Hi everyone, I’m 28 years old and moved to Switzerland in 2024. I have been working at a supermarket since then. My Bachelor of Business Administration from my home country isn’t recognized here, and despite applying to many jobs, I’ve received almost no responses. I reached out to BITS for career guidance and they suggested I pursue an EFZ in Detailhandel, which makes sense given that all my professional background is in sales. For now, I accepted that working in retail is a reasonable step while I build my life here — but things have recently become more complicated. Last year I had an accident that has limited my physical activity, which is a real issue since supermarket work is quite physically demanding. This has made me even more motivated to find a path toward a less physically intensive role — ideally something office-based or in administration. On the language side, I recently took the SDS test and was placed at B2, which I believe is generally accepted by both employers and official bodies in Switzerland. The problem is, I’m now at a crossroads and genuinely don’t know which direction to take: • I’ve started applying for office and administration roles, but again — no responses. • I’m seriously considering pursuing the EFZ via Art. 32 (the qualification procedure without an apprenticeship contract), so that I have a Swiss vocational certificate that could open better doors in the future. • I did consider the Kaufmann/Kauffrau EFZ route, but BITS advised against it — partly due to the rise of AI and ongoing layoffs in office-based roles, which honestly made me second-guess that path too. • I also thought about doing an MBA, but the cost is simply out of reach right now, and I need to keep working full-time to cover my living expenses — so that’s not a realistic option at this stage. So now I feel genuinely stuck. I want to move forward, but I’m not sure whether to focus on job applications with my current profile, invest time in an EFZ qualification, or explore something else entirely that I might not even be aware of. Has anyone been in a similar situation — especially as someone who immigrated here and is trying to build a career from scratch? What worked for you? Any advice, personal experience, or suggestions would be hugely appreciated. 🙏 submitted by /u/Illustrator-1413
Originally posted by u/Illustrator-1413 on r/Switzerland