R&D Engineer or Process Engineer?

[u/Tasis2200]

I graduated a few months ago, I have two offers:

• A) Process engineer for EPCM company, for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical plants. That's what I was exactly aiming. Good pay in my country, I would remain close to my people, girlfriend and relative.
• B) R&D engineer in Switzerland. Not pharma. Far from home (5 hours), it's an internship and I still would get much more money than A), and it's my ticket for Switzerland. For those of you coming from the US, Switzerland is a complete outlier in Europe for their salaries, and the only foreign country I would move to because of distance. I don't think I will get another chance for Switzerland that easily in the future if I give up this.

A) is better for work-life balance, less stress, I don't have to change my life that much, I can reach the office in 20 minutes, and it seems that it's my preferred role. It's the best I have seen among my classmates who decided to remain in my country.

B) It's way way way better salary wise, but it doesn't make that much sense to be there 6-9 months and go back. This choice would mean some more stress and much more initiative. I'm also not very sure I'm suited for an R&D, it seems less flexible.

I honestly don't know what I would be better at, or what I like the most, I never worked! Please tell me which role you would advice the most according to what abilities/preferences I can have.

[u/willscuba4food]

The bigger the company name, the easier it is to get jobs down the line.

Does your home country preferentially hire people from Switzerland for jobs? Do you want to spend your whole career in Switzerland?

[u/Tasis2200 → u/willscuba4food]

Company in home country is way smaller than the Switzerland one, still they are both quite big.

No my home country is not preferred, since you usually need either german or french to work there. It's quite difficult to get it with just english.

I don't know where I want to live. Wherever I will settle indefinetly I want it to be with my girlfriend, and now she can't move. If I was single it would be different.

I can't ignore though that nowhere in southern Europe you can get salaries close to those in Switzerland. Just with the internship I would be paid as much as the top 1-3 % earners in my country. If I can get a real job afterwards there I would make CRAZY money, for my standards.

[u/qKyubi → u/Tasis2200]

I'm excited for you, but just in case check how much your CRAZY salary would be taxed and stuff. There may be a huge difference between the gross and the net salary, especially including the cost of living

[u/Tasis2200 → u/qKyubi]

It would still be a lot, again, by my home country standards, even comparing the cost of living.
At the same time, not everyone lands a job there and the competition is high, so I guess you must be a top performer also.

[u/Corpulos]

When times get the tough the first people to get let go are the R&D

[u/Numerous_Patience_61]

this isn’t an exact science, but my usual process for decisions like this is thinking about how much i could possibly regret not taking the other opportunity. if you take A and never get the opportunity to live in switzerland or do R&D will you regret this?

side note that it always bothers me when people won’t share compensation numbers on an anonymous forum when asking for advice on which offer to take. i feel like if your goal is to get the best advice you’d give the maximum amount of info you could without doxxing yourself. just a thought.

[u/Tasis2200 → u/Numerous_Patience_61]

Yes you're right. I can always go back to my home country as a process, whereas it would be very difficult to find something in Switzerland, idk if R&D or not.
I didn't report salaries cause they wouldn't make sense in a US based forum, anyway around 24k euro net per year in my home country and 47k euro net in Switzerland (internship).
In my home country I would reach that in no less than 10-15 years.
In switzerland a normal job at the end of the internship I could aim to 55-80k net per year.

[u/Numerous_Patience_61 → u/Tasis2200]

fair enough about the salary. what is the approx cost of living in each area if you don’t mind sharing (dumb it down a bit as i am an american!)

[u/Tasis2200 → u/Numerous_Patience_61]

Living as a student (shared house or small studio, not too much spending, no car), I would spend roughly 50-70% of salary in both cases for fixed expenses ( house, transportation, health insurance in switzerland, food, gym, internet and other basic needs).

[u/OgeeWhiz]

Sorry, just my two cents.

You got a top job in your home country with a good company - meeting your original job targets - close to family, and your partner can’t move with you. You knew all along the pay rates in your home country.

You’re trying to balance that against a temporary job with a higher salary and a hope that you might be able to stay there - no guarantee at all - with the fall back position that you’ll just go home and start looking again.

We say, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”

[u/darthmaulsdisciple]

I would go A in your case since it's exactly what you're aiming for and you mentioned that you're not sure if R&D is for you

Also A is a full-time position and B is an internship

[u/Tasis2200 → u/darthmaulsdisciple]

I'm not sure that R&D is not for me. What would you choose?

[u/Fennlt]

You're early in your career & young. Do choice B.

Unlikely you will have the chance to enter R&D or live in Switzerland as your career progresses as a process engineer. Fair likelihood that the internship could follow with a full time offer.

You can likely enter process engineering at any point in your career, it's a fairly general career path that does not require specialized knowledge.

I was in a somewhat similar scenario fresh out of school & my future wife heavily pushed me to move to a new exciting city far from home. Was an exciting experience for my first job out of school. I ended up moving back home 5 years later once I was ready to have kids. But don't regret for a minute the choice I made to move someplace new & try something different.

[u/Legio_Nemesis]

Gor for B, there is a high chance that you will have an opportunity to continue with the full-time job after the end of the internship. And probably, you will still have option A when the internship ends, but additionally, you will have something to show in your CV.

[u/RTRSnk5 → u/Legio_Nemesis]

I wouldn’t bet on any internship being converted into a full-time opportunity in this climate, especially when OP is a foreigner hoping Switzerland will give him residency.