kathrin: No, I mean, if you're... maybe if you're in your early twenties and just exploring, then it's fine. But especially as you say, if you've got a family or any responsibilities, then absolutely.

Pragati: Yeah, I mean, you know, people also say that, like, coming on tourist visa, I'm like, that's never gonna really work out, right? Coming on a tourist visa and then exploring and then the tourist visa is gonna expire after three months and then what?

Kathrin: Yeah, then, if you don't, then sort of have a job or anything, you just have to go back and you've lost three months, potentially, yeah.

So, you advise people to get a permit before they move or just have some kind of plan for getting a permit?

Pragati: Exactly. I mean, they have to have some sort of a plan that they are going to get a permit authorisation to live, reside in Switzerland. Of course, when you have a work permit, it's, you know, and the, the, we will not go into the details, but I have this really well detailed on the blog that what are the different kinds of permit, right?

There's an L, there's a B. There are a lot of people who come on the limited permit, which is the L permit, where the spouse is not allowed to work. People like my husband who come on a B permit and then the family also gets a B permit, and then the spouse. In my case, that's how it was that, you know, also I was allowed to work.

So, you have the authorisation to work. That's a big gate opener for you.

Kathrin: Oh yeah.

Pragati: Right. And then you have what we have right now, which is the permanent resident status, which is C. So, explore what you're getting into. I mean, in the beginning, of course, there'll only be a limited number of permits that you can come to get into the country, but know the pros and cons of the permit.

Kathrin: Yeah.

Pragati: And of course, once you're here, then you register with the council, you go to the migration office, you kind of register with them, you get your cards. I don't know, it's, it's been so long that we did this process, and now it just, you know, your cards just arrive by mail, and now with the C permit, they arrive every five years, so even lesser, you know, kind of engagement with the migration office.

But what I remember was this is super helpful, like going to the migration office. I mean, Switzerland is a very process-oriented country, so there's a process for everything and you follow it. And I feel it's very straightforward.

Once you have things in place, then it's pretty straightforward.

Kathrin: Yes, I think so. And it's important maybe that if you move, you have to re-register with your new council. So this is whenever you go to a different area, you definitely have to register and it's quite important to do that, isn't it?

Pragati: Exactly. Exactly. And that's also an important one that every time you are changing your canton, also be mindful - for expats this is important, probably Kathrin, not for you - that the moment you change your canton, your clock resets again.

Kathrin: Okay. Yeah.

Pragati: And then, you know, your, your PR is affected or your passport counter is affected.

If you are really planning to, you know, settle in, be mindful that every time you change a canton, your clock is kind of reset again.

Kathrin: Yes, and some permits, right, you have to stay in the canton where... that issued your permit. So, this is an interesting thing about Switzerland, which, you know, I moved to the UK where it's very different. Everything is very country oriented. So the entire country has the same tax system, has the same immigration system. But in Switzerland, each canton is quite different. So you might pay different taxes. You might have a slightly different immigration process depending on where you live. So yeah, for sure, be mindful of that.

Pragati: Yeah. I think and the next thing is that you open a bank account. Again, a straightforward process, but read a little bit about this.

I mean, all of these things I had really you know, kind of prepared myself. What are the things like... I already had a checklist with all the research that I had done over Google.

And now there's so much right now, there's so much... Eight years back and today, I think, there's so much that's changed. There's so much information available. You can get checklists everywhere. I think we have something on our website as well. And you know, you should have a checklist of things that you want to do.

It's very easy to open a bank account, but then which bank are you going to go with?

Kathrin: Yeah.

Pragati: You know, and what are the three or four things that the bank necessarily needs? Like you need to have a house, you need to have like a postal address. You need to have applied your permit already. So, there are things with the bank that while it's very straightforward, and you need to decide which bank you're going with, but then there are also these three or four prerequisites that are important when you are going to get your own bank account.

You told me it was so much more harder in UK for you compared to, you know, what my experience was.

Kathrin: Yeah. In the UK, it can be tricky getting set up, just that initial getting a bank account and everything, but it sounds like in Switzerland because it's so process-oriented, it's a little bit easier.

