[blackcat]

Hello, I am writing to seek advices from experienced people here about working in industry/company as a chemist.

A little bit about my background: synthetic organic chemist with 2 year experiences as postdoc. I have never worked in company before.

I will be designing and synthesizing novel organic materials in Switzerland Basel this November.

I mainly would like to know how to survive in chemistry company and how to do well.

In particular, does anyone know about chemistry jobs in Switzerland? How does it look like? Demanding or not? Stressful or not?

[Enthalpy]

Several people here work(ed) in Switzerland, I expected them to answer, but your question is already a week old. I only visited companies I had applied to.

- Foreigners get supervising positions.
- Settling looks very possible. Getting the nationality is practically impossible, except maybe by marriage. One advantage of Germany.
- Many Swiss, more so with diplomas, have several languages. Language courses exist, I suppose it's a key to integration.
- Don't try to learn German (and I suppose Swiss German, which quite differs) by practising. Have a professor, train normally, and then it's easy. Do it early, because mistakes are hard to un-learn.
- The Swiss are extremely polite, punctual, they don't speak badly of other people, and they deliver products that work. Could that be a point to integration?
- The supervisors I met knew the job, like in Germany. That's a ton stress less than in France.

[blackcat]

Several people here work(ed) in Switzerland, I expected them to answer, but your question is already a week old. I only visited companies I had applied to.

- Foreigners get supervising positions.
- Settling looks very possible. Getting the nationality is practically impossible, except maybe by marriage. One advantage of Germany.
- Many Swiss, more so with diplomas, have several languages. Language courses exist, I suppose it's a key to integration.
- Don't try to learn German (and I suppose Swiss German, which quite differs) by practising. Have a professor, train normally, and then it's easy. Do it early, because mistakes are hard to un-learn.
- The Swiss are extremely polite, punctual, they don't speak badly of other people, and they deliver products that work. Could that be a point to integration?
- The supervisors I met knew the job, like in Germany. That's a ton stress less than in France.

Do you think there is a big jump in salary when being promoted to manager role? If so, what qualities should one have for such kind of promotion?

Oh, working in France is much more stressful?

[Enthalpy]

Oh, working in France is much more stressful?

Definitely more than in Germany. I didn't try Switzerland.

If you wish incompetent chiefs, with all the consequences on the job contents and company style, with conflicts everywhere, go to France.
Plus the secret services that destroy your private life every time you make some invention. I saw it in a field related to yours, by the way: TFT for LCD displays.

[Enthalpy]

Thinking more about the language. I suppose your employer is in German-speaking Switzerland, where most chemistry is located.

While the official language of this part of Switzerland is plain German (called Schriftdeutsch there), which these Swiss read, write and understand, the spoken Germanic dialect is Schwyzertütsch (with variants).

Schwyzertütsch is not understandable to Germans even after a week, except if helped by a similar dialect. Ouch.

I don't know whether you should learn first German, Schwyzertütsch or both. I suggest that you ask other immigrants.

Courses abound, you should find some in English.

[blackcat]

Oh, working in France is much more stressful?

Definitely more than in Germany. I didn't try Switzerland.

If you wish incompetent chiefs, with all the consequences on the job contents and company style, with conflicts everywhere, go to France.
Plus the secret services that destroy your private life every time you make some invention. I saw it in a field related to yours, by the way: TFT for LCD displays.

I have a friend worked as postdoc in Italy, he said his chief knew nothing about the science. Really frustrated.

[Enthalpy]

kamiyu2550, could you tell us more about learning the language(s) in Switzerland?

I suppose you're in Germanic Switzerland, as most chemistry is there. So:
Do you learn standard German first? Or Swiss German first? Both? None?
With a teacher paid by the company, possibly within the company? Or just books and practising?
How confusing is it if you learn both standard and Swiss German simultaneously?

And: after some 4 months, do you already understand the inhabitants a bit? (...I know Germans who won't )

And what are the working languages in your company? Pretty much anything, depending on who's there?

[blackcat]

kamiyu2550, could you tell us more about learning the language(s) in Switzerland?

I suppose you're in Germanic Switzerland, as most chemistry is there. So:
Do you learn standard German first? Or Swiss German first? Both? None?
With a teacher paid by the company, possibly within the company? Or just books and practising?
How confusing is it if you learn both standard and Swiss German simultaneously?

And: after some 4 months, do you already understand the inhabitants a bit? (...I know Germans who won't )

And what are the working languages in your company? Pretty much anything, depending on who's there?

Yes, my company is in German region of Switzerland. However, I have not yet started to learn German. I am learning French instead, for some reason. English is spoken as formal language in my company. But sometimes, people in private may talk in German or French. My company does not assist me in terms of learning German, and I think this is because German exam is not required for my Work Permit renewal. Not knowing German basically does not cause any trouble for me in my daily life and work. I am super busy and hence I did not get in touch with my neigborhood a lot. But my impression about people here is that they are very nice and polite, better than Toronto area of Canada, but similar to Scotland.

[Enthalpy]

That's the impression I got too when visiting companies in German-speaking Switzerland, that every graduate is easy with English, and Swiss graduates speak some French too. However, if interacting more with the population, you'll need German, or rather Swiss German.

Don't forget to visit Switzerland, it's really nice.

And don't forget to visit Germany neither, because life is long, and you can get the nationality there, while in Switzerland it's impossible or nearly.

[blackcat]

That's the impression I got too when visiting companies in German-speaking Switzerland, that every graduate is easy with English, and Swiss graduates speak some French too. However, if interacting more with the population, you'll need German, or rather Swiss German.

Don't forget to visit Switzerland, it's really nice.

And don't forget to visit Germany neither, because life is long, and you can get the nationality there, while in Switzerland it's impossible or nearly.

Thanks for your advice. Indeed, if you look at the IELTS average score by country, you will notice Germany is the top among European countries, it is 7.5 average. So no surprise, their English is very good.

I am working in Switzerland now for 5 months. Getting permanent residence here is something like UK at the moment, which needs 5 years working here, plus basic language test.