Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
Image courtesy of hywards at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
By Debbie Croft, Croft Coaching / Geneva Coach Alliance
“Maximising Christmas Events and Parties!”
In part 1, we explored ‘what is networking and why even bother with networking?’. Hopefully, you took away the fact that creating conversations can lead to doors opening, directly or indirectly; in a professional search. With the Christmas party season upon us and a peak of events, this is a great opportunity to put those ‘elevator speeches’ into action. The secret is to also enjoy it and feel comfortable! Below are some useful tips to help you present your ‘best, most confident self’:
By Lisa Gibson, http://misswissbliss.wordpress.com/
Winter is upon us and it’s that time of the year when we love nothing more than going up into the mountains to enjoy the snow. It’s all about taking full advantage of fun outdoor winter activities such as tobogganing, snow shoe hiking or simply trudging through the thick snow and enjoying the fresh air.
You don’t even need to make a trip to one of the far flung resorts to enjoy these winter past times – in fact, a short 20 minute trip from Montreux is all it takes to reach one of the regions lesser-known gems: the town of Les Avants.
Image courtesy of hywards at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
By Debbie Croft, Croft Coaching / Geneva Coach Alliance
So, firstly, what is networking why even bother with networking? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, networking is:
“A group of people who exchange information and contacts for professional or social purposes: a support network”.
Why do it - networking is key to success during a job search process here in Switzerland! It is said that over 80% of the jobs secured tend to be a result of networking, as opposed to directly responding to a job opening. So, to maximise your job search, it is very important to build a strong and varied network.
Networking is also a very effective way of overcoming the challenges when transferring into new roles/career, or if you have had a career break; where you may have the skills and capability but not the ‘x number of years of specific experience’ in that field. On a CV/application, that can be harder to communicate. When one is ‘face to face’, connections are made and it is the personality, attitude and skills that become more important.
By Nicola Ogilvie, Just Sew
For my first blog I am going to answer the question I am asked most frequently: “Where do you buy your fabric?”
My first answer is usually “England”, as the prices are considerably higher here in Switzerland! Having said that, the immediate urge to make something today has led me to scour the area for fabric shops. I live near Nyon so have not explored the other side of the lake fully. For this post I have limited it to traditional fabric shops - there are a host of quilting shops with beautiful and interesting cottons that I will cover another time.
In my opinion the shop with the biggest selection and most reasonable prices is TISSUS MONDIAL, near Annemasse in France (see addresses for all shops listed at the end of this blog). This has a large range of fabrics and haberdashery. It also sells some curtain fabric, mostly Swiss style, but what is wonderful about their curtain fabric is that it is extra wide. This means, if you are making curtains, the need to join the fabric will be minimised, not only saving money, as you will not have to worry so much about pattern repeats, but also time.
By Hiba Giacoletto, Healthwise
This is a healthier version of gnocchi than the traditional white potatoes, white flour and eggs that are make up this Italian alternative to pasta. Instead of normal potatoes, I used sweet potatoes - a completely different vegetable despite the name which is significantly higher in vitamin C and vitamin A. Vitamin A is key for eye health and the immune system and just 1 medium-sized sweet potato covers more than 200% of your daily needs in vitamin A and 50% of your daily needs of vitamin C. (source). I have also used a gluten-free, whole grain flour which is a much better option than nutrient-void white flour.
Start by cooking 2 medium sweet potatoes.