As long as you obviously be prepared, get all your documents in place and everything. Just maybe look through the show notes of this episode. We're going to put loads of helpful links, both of Pragati's website, and also... we have a welcome guide. So all that information is compiled. And so yeah, find all the information in the show notes.

Pragati: Awesome. Yeah, I think that's going to be super helpful. I mean, this episode will have a lot of, will have long show notes, I think.

Kathrin: Oh, I think so. It'll be loads of them. Yeah. Loads of links. So, that's good.

Pragati: So let's probably go on with our checklist of things to do.

Kathrin: Yes.

Pragati: I think the next one is finding a home.

Kathrin: Oh, yes, quite... a lot of people find this quite tricky, right? So let's go through it.

Pragati: It's challenging. It's just tricky. And also, a thing that I remembered now is like, what comes first? Like, do you have to have a permanent home before you get your permit, your bank account and things like that? Or do you not? And you need to, because you need to have an address in Switzerland where, you know, your permit's gonna land, your bank information is gonna come, you need to put in an address when you do that.

Kathrin: I think so. I mean, this was the same with me in England. It was a bit of a problem. It was, you need a bank account to get a home and you need a home to get a bank account. So that's a bit tricky at first, but I mean, there's always, I suppose, the option of getting a furnished long-term rental. That's maybe for three or four months if you can't immediately get a home.

Pragati: That's what we did. That's what we did. We had one month of a furnished apartment. And maybe one or two months of it. And that gave us a cushion to kind of look for an apartment of our choice and not just take the first thing that we saw.

Kathrin: Yeah, exactly.

Pragati: And expats, especially people coming from, you know, different countries, they will have these large shipments that arrive, and they take a good one to two months. In our case, we had to anyway, wait for our stuff to arrive from India.

Kathrin: Okay. So that was convenient then.

Pragati: Yeah. Yeah, and the shipments usually get delayed because they're coming by sea and things like this. And it's a great idea to first have this launch pad where you've done the whole operational checklist and you are living in a furnished apartment, not the perfect apartment of your dreams, but at least something that's going to get you, you know, started.

And I’ve rented, I think five apartments now in Switzerland, which is a very high number. I do not at all recommend that, but this was because of my job and certain things in our life that were happening, but the current apartment I stay in, I think I love it the most.

But it also depends, right? You do your research. There are websites that you can go to, I can't remember the name right now but you have...

Kathrin: ImmoScout24 is one of them surely, HomeGate maybe but yeah, yes...

Pragati: Yeah, both of them are super useful. I think I found all the apartments that I stayed in through HomeGate, which is a super useful website to find things. And of course, then if you have friends, then they also tell you, ‘Hey, there's something that's coming up in our apartment’ or someone's leaving. Always helps to have a little bit of a network.

But also, what are your requirements? Really think about it. Because otherwise it becomes very scattered, like what metres squared, how many rooms access to public transport, access to public schools, access to, say, the Coop and the Migros and, you know, the grocery stores, amenities, things like this.

For us, it was very important that we stay in Stadt and not in Land because that's the kind of people we are, so.

Kathrin: Yes. You mean in Basel Stadt, the half Canton of the city?

Pragati: Yes.

Kathrin: Not in the country. Yeah, because Basel split up in two different, sort of, half cantons.

Pragati: Yeah, exactly. Then you know, there are tips for how you can make that perfect application, because if the apartment is really good, know that at least 10 families or 20 families or 30 families are going to apply for the same apartment.

Put in thought, like people are like, okay, it's just a formality to put the application together. Not really, because you are, the applications are well reviewed. And then one person gets it, like one family gets it, or one person gets it.

Kathrin: So as complete as possible, and also as quick as possible, right?

Often, it's... the person who submits it first has more of a chance than the person who waits two or three days.

Pragati: Oh yeah. And I've seen this happen to us multiple times. And I feel that in Basel, renting an apartment is slightly, a bit easier than what I've heard for Zurich and Zug, where I have a lot of friends.

Kathrin: It's just so competitive.

Pragati: It's very competitive. It's actually Hunger Games happening over there, I feel.

