The Language
The EU now encompasses a dozen different languages. If you move to an English speaking country like England or Ireland, your adjustment will the easiest. A native English speaker must nonetheless adjust to things like different tax systems and social norms. Non-EU nationals may obtain the right to work in an EU country. The ease of doing so depends on nationality and status and is determined by different agreements and other EU rules.

Background – Are you in IT or Some Sort of Academic Research?
The IT field is in demand and one can find work fairly easily, even without the native language. Many tech positions in Germany and Switzerland require only English.
If one speaks English and has the required competencies, one will have a good chance of finding work in Europe.

If you’re from an academic research background, this also helps. English is usually the international work language for research in academic situations and you can adjust fairly well.

Background – Business an Advantage
More and more companies have English as their company language. If you have a background in business or a related degree, you will have a greater chance of finding employment. However, most often, in Germany, in Switzerland, in France, in Italy, even in Austria or Scandinavia, you will be expected to eventually learn the language. Even if English is the official company language, people do speak the local language and you will need to fit in as well as succeed in the long term in your job. This is likely to be a major challenge, if not the major challenge: learning a language takes time, commitment and discipline.

High Competition
If you are not from an IT, Scientific / Academic, or Business background, and do not have a specialized education, you will encounter very high competition for jobs, even with a mastery of the language.
Europe has many immigrants, and they are competing for the same jobs.

The ‘English Teacher’ Fallback
Many native English speakers think they can rely on being an English teacher as a fallback. This is not really an option, unless you are prepared to live like a student.
Finding decently remunerated work as an English teacher will usually require your having important credentials in this area.

All citizens of the EU, plus Switzerland, have the right to move all around and work anywhere in the European Community that they want. (It’s not too clear what Switzerland had to gain in this arrangement since it has the highest standard of living, so the only Swiss considering leaving Switzerland to seek jobs in the EU are the ones on unemployment.)

However, when an American, Canadian or a New Zealander come to Europe to find work, he has to find an employer that will sponsor his work permit. The first few months while he’s going through that job hunting process, he may have to work “black,” meaning he may have difficulty getting paid because his work and residency in the country have not yet been approved.

Getting a work permit is a constant topic of conversion among the expatriate crowds in Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Paris, and Barcelona. The exchange of visa horror stories and grand schemes of getting away with overstaying – everyone has a nightmare story of being escorted to the border by the immigration authorities. Some contemplate proposing marriage to the random attractive native they met at a bar the week before, others gave up and return to their home country, and still others persevere and deal with the process and the paperwork.

Acquiring a work permit in Europe is a challenge but a good skill set, perseverance and some personality will help you do the trick.

Selon Peters, notre génération a le devoir de ré-imaginer nos entreprises et institutions, publiques et privées. Il explique que tout, de l’éducation des jeunes à la façon dont nous luttons contre les guerres — ou contre des ennemis insaisissables, exige la réinvention de chaque type d’organisation.

Null doute que la poursuite du développement des technologies de l’information va changer radicalement tout ce que nous savons. De la même manière, Howard Rheingold, dans son ouvrage Smart Mobs, anticipe la façon dont la technologie sans fil va permettre une nouvelle révolution sociale. Ce phénomène s’applique également à l’éducation, l’armée, la politique et aux entreprises.

Parlons de la façon dont ces changements qualitatifs affectent le secteur de la consultation. Pour les grandes entreprises, la satisfaction du client est en panne et le client “loyal” est au bord de l’infidélité constante, tellement il est bombardé par d’autres alternatives.

Peters envisage que la technologie provoquera l’extinction d’externalisation, ou même, d’une grande partie de la force de travail des cols blancs traditionnels. La situation est paradoxale: les consultants seraient à la fois condamnés par cette révolution technologique tout étant encore plus sollicités grâce à leurs services à valeur ajoutée. Nous voilà confus mais aussi rassurés!

Pour survivre en tant que membre d’un ministère ou organisme, vous devez vous transformer en une version micro de cette organisation. Vous devez devenir quelqu’un qui donne assurément de la valeur ajoutée du travail en plus de facturer ses prestations. Quel est l’impact sur les services professionnels, comme les consultants? Il leur faut encore plus re-imaginer ou réinventer mais de manière encore plus significative car tout le monde doit se mettre à re-imaginer son quotidien pour survivre professionnellement.

Peters encourage la créativité qui “exige le désordre, le non-respect des règles et la tolérance des échecs”. Il va sans dire que l’état de tension chronique au travail, une charge de travail excessive ou un sentiment d’insécurité ne dopent pas la créativité sur le long-terme mais plutôt comme une stratégie ponctuelle de survie.

Peters pense que nous allons devenir une nation de consultants. Peut-être le sommes-nous déjà! Si IBM est maintenant IBM Global Services et UPS est UPS Logistics au lieu d’un groupe de types avec des camions, c’est que tout succès découle de la valeur ajoutée de ce “capital de consultation intellectuelle”.

Alors que les gens pensent que perdre des emplois industriels au profit la Chine est un problème, Peters relève que les emplois que nous perdons dans le secteur des services est un enjeu beaucoup plus important…

Null doute que nous avons désespérément besoin d’idées, ne serait-ce que pour nous ré-inventer!

Since January 2009, the unemployment rate in Switzerland has continued to rise. Though it has remained considerably lower than other European countries, the rising jobless rate in Switzerland is nonetheless symptomatic of economic transition. The process of finding a job in Switzerland has evolved considerably, with internet taking a central role in the job search.

To find a suitable job on one of the numerous internet job portals, one has to begin by identifying the sort of environment one wants to work in and the type of job one is seeking. Starting off the job hunting process by considering how one’s profile fits into the above can help the candidate identify a maximum of relevant offers and avoid wasting time on a multitude of job boards.

After choosing a few job boards, its best to configure one or more profiles as completely as possible, and stick with those portals, setting up web alerts to be informed of relevant jobs as they are published.

For managers and top experts and specialists, sites such as topjobs, qual, and experteer tend to be the preferred portals, though sites such as the latter actually charge job seekers and carry the additional annoyance of obliging job seekers to jump through the hoop of their registration process to respond to or even just to look at their job vacanciess. Both Topjobs and Qual allow the candidate to browse jobs anonymously, which also provides maximum value to the publishers of job vacancies.

There is an increasing tendency among job portals toward smaller focus, either on a particular occupational sector, professional level, or geographical area. There are more job sites now focusing on single cities, on specifically student internships, on only managerial roles, or on solely the medical profession.

A further recent development in the recruitment process is the increasing use of social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, et. al. to disseminate job opportunities and recruit ‘informally.’

Using social networks to hook up with an interesting job opportunity can be a delicate maneuver for the candidate if he does not plan well in advance. It is best to keep entirely separate those networks on which one socializes and those which one uses to ‘advertise’ one’s professional skill set.