Applying in the public sector: procedure and particularities

In Switzerland positions are advertised via cantonal and municipal job portals and via the federal government's job portal. Every advert contains a requirements profile with must-have and nice-to-have criteria.

• Must-have criteria are formal: education, work experience, language skills, sometimes residence or Swiss citizenship.
• Nice-to-have criteria are desirable and rarely a reason for exclusion.
• Procedure: written pre-selection, structured interview based on a competence model, sometimes a case study or assessment, references, decision by the appointing authority.

The decision is often slower than in the private sector – two to three months is normal.

The formal requirements are stricter, the room for manoeuvre smaller:

• Completeness: attach all required evidence – diplomas, employment references, sometimes a criminal record extract or debt collection register extract.
• Cover letter: reference to the requirements profile, point by point, factual. Creative openings rarely work here.
• Form: many administrations require an application form in addition to the documents – complete it fully and truthfully, even if the details are in the CV.
• References: often required, with name, function and telephone number. Obtain consent beforehand.

Public employers often work with competence models: leadership, cooperation, communication, results orientation, willingness to change. Questions are behaviour-based:

«Describe a situation in which you had to resolve a conflict between two stakeholder groups. What was your role, what was the result?»

• Answer with STAR: situation, task, action, result – in 90 seconds, with a measurable result.
• Case studies: a politically delicate situation, a budget conflict, an instruction with a tight deadline. What is asked for is a structured approach, not the perfect solution.
• Personality tests: used, rarely as an exclusion criterion. Answer consistently, not strategically.

Preparation: note the five core competencies of the position and prepare two own examples for each.

In the public sector a pay system with bands and function levels applies; individual negotiation is heavily restricted. What you should know:

• Classification: the function determines the pay class, experience the level within the class.
• No bonus: variable remuneration is rare; in return, social benefits, holidays and working-time models are often more generous.
• Probation period: often three months, with criteria for proving suitability.
• Further training: there is usually an organised offering and a budget for training – raise it early.

Do not negotiate the pay but the classification and the level – and ask about the scope for adjusting the workload.

For certain functions – for instance at federal offices with security-relevant tasks, in the police or in the prison service – a personnel security check is required. Among other things it examines:

• any previous convictions and ongoing proceedings,
• financial circumstances (debt enforcement, loss certificates),
• contacts and secondary employment in the relevant context.

Further requirements may include Swiss citizenship, residence in the canton, a driving licence, language skills in two official languages or willingness to work on-call duty. Check these points before applying: they are generally not negotiable.

The public sector increasingly hires from outside the administrative career – especially in IT, construction, social work, health and education.

• Translate your experience into the language of administration: «project management» becomes «project leadership», «customer support» becomes «public contact», «reporting» becomes «reporting systems».
• Emphasise orientation towards the common good – not as a platitude but with a concrete example.
• Meet deadlines: adverts have fixed submission deadlines; extensions are rare.
• Following up: a call to the contact person before applying is expressly welcome and noted positively.

After a rejection: have your application reviewed in the system and apply again at the next advert – lateral entries via another function are common in the public sector.