Kathrin: So maybe in those areas, do look at various neighbourhoods. Maybe widen your radius a little bit because the transportation system is so good in that area that even if you live in a different town, like Winterthur, or anything like that, you will still get to your job if it's in Zurich within maybe half an hour or 45 minutes.

So actually, especially now, when a lot of people work at home two days or one day a week. It's really not a big deal and the trains are on time. So that's probably the easiest way to make it more likely to find something good is just to widen your radius a bit, right?

Pragati: Absolutely. I mean, totally agree. And sometimes you make these compromises, right?

You're, if you have seven things on your checklist that are must haves, you're probably, if you're getting a five out of seven or six out of seven, I would say go for it. Yeah. Yeah. I would say go for that. And it's in the public transport. I mean, we didn't buy a car for the longest time. I think we bought a car only when COVID happened and we really wanted to go, not use the trains at that time, but go, you know,

Kathrin: Still go places. Yeah.

Pragati: A chance to go places, but yeah, you know, I work on the train, I use the trams regularly and that's pretty much my life in Switzerland. I mean, I can go anywhere and there’s a lot of independence, it gives your mind a lot of peace and there's a lot of this idea that I don't really need to rely on anybody, which is not the way back home, right? There is a car that's a must, and I used to have a driver, and while all of this sounds very fancy, but this is normal. These are normal things in, say, another country, but over here, I am very self-reliant because of the great public transport system.

Kathrin: Yeah. And I think this is... Maybe two things to highlight that are probably different to a lot of other countries.

First, as I said, or as you said, a lot of people don't actually have cars or maybe they do have cars, but they also have an abonnement for the train. And then most of the time they might just use the train, especially people who live in the cities.

And then the second thing about... going back to finding a home is that most people, even like, non expats, so people who were born in Switzerland, most people actually rent. So, in other countries where there's such a high home ownership rate, this is not the case in Switzerland. So, renting is seen as equal to home ownership, almost. It's not inferior, and people see it as, you know, because the conditions are often very good as well, right, in the rental properties compared to in the UK, where you often hear of, you know, mouldy flats and slum landlords and things like that. And Switzerland has more regulations. So...

Pragati: I have never heard of that in Switzerland.

Kathrin: Very good, yeah.

Pragati: In all these years, I've never heard of that. So.. I guess...

Kathrin: Exactly.

Pragati: Yeah, you get the house in really great condition and you're supposed to return it to exactly the same condition that you got it.

So, I think one of the things that people should be very mindful of is not to trash the place, of course.

Kathrin: Of course. Yeah.

Pragati: But you know, kind of make sure that there is a great final cleaning, and there are companies that do it for you. That's not something that you can personally do. They look at every nook and corner in the house.

Because we've changed our apartment two, three times now in Basel itself, I know that this really goes a long way and your initial advance is tied to it. So be mindful of these things.

Kathrin: And this might be two or three months of rent that they hold back, right? So, it's important that you do a good job so you get all that money back.

Pragati: It's a big amount, yeah.

Kathrin: One last thing we can talk about in terms of getting set up is just getting your health insurance because that's also important, really important and also quite different to other countries.

So, you have to get basic health insurance and maybe you can tell us a little bit about what the best way is to approach this?

Pragati: You know, we had someone from my husband's company who was helping us find the right apartment and also helping us set up. I don't know, there is a particular term for it, but doesn't come to my mind right now, but everybody can do it themselves, is there are a lot of these health insurance compare, you know, you can compare different companies and there are a lot of websites for that.

Kathrin: Comparis. I think one is called Comparis, maybe Moneyland does it, but I'm not sure Moneyland does health insurance, they do banks more, I don't know. But Comparis for sure is one.

Pragati: So based on your, you know, your needs of what kind of coverage you are looking for and, you know, reviews from people. We've been with Swica for the last eight years. I absolutely love it. Never had a problem with the health insurance partner that we are with. But there are many great ones as well, right? It's, because we just landed with the one that we like. So, but there's always an option to change it.

Each person in your family is insured and you pay monthly premiums for each person. And the monthly premiums between my husband and me can differ based on what health condition we are in.

Kathrin: Age, health condition, everything, yeah.

Pragati: Yeah. So, and for the young people, like, you know, my daughter or for children in general, it's much lower. Their basic insurance is much lower than adults because they're younger, they're healthier. They've not had any conditions, of course.

