SighGuy,

Try...www.datingagency.com/

I believe you have blundered into the International Schools Review Forum by mistake.

SighGuy

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

I think you would be wise to take Lincoln's advice on this one...

@SighGuy,

I am sure you don't really need me to explain how they didn't all arrive at the same time and so will not be leaving at the same time do you? How some will stay for 4, 5, 6 or 7 years (or more) before leaving.

Tell me you didn't really need me to explain that to you?

Could you also answer the question I asked you...

How long did you work in Switzerland?

@SighGuy

Explain how you can disagree with mbovi? He is not offering an opinion...but he is telling you how much money he saved in Tokyo and how much money he is saving in Singapore.

SighGuy,

Sorry - you are a fool! What a ridiculous statement...'i can count on one hand the number of teachers who left Switzerland for teaching IT positions elsewhere'. Do you know how many international schools there are in Switzerland...and you are tracking all of them?

In the school that I worked in (approx. 150 staff) there were (maybe) 25% of the faculty who were long termers who had decided to settle in Switzerland. 25% does not qualify as 'most' in any definition. The average length of tenure for the staff within the school was 6 years.

I paid 2,000 CHF for a 4 bedroomed apartment in Zurich...I think 1,500 CHF would do just fine for a 2-3 bedroomed place. You don't get an annual deduction for your children, you get a child allowance of 300 CHF per child (per month) up to the age of 16, and this increases to 350 CHF per child up until the age of 25. This amount varies per Canton.

SighGuy...please tell me...how long did you work in Switzerland?

@euxpat

This is a difficult one to answer as your pension contributions are on a sliding scale depending upon your age. Your employer (school) also makes a contribution and the level of the contribution depends upon the policy of school. I think if you figured on about 7% this would give a reasonable ball park figure. I don't know if this varies depending upon the Canton that you live or work in.

@Singablesong

I think you can probably thank higgsbosom and anyone else like him for schools that don't pay up front. If you have paid for your ticket at least there is a good chance that you will show up.

By the way...if you have seen previous posts from him you will know that higgsbosom specialises in targeting what he would classify as Tier 3 schools with crap admin. Like will always seek out like.

Starting salaries, with 20+ years of experience would be circa 90,000 CHF per year...of course this will vary from school to school and this figure is based upon the school that I worked in. This is about 95,000 USD on current exchange rates. If you are single then the salary is good. If you are married with kids you really do need to have two salaries coming in, but then you can live very well. It would be a struggle to survive on one salary with non working spouse and children.

You could expect to pay around 1500 CHF per month for a nice 2 bedroomed apartment in the Zurich area. Obviously if you are looking for a lake view that price would increase significantly.

When you leave Switzerland you can basically take your state pension contributions with you. If you are moving out of Europe then you can take that as a tax free lump sum, if you are moving within Europe then it can be transferred to another pension scheme.

I should also add that the tax rate depends upon where you live. They vary from Canton to Canton, as each sets its own tax rate. The total tax that you would pay in Zurich is currently 39.18%, while in Zug the total tax rate is 23.82%. These rates include Federal Tax, Cantonal Tax, Communal Tax and Church Tax. While you might regard Zurich as quite high, you similarly might conclude that Zug is quite low - especially when compared to other European tax rates. What SighGuy did get right is that salaries in Switzerland are high and the quality of life is high.

If you are the kind of person that gets bored with beautiful scenery, an outdoorsy lifestyle, skiing or snowboarding, being based in the very heart of Europe...then yes, you would get bored with Switzerland. Having said that...there is a vibrant night life and music scene in Zurich so there is even stuff for 'young' people :-).

Please note that this information comes as a result of having lived and worked in Switzerland.

I think if you replaced 'most' with...'some' people never use the departing ticket, because they stay until they retire...then you might be closer to the truth.

However, SighGuy is never one to let the truth get in the way of a good post.

@tdaley26,

I can't imagine too many people will be making decisions based upon higgsbosom's posts. This is someone whose moral code is (apparently) too offensive to publish...

I have no doubt that he has been fired a few times in his 'career' which would explain the hatred for admin. However, there is a certain irony in the fact that he openly admits that he is the worst member of staff that any school could hope for, and yet brands those who don't fire him as 'useless'.

Oh...that principle...and there I was thinking that you were talking about a moral code or conduct. Silly me.

...and that principle would be?

@higgsbosun,

It could well be that the admin have done their research and concluded that at YCIS they 'could do next to nothing for two years and walk away with savings and a good reference'.

What makes YOU any better than them?

@higgsbosun...

You on the other hand, are clearly a credit to the teaching profession...that must be why I remembered you so well.

Life is pretty good where I am sitting :-).