Many people contact us when they are looking for interesting IT jobs in Switzerland. One of our candidates, Ross Jones, has now been working for Novartis in Basel for the past four years. His official job title is “SharePoint Solutions Architect & Project Consultant”, but he is also known to many as the “Sharepoint Guru”.
You have spent the majority of your career working in IT. What fascinates you most about the IT world?
What I really enjoy about working in IT is the problem solving aspect. The business always has different needs and it's always a new challenge to find a way to efficiently meet that need. IT is an industry that is always changing, always growing and getting better. It is never stagnant and I like that and learning about new tools and technologies.
What does your job as a Sharepoint Guru at Novartis entail?
The main part of my job is to speak to people in different departments to find out how to improve business processes with SharePoint. However it is not the technical side of my job which I find challenging. Often people are not used to changing the way they work and find it hard adapting to a new technologies or processes, so I spend a lot of time explaining how Sharepoint works. Currently we are working on a training program to get everyone on the same level of knowledge.
You and your family moved to France, just across the border from Basel, when you got your job in Basel at Novartis. How easy did you find adjusting to life in the Basel area?
I like the small town vibe Basel has. The weather is better than in the UK, and I like the fact that there is a lot of art and culture. I haven't swum in the Rhine yet, but am planning to do so this summer. The school system in France is different to the UK of course, but my children adapted to French schools a lot easier than I expected. They are now fluent in French and have their own secret language at home.
Is it difficult to be away from your family and friends?
Of course it isn't easy living away from family and friends, but we live near to the airport, and I sometimes find I see my family more now that I live further away than when we lived down the road. Many people say to me “I wish I could pack my bags and move so easily...” and I don't understand why they don't. Moving to France and integrating at work was easy, that's why I say to them: “Go for it!”
So, if you would like to follow Ross's advice and find a job in Basel or a job in Switzerland, feel free to continuously check our open positions in the job section of our site and apply!
_1.svg)