Kathrin: That's likely to be very costly.

Pragati: Yeah. So that's how you do it. Straightforward to apply. Then the, the insurance kind of shortlists. Yeah, the application looks perfect. We would like to go ahead with this.

There are things that you never realise, like, you know, usually when you are in an emergency or you are at your GP or you are going to visit a doctor who's, you know, specialising in an area, you can always already give, and they always ask you for your card, your health insurance card.

Kathrin: Right. So, keep your card with you, yeah.

Pragati: So keep the card with you, and then you know, your bills are directly sent to your insurance provider.

In other cases, sometimes it still happens that, you know, you get the bill directly of whatever medical expense you incurred, and then you can claim it. You can always claim it, very, you know, very, very straightforward. All of these insurance providers now have their apps. You upload the documents, the bill that you paid, the invoice that you paid. And then it comes, it's linked with your bank account and it comes to you.

And you can change your policy, you can change the conditions of your policy every year, I think before November sometime, I forget the date, but it's sometime in November that you have an opportunity to change your plans with the same insurance provider or even change or even switch your provider at that point in time. It's only once a year, but these are the dates that everybody forgets, but there's an option to do it.

Kathrin: Okay, that's good. Yeah, that's really helpful. And then there's also something called supplemental insurance, so you can get additional insurance. Do you think generally that's a good idea? Should people get additional insurance?

Pragati: I'll give the Swiss response to it. It depends.

Kathrin: Okay.

Pragati: It really depends. Like for me, I have it because I use it. There are a lot of therapies that you can do with your supplemental insurance, right? You can go for the alternate therapies, which is like acupuncture.

Physiotherapy by the way is still covered by basic insurance. This is contrary to popular belief that physiotherapy actually comes into supplemental, but physiotherapy is pretty much part of your basic health insurance, but everything else, you know, whether it's a massage, if it's Chinese medicine, if it's acupuncture, if it's osteopathy, so different type of thing.

If this is something that you need, I need it because I have problems in my back. It really is very, very useful.

Kathrin: So then supplemental insurance is a good idea, but otherwise it might not be necessary.

Pragati: Yeah. I mean, if you're not going to use it, then why pay that extra premium for it?

Kathrin: Exactly.

Pragati: And these are the things that you don't realise when you come as an expat. You take everything and then you're like, oh my God, I'm paying so much of health insurance, I'm not using anything.

Kathrin: Yeah. But actually, you don't even need it. Yeah.

Pragati: You don't even need it, yeah. Maybe you just need the most basic health insurance. And if you are in great health, it's very much valued. Right? Yeah. It's really, really valued. Even by the system.

Kathrin: Yeah. All right. We have to press on. Let's move on now from the basics of sort of arriving and getting set up in Switzerland to actually then being successful in Switzerland and, you know, having a good time and everything.

So, I think for a lot of people that starts with finding a job because if you don't have a job, you might feel a little bit isolated. So, tell me a little bit about the best ways, or maybe to approach it if someone's completely new and doesn't know even where to start.

Pragati: Yeah, and this is particularly useful for trailing spouses, which is half of the expat population, right?

Yeah. One of us in a couple would probably have secured a job and we are as a family moving for that person's job, but the trailing spouse is the one that has to look for a job. In our case, I moved because of my husband. But then, of course, a career for me was equally very important.

And yes. Finding a job, I have to be very honest, is very, very different and is quite difficult. It's a challenge because you're coming into a new culture and things are quite different. And also, there's always this pressure of the language, right? English is not your go-to language when you arrive in Switzerland.

I mean, yeah, it's great. So many people speak English and people are quite helpful. And after a couple of sentences, you can switch to English and it, it works. People really, really appreciate the effort that you make when you at least speak a couple of sentences.

Kathrin: Yes, I think so.

Pragati: This is what I've seen and that really, really works well.

But yeah, I mean, it's a new, it's a new ecosystem that you're dealing with when you're trying to find a job in Switzerland.

And, you know, of course, like the hygiene factor is, do you have the work authorisation? We spoke about it a little bit in the beginning.

