Applying to a Swiss company with no job advert: how an unsolicited application actually lands

Look at the shape of who is hiring. Across the employers with a live advert in Switzerland this week, 44% have exactly one open role and another 24% have two or three. Only a third have four or more, and those are the ones with a recruiting team and an applicant tracking system between you and anyone with a budget.

A company with a single ad is one where the owner or the lead manager personally reviews applications. This is also a company that has advance knowledge of upcoming openings, typically months in advance: a forthcoming departure, a client project requiring additional staff. None of this information appears on a job board; it's held internally. An unsolicited application is you making a timely connection with someone who has this information.

The truth of the matter is that this is as far as it goes. An unsolicited application submitted to a bank or insurer with a robust HR pipeline gets stored in a database, but not much else happens. Target the right place for it to be effective.

This is where most unsolicited applications die, and it is fixable in ten minutes. A letter that opens Dear Sir or Madam and goes to info@ announces that you did not look. A letter to Ms Keller, Head of Logistics, announces that you did. Swiss employers read that difference as the first test of whether you would do the same on the job.

Starting with the company website, visit the team page, the legal notice section, and the news section where they post about new initiatives or significant deals. Next, search LinkedIn, filtered by company, for professionals with the exact title you're interested in. If you can't find a match, call the reception desk and ask who's in charge of the relevant department; this inquiry is not unusual and you'll likely receive a response.

One more thing that surprises people arriving from abroad: 92% of Swiss adverts on our platform take applications on the employer's own site, not through a portal. So the careers page you find is usually where a speculative dossier goes too, and it is worth checking whether it has an open-application form before you email.

Don't assume the only subject worth writing about is yourself. This misguided instinct needs to be suppressed. A speculative letter must serve not only as an advertisement for you but also as a stand-in for your application. Consequently, the first paragraph of the letter should draw attention to something that you know about the company: for instance, their new location in Aargau, their decision to transition to a new ERP system, or the fact that they cater to French-speaking clients while their team page remains exclusively in German. Your relevance to the company should be concisely stated in one sentence.

Paragraph two is your closest example, with a number. Not your whole history, the CV carries that, but the one piece of work nearest to what you just named. Paragraph three is the ask: a conversation, and thanks for their time. Sincerely and your name. Under 900 characters of body, one page, no bullets.

Above the letter: the date as city and month, the recipient on three lines with the company name in bold, and a subject line. Without an advert the subject line is yours to write, and the good ones name the role and the workload: Initiativbewerbung als Logistikkoordinator, 80–100%. That line is what gets forwarded internally, so make it forwardable.

When you apply without being asked, the employer's first question is often "can we hire you?" Since an unsolicited application doesn't come with a job description, your initial pitch is your proof of eligibility. State it clearly and concisely in the CV header: do you hold a Swiss B permit, are you an EU citizen, or are you willing to be transparent about your non-EU status?

For citizens of the EU and EFTA, the process is uncomplicated: they can be employed as easily as local residents, and explicitly stating this at the outset alleviates uncertainty. However, applicants from outside the EU face greater challenges, and it's more honest to put it bluntly: a small company with one open position is unlikely to initiate a permit process for a speculative employee, so focus on larger firms that have successfully navigated this before, or apply first with a permit you already possess.

Languages go in the same header line. If the company works in German and you have B2, say B2. An unsolicited application from abroad that leaves language off the CV is read as an application from someone who has not thought about the move.

It's common for there to be no immediate response to an unsolicited application, and a lack of response doesn't necessarily mean you won't be considered. Small businesses often review applications in batches, only responding when a position becomes available. If you haven't heard back after a week or ten days, make a follow-up call to the person you initially contacted, but just once. The key issue isn't whether you've landed the job, but rather whether the employer received your application and whether a brief conversation is warranted. Typically, a phone call elicits a higher response rate than a letter alone.

Registered individuals with the RAV can find relevant paperwork here as well. A genuine, documented application counts as a job search activity if it includes essential details such as the company, contact information, date of submission, and the materials sent. Maintain a copy of the application and any subsequent response. While many advisors consider such submissions, those who are more stringent require verification of the company's legitimacy and the feasibility of the role applied for.

File it, and make it count. By the time that employer advertises three months down the line, your file is already ahead of the pack on the hiring manager's desk. It's in that second application, though, that a lot of unsolicited efforts actually start to yield results.