Hi Tom,

There seems to be lots of new people from England so you wont have much trouble finding friends. I arrived in January. Geneva is good but its very different to London life!!

If you want to meet up after you arrive, give me a shout.

John

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply.... I get that same impression that there is a big influx coming in from the UK.

How did you find the move... First impressions? Imagine you are still settling down and finding your way about.

Would love to have an idea what I'm getting myself into haha :) (too late to change now anyways )

I found the move tricky in terms of the admistration and beaurocracy. That may be more associated with my company (CERN) than yours. Everything seems to require a lot of paperwork and its difficult when you dont speak the lingo. However, sites like glocals is great as people will help you out.

Any ideas what area you want to live in? this can be a big decision. I'm in a transition at the moment where im looking to move from saint genis pouilly (french side of the border) into Geneva but I have my car from england so need a parking space etc.

First impressions of Geneva compared to a city you know like london are....much less crime (still crime elements though) a bit cleaner, less to do though, less of a nightlife, much smaller than london, maybe a bit smaller than Bristol even. It feels safer at night and although there are less bars and clubs I think the nightlife is still good (only been out once or twice so far though!).

Its easy to find your way around once uve been here for a week or two as the city is small. Be prepared to pay crazy prices for just about anything though! You have probably been told the cost of living here is very high! makes london look a bagain at times.

One thing I have been told is that making friends and establishing a group of mates can be tricky as there is a high turnaround of people in various organisations who only stay for 6 months/1 year etc. I'm probably here for 5 years!

Thanks for the info..

I am being put into company apartments until an agent finds me a single bed property to let (she's pitching me properties on the right bank approx 1500-2000CHF for 1 bed). However, I would ideally like to have a flatmate in a new town but finding one will prove difficult in the short term I imagine.

I think since I'll be spending a lot of time in the office I won't be nightlife too often during the week, but still eager to finally see what its all about.

I heard the same thing as you re making friends as Geneva seems to be quite the "transient" place. But I'm in for the long haul too pal so imagine we'd be in the same boat there!

Thank you for your post, very welcoming and informative.

I think I am ready to leave London behind (especially the 2.5hr faily commute) and experience something new and its only a short flight away if I do need a quick fix :)

Life in London has been so far to bea post-uni hangover, so now I feel the change in lifestyle and work will do me good.

Hello Tom,

WELCOME ;-)

Excuse my spelling mistakes ( been in the london office 10 hrs.....)

Hi Tom,

this is Mireille- new to Glocals- Have one question... i gather  you got your job applying from #london. I'm from London (native french but feel more british as i lived there longer than in my own country-) too and trying to move to Switzerland with my partner. He is engineer but mostly worked in IT and recently had an interview in Fribourg with a very good company. He was told he was competent for the job but unfortunately the job went to a local......I also worked most in IT but worked once at the UN in Geneva.

I wanted to ask you if search through local recruiters or how did you go about finding your job?

Much appreciated...

Mireille

Mireille

Hi Tom,

Welcome to Geneva!! I made the exact same transition from London to Geneva a year ago and I definetly don't have any regrets. While things are more expensive here the quality of life is better. The city of course is much smaller so has all the advanages and disadvantages of that. It is a big town really with the mentality of an international city - which is great. I am sure you will not miss the commute times in London, but its great that the flight is so short so you can go back and get your fix of night life!

Although, I think if you have an open mind and try to learn french the nightlife can be an adventure as well.

Good luck with your new venture
Lizzie

Thanks again for the replies.

I arrive in exactly 2 weeks. Cannot wait! Hopefully meet some of you guys for drinks when I settle in :)

I never originally planned to move to Geneva but I was headhunted as I advertised my cv on efinancialcareers.com and the role seemed good.

Hi Tom, Thanks for the reply. I worked before in geneva for the UN and commuting from the French Alps so didnt reallly go through the job search as i got the  position when i was working in Germany. I guess you are in Finance - guessing from where you posted your CV.

I'm presently searching for a position in finance, IT or the UN so if you happen to see any good role, please email them to me and I will go through them- thanks.

I hope to move to Geneva / Swizerland with my partner soon and so to meet glocals members...

Thanks again

Mireille

mireille

I've finally arrived :)

Welcome to the party Tom!