Kathrin: Yes.

Pragati: Make sure that you have the work authorisation because it could be that you've landed to the last round of interviews and then you discover, oh no, but you know.

Kathrin: They're not able to sponsor you, then you can't start, even if they really like you, yeah.

Pragati: Yes, and always have that question. I mean, if you are looking for a sponsorship, have that question in probably your first round with the recruiter, because it's an important aspect that you want to kind of check with them.

If it's a very, very unique skill, there is a chance that your visa can be sponsored by the organisation. But most of the times what I've seen in job descriptions is that we only are going to hire someone who has the authorisation to work in Switzerland.

Kathrin: Yeah, exactly.

Pragati: It's very clearly written. Read the whole job description. If you don't meet the basic hygiene requirements, it's no point because then one is like, you feel absolutely defeated because you jumped all these hoops to land almost, you know, you've gone to the last round and you realise that, ‘Oh no, this is not going to work.’

Kathrin: Yeah, exactly. So that, that goes for the authorisation and also maybe language skills and all those kinds of things.

Pragati: Absolutely. I mean, language skills, in my case, my German skills, unfortunately, are still quite basic because my environment is still quite global and, you know, everyone's speaking... While we all speak different languages at home, we all speak English at work.

But knowing the local, I mean, really, in my experience, if there's something that you really want to, you're really looking to find a job and you really want to land a great job, you are going to broaden your opportunity window, make it really, really larger, if you know the local language.

Kathrin: That's right.

Pragati: You know the local language, you can apply to more companies. So, while of course there are global roles, it's, you know, all the, all the big corporates are present in Switzerland and, you know, there are going to be roles in global organisations. But just when you have that edge over other people, is that you know the local language.

And that really goes, so I recommend any person who's listening to us today and is new in Switzerland, you know, and you have time, invest that time in learning the language. It really goes a long way.

Kathrin: Exactly. And along with the language also goes the culture. So what cultural differences have you noticed?

Pragati: I mean, the cultural differences is definitely one of the things that I can think is like, I always say this, you need to Swissify your CV.

Kathrin: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Pragati: Yeah. And it's very different, right? I mean, just things like, you know, you need to put your picture on your CV. You need to have what permit status you're on, some personal details that come right at the top, because that's something that's reviewed immediately.

How do you really construct your CV? Where does the education qualification come? Where do your certifications land? What kind of work experience are you going to put in? Is there a specific number of pages that you can have in the CV? So, these are certain things that you should be mindful of when you are, you know, kind of reconstructing your CV.

Because you might have a great CV, you might tick all the boxes, but It's just how your CV is constructed.

Kathrin: And I think that's part of attention to detail, isn't it? That you adapt, that you actually show them that you've done your research, you know how to construct a Swiss CV and everything.

Pragati: Exactly.

Kathrin: Resources to find out about this... There's lots of samples online, right?

Pragati: So many examples online, I have, written, I think one of the most popular blogs on My Swiss Story is how to find a job in Switzerland. And that's why I did a four-part series on this. And I think we definitely should link that in the show notes, because that is like my own personal experience, because when you come from a non-EU country, everything's changing for you. And then on top of that, finding a job is like becoming extremely hard because culturally things are so much more different.

So it's all the pitfalls and all the mistakes that I made that I've put over there so that, you know.

Kathrin: All in one article. That'd be really useful for everyone. Yeah, I think so. Good.

Pragati: The other thing that I want to kind of talk about when you think about Switzerland in general is networking really, really helps.

Kathrin: Yes.

Pragati: And it's usually the best jobs that you find are through your network, and not through, you know, job portals and LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has been really super useful for me. The first job that I got was you know, the traditional approach of just applying through a website. LinkedIn had the job posting.

I went, I applied, I got the job. I had to jump, of course, a couple of hoops to do the four or five rounds that are always there. But then I got the job. So, it's not that the traditional, you know, it's a myth that the traditional way of applying is not going to work. It worked for me. That was my first job.

Kathrin: It can work.

Pragati: It can work. But when you can tap into your network, you need to build a network. It's supremely important for me. I did it through, you know, because I had, I went to university, I had colleagues, I had, you know, teachers and there's always like you have to keep your, kind of, ears open to the right things.

