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Can someone help me?

Hi,

I'm sending this email because I feel really frustrated and maybe someone on the internations list can give me some tips. This is my situation:

I'm looking for a job in/around Zurich. I'm Swiss but I have lived for the last 7 years in the United States. I left Switzerland when I was 22 so I got my University degree in San Francisco. I graduated when I was 28 because our daughter was born when I was studying in my third year.

So what's the problem? I have a really hard time finding a job here. Honestly, I am a bit surprised. I thought, ok, I'm Swiss, which means I speak perfectly Swiss German as well as German. Obviously my English is pretty good too and I also speak French decently. I lived abroad for years and studied there, which should show that I am a dedicated person. We lived in San Francisco, which also means that I'm totally used to pretty much every culture that there is in this world. Plus I love to be surrounded by other cultures.

I studied international relations and my dream job would be to work for an int. organisation (however 90% of them are in Geneva). If anyone knows some around Zurich please let me know.
I also would love to work for ANY international company where they need people with good English skills. Maybe people who have specifically a University degree.

I sent out my resume to the American Chamber of Commerce however they don't have an open position. I also sent a lot of resumes to various companies and they either said " we need someone with more work experience or you are overqualified."
I get the feeling that I would be better off in Switzerland if I just got a simple Swiss apprenticeship and I would have worked for ten years by now.

But clearly said: "I worked my butt off to get my college degree in the States". Do I want to do secretary work now? If possible not really.

I think the big problem (besides lack of work experience) is that the companies here DO NOT understand my degree!

Does anyone of you work for a company that may need someone like me? I am also willed to start on a lower level with a lower paid salary if that's what it takes to get work experience. (I have worked before. The jobs were all temporary but at good places. My last job was at the Swiss Consulate in San Francisco. )

I would appreciate any little tip! I would also like to hear if someone is/was in a similar situation and what they do/did?

Thanks to all in advance!
Barbara

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