Professional opportunities
The education system and labour market in Switzerland will be different from your country of origin. Perhaps the subject you have previously studied does not exist or the training for a certain career is designed differently here.
You should therefore do some research in order to make an informed decision. Find out which training and career you would like to pursue in Switzerland. What are your options?
Seeking advice from experts is ideal: They know the Swiss education system and labour market well and will be able to give you in-depth explanations.
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Careers Advice
Every canton offers its individual careers service (often referred to as BIZ, Career guidance and information centers) where you can seek vocational, educational and career guidance. Advisers will be able to inform you about the different training pathways open to you. They can also assess if the training you are interested in gives you easy access to the job market. Make an appointment to get face-to-face advice and you will be in a better place to assess your situation and the options available to you. Some careers services have advisers who are specialised in giving advice to migrants.
Young people are usually able to seek advice in their town or canton free of charge.
Many cantons have both a general and an academic careers advice centre and advice offices at several locations. The central career counselling centres also often offer the opportunity to research various professions independently. Here you can find the various counselling centres in your canton of residence (in German & French).
The following websites also offer helpful information:
Study areas & fields of study (in German & French)
Training and further education at universities (in German & French)
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University open days
Most higher education institutions put on open days. You will be able to go along and chat to people on the course of your interest. Go to berufsberatung.ch (available in German, French and Italian) and swissuniversities (top right) where you will find further information and key dates for open days.
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Support programs at universities
Many Swiss universities and universities of applied sciences offer specific support programmes for qualified refugees and migrants. These programmes vary in structure. Some act as contact points that can advise you on how to enrol at the respective institution. Others offer preparatory courses to help you prepare for a degree programme or provide an alternative route to admission. You can find an overview and all contact details here.
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Coaching offers
Cantons, aid organisations and municipalities sometimes offer coaching services to support highly qualified refugees. These are often complementary to the support provided by the social worker. After a socio-professional assessment, a goal for training or or entry into the labour market is defined together and the process is accompanied by the coach. It is often not possible to register for the projects yourself and registration takes place via your social worker. In several German-speaking Swiss cantons, for example, there is the HEKS MosaiQ project or in French cantons the programmes offered by the Association découvrir. There are also various smaller regional programmes that your social worker is aware of.