So, attend events. Don't go to every event because there's so many that happen. But interest-based, purpose driven events are my kind of network.

Kathrin: Yes, okay.

Pragati: That's why we have our own networking, you know.

Kathrin: Yeah, you have your own resource now for people looking to network, right?

Or resources even.

Pragati: Exactly. Exactly. I mean, I, my role as the founder of My Swiss Story evolved three years ago because I felt a little bit lonely because of COVID and I was like, let's just start doing coffee meets because this is also a very big part of integration for expats. And, yeah, that's how we started doing, like, really purpose driven events where people had the feeling of, you know, that they are included, and now I see people, you know, kind of network with each other with a lot of heart in it.

That's something that I used to miss when I used to attend networking events in Switzerland. But, yeah, I mean, it really, really helps, whatever works for you, right?

Kathrin: Try different things.

Pragati: Yeah, don't sit in your own shell. You can try online networking now, you can have virtual coffees with people, you can attend the big and the small networking events.

Come to one of my Swiss Story’s networking events. This is an open invitation to anyone who's listening. And these are some of the things that I would say, you know, keep in mind when you are, be mindful of, when you are looking for a job in Switzerland.

Kathrin: Great. Yeah, so, I think that'll be really helpful.

And let's move on to the last portion. So, we're going to talk a little bit about starting your own project.

So you obviously started My Swiss Story before you got a job, but imagine someone already has a job in Switzerland and would like to start a side project or you know, different additional type of work. Is that possible? Do Swiss companies typically allow you to have another side project like that?

Pragati: I mean mine is a little bit of a different kind of a project, but I also teach, right? So, I would say I do really have three jobs, and they coexist. And the important part behind having, you know, different passion projects or like having a side hustle or a side project is being transparent, right?

Your primary employer should know that you’re doing this out of a hobby or if you're getting paid for something. I think ideally you have around 45 hours of a work limit.

Kathrin: Limit. Yeah. Yeah. It's limited, isn't it?

Pragati: Per week. And say you work for a couple of like you work for a couple of hours outside your 40 hours if you have like a full-time role of 40 hours and you have two or three hours that you're dedicating somewhere.

So, I do a couple of lectures, which kind of come out of those, you know, those additional hours that I can work at times.

But it's always a wise idea to kind of, have a discussion with your primary employer about it. I don't have much experience, but if there's some sort of a conflicting interest between the two things that you’re doing, that could sometimes lead to you not staying compliant.

Kathrin: Yeah. So as different as possible, you know, not in the same industry, ideally, because otherwise there could be a conflict.

Pragati: And My Swiss Story and my job as a technology lead are poles apart.

Kathrin: Yeah, exactly. So different.

Pragati: There's no commonality. But it's a great idea to, I mean, there's so many people, so many expats, especially that I see they start their own coaching business, or they start their own line of clothes, or there's so many things that they are doing and it's so interesting.

And I think it's also a very straightforward approach. I don't know that because I am not like, you know, like a profit building enterprise at the moment. So, we at My Swiss Story are pretty much like a, just a platform that's registered, but you know, not kind of doing like the normal course of taxation and things like that. But it's I, I am sure it's, again, another straightforward process and very process-oriented.

Kathrin: Yes, I'm sure.

Pragati: And I think if you are initially, you can optimize costs with like in the case of My Swiss Story, what we do... Because I work on so many things, I've always had virtual assistants. It's nice. And it could be based out of another country, so that you optimise costs a little bit.

You could have volunteer positions. You could have interns in your organisations when you're just beginning. In case you need, you know, additional stuff.

Kathrin: And I think you said there's lots of people who want to do that kind of thing in Switzerland, right?

There are lots of, maybe young people trying to get started and they would be happy to be a volunteer for a while.

Pragati: A lot of them. Yes. So, but I mean, if you really do have a project that you have been thinking about and you really want to kind of get started with it, I think there are many, many compliant ways of doing that.

So kind of don't hold back is my biggest.

Kathrin: Go for it.

Pragati: Go for it.

