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!
By Diana Ritchie, Spouse Career Center and Swiss Career Connections
I was speaking with a friend the other day and she was explaining how she feels like she has been held back by the notion that she wants to and has wanted to move back “HOME” every since she arrived in the region some 11 years ago. She still waits for her visits home to cut her hair, to do her shopping, to stock up on her favorite food items, and does not partake in all that is offered here, as she waits to go “HOME”. She also spoke with envy how a mutual friend managed to get a job in a foreign country – here where she lives. Her feeling of frustration at not knowing how to move on with her life “HERE” is common and felt by many expats, newcomers, and even old-comers.
Do you share her feelings of straddling two countries, one foot here and the other foot on “HOME” turf? Do you feel like if only I was “HOME” I would know how to find a job, and could get on with my life, but here it feels like my life is on hold, or much worse, unpleasant?
As Managing Director of the Spouse Career Centre and Swiss Career Connections, a qualified Sophrologist, and an NLP practitioner, I have organized and will assist in the production of three workshops, designed to help participants make the most of their time abroad.
By David Cooper, Fund Advisers Europe
Moving away from the continued political infighting in the US (who still have not reached a compromise to bring a resolution to the stalemate over raising the debt ceiling). We will now look at the increasing costs of certain commodities and the effects it could have on all of us. Let's focus on oil.
Is your annual holiday coming up? Are you a frequent air traveller, either for business or leisure? Things may be about to change for you!
Most people in Central Europe have, if not actually used, certainly marvelled at the low cost airlines and the prices they are able to offer to passengers to travel hundreds of kilometres in (relative) comfort.
With the price of oil above $100 a barrel is the day of the cheap flight, and subsequently cheap holidays, coming to an end?
By David Cooper, Fund Advisers Europe
The debt crisis affecting Europe is coming to the make or break point. Often called The Sovereign Debt Crisis, the problems that started at the end of 2009 are at a point where a resolution, of some sort will be found.
European leaders will decide today how much they want to save both the European Monetary Union, and ultimately the Euro.
The Sovereign Debt Crisis – caused when a country that has run out of money to pay back the loans it has taken out in the past and is therefore being refused loans for the future – started two years ago in Greece. It has gone on to affect Portugal, Ireland and Spain.
The effects are now being seen in the government bond markets of Italy, and even in France, with higher interest rates being applied by those lending money to these countries. They are viewed as having shown that they could default so are now not seen as a good risk, and are therefore charged more for loans via bond issues. Much the same as someone who has failed to pay back a past mortgage would be refused, or charged more for a loan in the future.
Practical advice on choosing a mortgage
When you live and work in a foreign country, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed when you arrive, some more pressing than others. If you have a family, you will need to make sure they are comfortable in their new environment. Decisions will have to be made about where you are going to live, and whether you should rent or buy a property.
Many of the expatriate community in Switzerland originate from “property ownership strongholds” – countries where it is clearly the norm to buy rather than rent the house you live in. Many people in these countries will also own their own holiday homes and others will buy properties purely for investment purposes.
In Switzerland, the process of buying a house may seem daunting – however it does bear many similarities to other countries. At the end of the day, you will need to ask essentially the same questions as in your home country: How will you buy the property? Where will you get the funds? When will you buy it?
A new career support service has been set up in the region to help English speakers further their career development in Switzerland.
Called Swiss Career Connections, the service is being provided by the Spouse Career Centre (SCC), which has been operating successfully in the region for over 9 years, providing career-related counseling, networking and coaching to partners and spouses of international employees relocating to Switzerland. Until now, this service was provided exclusively to multinational companies for the benefit of their employees.
Describing the new service, SCC Director, Diana Ritchie, says, “At Swiss Career Connections we believe a career support service should provide a 360° approach to active job-hunting. From the start, you will be supported by our trained and experienced career coaches on a one-to-one basis. We will help you to develop and profile your skills, know-how and experience, keep you motivated and on track, prepare you for effective job searching, and guide you through the application process. We will also show you how to use your network more effectively and build upon it as well as benefit from ours.”
She continues, “Experience shows us that this approach adds value in a number of key areas. Not only does it give you a better understanding of how to position yourself in the Swiss job market, but it also improves your self-marketing ability and your competencies awareness level. By improving your access to and impact on potential employers, it ultimately increases your chances of securing employment.”
Clients will be able to choose from four packages, each tailored to individual needs and budgets. The table below shows the key elements of the four tracks on offer (Smart Support Services), with descriptions for each.
