Real Career Story
Finding a job in Zurich after a career break
Finding a job in Zurich after a career break can feel overwhelming, especially after years focused on family life and international relocations.
When Maria came back to Switzerland in 2025 with her husband and their three school-aged children, she was not simply relocating: she was trying to rebuild a professional identity.
After years of international moves, from Mexico to Pakistan, then the Philippines, Switzerland, Panama, the United States, and finally back to Switzerland, her life had been rich in adaptation, resilience, and growth. She had learned to rebuild routines, navigate new cultures, and create stability for her family in very different environments.
Professionally, however, things felt more complicated.
Maria had started her career with strong and promising positions in a renown multinational company, working across different functions and countries. She had built an impressive academic background, including an MBA in International Management, and she had always been recognised for her intelligence, curiosity, and ability to adapt quickly.
Yet after more than ten years focused mainly on family life, international relocations, and only a few volunteering roles, she found herself facing a difficult and deeply personal question: Who was she professionally now?
Like many highly qualified international professionals returning to the Swiss job market after a long career break, Maria felt the gap between what she knew she was capable of and what her CV seemed to communicate.
She came to coaching with a clear wish, but not yet a clear answer. Her objective was simple in words, but significant in meaning: she wanted to rediscover her professional direction, adjust her personal branding for the job market, and land a job.
There was one thing she already knew with certainty: she no longer wanted to return to a traditional corporate role. But beyond that, everything felt unclear. She did not know what kind of work would truly suit her anymore, nor how to position herself in a market that had changed so much.
Before writing a CV, before sending applications, before networking, there had to be clarity.
So we started where many people forget to begin: not with the job market, but with Maria herself.
Together, we explored her purpose. We looked beyond past job titles and responsibilities and focused instead on the deeper thread connecting her life from childhood to adulthood. What had always mattered to her? What gave her energy? How did she naturally create value in the world? What kind of contribution felt meaningful rather than simply productive?
This process was not about choosing a job title from a list. It was about identifying her true professional nature.
Little by little, something powerful emerged. Maria’s professional identity had never disappeared. It had simply been hidden under years of transitions, practical decisions, and family priorities.
What became clear was her unique way of engaging with people and organisations: her empathy, her international mindset, her structured thinking, and her natural ability to create meaningful relationships built on trust and respect.
From there, we were able to translate this into a concrete professional positioning for the Zurich market. Not something generic or forced, but something authentic and strategically strong. We identified organisations where her specific strengths would not only fit but would be needed.
For the first time in a long time, the path ahead started to feel real.
Once the positioning was clear, the work on branding became much easier. Her CV, LinkedIn profile, and professional story were rebuilt around this new clarity.
This was a turning point.
Maria had spent so much time focusing on what she thought she had lost—the career gap, the years outside formal employment, the uncertainty: that she had stopped seeing the real value of her journey.
Now she could see it differently.
Her international moves, her multilingual development, her cultural adaptability, and even the complexity of managing life across countries were no longer weaknesses to justify. They were strengths to own.
For the first time, she could explain her career path with confidence and authenticity. Her story made sense, not because we invented something new, but because we finally aligned it with who she really was.
And yet, just as everything was ready for action, doubt returned.
This is often the moment people underestimate in a job search. The strategy may be ready, the CV polished, the target clear, but emotionally, fear still finds its way in.
Maria wondered whether her dream role was realistic. She questioned whether she could truly make it happen after such a long professional pause. She had the tools, but not yet the full trust in herself.
This is where coaching goes far beyond practical advice.
Because job searching is never only about applications. It is about identity, confidence, and sometimes faith. It asks people to believe in possibilities before there is visible proof.
Together, we worked on rebuilding not only confidence, but trust, trust in her own value, trust in timing, and trust that the right opportunity could exist even if it was not visible yet. We also reconnected her with something deeply important to her: her spiritual side. This helped her move from fear into belief, from hesitation into action.
At that stage, most people would immediately turn to job boards and start sending applications everywhere.
But for Maria, that would not have been the right strategy.
Instead, we chose something less obvious and far more powerful. Rather than focusing first on applications, we focused on authentic connection.
Maria learned how to create meaningful relationships with people already working inside the organisations she truly wanted to join. Not transactional networking. Not cold messages asking for favours. Real conversations based on curiosity, respect, and genuine interest.
This approach worked because it reflected who she naturally was.
Maria cares deeply about people. She listens well. She builds trust easily. She creates meaningful relationships without forcing them.
Instead of asking her to become someone else to succeed, we built a strategy around her natural strengths.
That changed everything.
Through these connections, Maria created internal referrals inside her preferred organisations. When the right role finally opened, she was no longer just another CV arriving through the system. She had people inside who knew her, believed in her, and were willing to support her.
They helped her navigate the recruitment process, understand expectations, and approach the opportunity with confidence.
That support was invaluable.
And when the offer came, it did not feel like luck. It felt like the natural result of clarity, courage, and consistency.
Maria got the job.
Today, she is succeeding above expectations in the role, not because she transformed into someone new, but because she finally learned how to fully stand in who she had always been.
Her story is not only about finding a job. It is about reclaiming professional identity after life has pulled you in many directions. It is about understanding that career breaks do not erase competence, and that international relocations do not weaken professional value.
Most of all, it is about realising that your story is not something to apologise for. It can become your strongest asset.
Sometimes, the right strategy is not applying harder.
It is becoming clearer—clearer about your value, clearer about where you belong, and clearer about how you want to contribute.
That is where everything starts.
And often, that is where everything changes.
Confidentiality note: This story is based on a real coaching journey. Names and selected details have been adapted to preserve confidentiality while remaining faithful to the overall experience and transformation process.