Kathrin: Yeah. Yeah. So, we already know that you have loads of resources on your blog. So any topic like housing or anything like that, people can find resources on your blog, but tell us a little bit more about what you offer for people looking to connect to others. Maybe about your coffee days.

Pragati: Yeah, yeah. I mean for the point on the resources for the expats, all the topics that we spoke about today, there will be something or the other that’s been documented on the blog. I've been now writing for eight years.

We've had plenty of guest authors also come in and write about their experiences. So, there's a plethora of information that you will find on myswissstory.com

Kathrin: And there's a great series, isn't there, on your blog about entrepreneurs who have done what we've just talked about, started their own project and then are talking about it on your blog? So, get inspiration from there as well. Yeah.

Pragati: Absolutely. We highlight one entrepreneur every month. I have a sweet spot for women because I love putting the spotlight on them.

So, there's always the entrepreneur of the month and we usually have women entrepreneur of the month and that's always an inspiring story.

A lot of people say that they drew a lot of inspiration from these kind of stories to kind of start their own. They were on the edge and they started something. They read something on the blog or they saw a social media post and were attracted to what they were doing.

And there are so many people who collaborate with each other because they have read about it on my channel or my blog.

Kathrin: And so that's a fantastic thing to then check out for anyone looking to start a project or just interested in the idea as well.

Pragati: Absolutely. You can find a lot of inspirational content also.

Kathrin: Right.

Pragati: Apart from these resources, I kind of mentioned in the middle that we started doing these community meetings, kind of building a supportive community. And I don't know where my role from digital to in real life kind of happened. I don't know how this happened, but I'm glad that I can now call myself a community builder because I started this with a very simple idea that let's get people together and really small groups of people together for coffees because COVID had put all of us in our own pigeonholes.

Kathrin: Yeah, exactly.

Pragati: So that was just the basic idea to kind of just bring people together and one thing led to the other and then coffee morning started. I used to call it Coffee with a Purpose. We still have this every month.

Kathrin: And it's in Basel or Zurich or both?

Pragati: Basel, Zurich and some are virtual.

Kathrin: Okay.

Pragati: That, you know, there is an audience from the French part that can also join.

Kathrin: Then they can join. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Pragati: Yeah. And then we have events. I have two big events that I do always in Basel and people travel from everywhere for that because that's like a day- long event.

Kathrin: All right. Okay. Yeah.

Pragati: And then there are webinars. So, there are value-packed webinars that we do on various topics. So, if you're wanting to start your business, if you’re looking for tips for expats, if it's about mental health, about spiritual stuff, so there are a lot of webinars that we do. There’s usually one every month. We are on a summer holiday right now, but then we'll be back again from September.

So, there's a lot that happens on My Swiss Story from a community perspective. So yeah, if you get in touch, then I can kind of make you a part of our WhatsApp group or, you know, make you subscribe to the newsletter if that's something that you're interested in.

Kathrin: Amazing. And the best way to get in touch is through the website, right? So, go on the website and just fill out a contact form, or?

Pragati: Fill out a contact form or just get in touch with me on Instagram. I think that's the quickest way to do it.

Kathrin: Okay. So, we'll also link to your Instagram then.

Pragati: Yeah. We'll probably link that in the show notes and then, just get in touch over Instagram. And that's the fastest way I think. I answer to most of my DMs, unless it's the creepy ones!

Kathrin: All the like, nice, normal ones. Okay.

All right. Well, that's perfect. So that's it for today. Thanks once again to our guest Pragati for joining us.

Pragati: Thank you so much for having me. I really, really enjoyed it.

I did not even realise that all this time had passed. So, thank you so much for having me and having such a great, you know, flow on the conversation today.

Kathrin: And thanks to you for listening. We'll include links in the show notes to our guests and to further materials about some of the topics that we've spoken about today.

If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review on your favourite podcast platform.

Once again, this podcast was brought to you by Rigby. We're a staffing and project services company here in Zurich. If you would like our help either to hire or to be hired, let us know. Best way to do that is by going to rigby.ch/apply and filling out the form. You can also sign up for our newsletter at rigby.ch/newsletter to receive our Living in Switzerland guide. We'll send you one email per month about expat-focused news and jobs in Switzerland.

So, thanks and until the next time.