Job Discussion Forums

Ann Dwyer-Clonts · Joined: 21 Mar 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Boulder, CO

Hello all,

I currently live in Boulder, Colorado. I am moving to the Geneva area (Nyons) in Switzerland in May to be with my boyfriend. I am interested in teaching English there but am having difficulty finding resources to help me. If anyone has any imformation on teaching certificates, work visas, contacts, or any other related information regarding living and working in Switzerland, as a non-native, please help!!

Thank you so much for your time!
Ann

bnix · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 645

A teaching job in Switzerland sounds great...but Switzerland,along with Scandinavia and a few other places in Europe -well,most people in TESOL just forget about working in these places,because the jobs are just not there,especially for non-EU teachers.Wish I could tell you something more encouraging,but those are the facts.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

The previous poster was quite right! If you intend capitalising on your first language then Switzerland is not an ideal place. You need a rock-solid education in TESL and be able to explain English or American literature, among other things, not just the phonics of colloquial American English!

There are a couple of American colleges in Switzerland, one in a place called, I think, Chateau d'oeux. There also is a SCHILLER University, though I am not totally sure whether it is inside Switzerland or near its border (one is in Strasbourg, which is only 60 kms from Basle, but Basle is 200 kms from Geneva).
You can easily accept a position across the border in France and commute - which I did for ten years while living in France. But on the French side of the border near Geneva, there are not many big cities. One town, within city bus reach of Geneva, is Annemasse, with a population of about 300'000 people.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Finding a job on Switzerland is NOT easy. Why do you think so many of us are working in the Middle East ? If there WERE jobs in Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands or Malta, most of us here in the ME would be out tomorrow. But there ain't. If you find one good luck, but do not raise your hopes.