Almost four years without an update. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Real Net Income
Since I was taxed at source, I decided to input the real salary that hit my account after AHV and tax deductions. Not correct for 2025 and 2026 prediction. It’ll probably be between CHF65K and CHF68K.
Theoretical Gross Income
And here’s the base gross salary negotiated in the contract.
Breakdown
Q3 2018 - Q2 2022: IT Apprenticeship
Q3 2022 - Q4 2022: Part-time IT Technician
Q1 2023 - Q1 2023: Jobless
Q1 2023 - Q3 2023: IT Support Specialist at the same place I did the apprenticeship
Q3 2023 - Q2 2024 : IT Service Desk Specialist
Q3 2024 - Q1 2025: IT Technician
Q2 2025 - Present: IT Technician in Fribourg.
Key takeaways
I never, ever, want to go back to RAV. I hated every single moment of that and wanted to put a bullet through my head when discussing with my counsellor. May God bless her, but what a fucking pain in the ass she was.
I do not wish to work in Geneva unless I’m paid CHF130K+. Not worth it commuting that far and working with French salaries. I find it difficult working with French commuters, it’s not the same when you’re not living in CH.
I had to go to Fribourg to find a decently paying technician job.
Future Outlook and added context
IT job market is looking bleak, unless a Data Engineer with a PhD, Polyglot and quintillion years of experience.
I’m currently doing the Wirtschaftsinformatiker Brevet. Trying to take next year’s exam. I’m doing it just to have the paper. I was interviewing for DevOps and Cloud roles when the market was hot, but unfortunately it didn’t go through.
Not only that, but I haven’t found my passion and don’t know if I’ll remain in IT in the coming years. For now, it’s just a job to pay my bills.
I wanted to be an Elektroniker, but was unable to find an apprenticeship, then into Software, but same thing. That’s why I defaulted into IT Systems, that may also be the reason I cannot find good jobs; networking (as in IT networking) is not my forte.
After apprenticeship, I tried doing the Matura while working part-time. Not fun at all. I was working very far, and it was just a nightmare to conciliate the two. Then, I did some maths and for a Bachelors it’d take me 5 years if everything went fine. If I wanted to have a scholarship, I had to sign up first to Uni and start the courses before knowing if I was sure to have one.
I just couldn’t see myself studying without earning some money for three years, that’s why I decided to continue working and figure things out along the way while I save money and invest. Do not regret that decision a single bit.
Right now, I’m looking at Bachelor options at the Open Uni to do Computing and Electronic Engineering. There are some interesting programming modules and I can do it slowly while working.
Addendum:
If writing too much, it’s better to make a draft and paste it when finished. I didn’t want to post it yet, hence the deleted comment above xD.