HSG vs Bocconi: A Migratory Perspective

Hello everyone,

I was recently accepted to Bocconi's MSc in Finance. I should also hear back fairly soon from HSG for their MBF. I am a Non-EU citizen that wants to pursue a career (IB) and live in Europe. From that perspective, does anyone know whether Switzerland or Italy offers better access to work and migrate to Non-EU citizens?

I gathered some information for HSG (http://www.hsgcareer.ch/fileadmin/media/csc.unisg…). I was also able to talk to someone at HSG's Career Services who made it sound very hard, almost impossible, to stay and work in Switzerland, for you have to prove that you are better than all EU and Swiss citizens. If anyone could confirm this, it would be great, as it is somewhat confusing for the document above reads, "no recruitment effort needs to be shown in hiring graduates from Swiss universities who a job of high scienitific or economic value."

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/arbei…

Useful information such as restrictions on hours to work part time or quotas on work permits per year for Italy would be greatly appreciated. Having had my application for the H1B (US work visa) not selected because of the quota, I want to make sure the legal aspect has less of an effect in my career prospect this time.

Thank you in advance for your help!

6 Comments
 

Italy is easier due to Italy being a part of the European Blue Card (Google it). It is much easier after you have gotten your masters to stay in Europe using that program. Was a non-EU citizen and can tell you getting a job in Switzerland is a bitch

 

Thank you, GuyFawkes! It seems that I will meet the Blue Card requirements and should be a fairly straightforward process, plus there is no quota for it like there is in the US for the H1B. Good news is that I only need to focus on getting a job.

Did you do your Masters in Europe and are now working in Europe? It would be encouraging to know that there are more non-EU that followed the same path.

 

I did do my masters (MBA) in Europe in France; I will warn you that the Blue Card Program was brand new when I was graduating (2012) so a lot of companies didn't know about it. You might have to educate the people that you speak with about it if you get that far. After graduation, I got several offers to stay in Europe but I ultimately decided to take one that would bring me to the US. I thought that it had a better short and medium term economic outlook.

 
Best Response

However, it's also very hard to stay in Italy without knowing Italian. Bocconi and St. Gallen will both give you opportunities to land positions in London. My honest opinion, go to St. Gallen if you get in. They are both identically top rated business schools in Europe, except St. Gallen is about the third of the cost. Look into their banking days-- you will see that there is incredible recruitment.

http://www.bankingdays.unisg.ch/en/hsg-banking-days/earlier-editions/hs…

 

Hey Scott, I have this idea that working in the UK as a non-EU citizen is hard on the legal aspect. I had this friend who landed an internship at UBS but when the time came to working out his work Visa (he was studying in the US) it all went downhill and the company rescinded the offer.

Do you know how feasible it is to work in the EU having studied a Masters in Switzerland? Yes, St. Gallen is much cheaper and if it not were for the restrictions on non-EU citizens, it would be my choice. But I think paying some more to a better prospect to migrate and move up from there is worth it. It is just that I experience how much of a pain these restrictions can be when it comes to finding a job.

 

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