Application as Application Developer

Application Developer is a profession in IT / Software Development, typically entered via IT Specialist EFZ, Application Development track (4 years). Anyone applying here should know these requirements and pitfalls - specific to the Swiss job market, not generic.

Technical Requirements

• Object-oriented programming, usually Java, C# or TypeScript
• Version control with Git, working with pull requests and code reviews
• Relational databases and SQL
• Automated testing (unit and integration tests)
• Agile collaboration following Scrum or Kanban
• German at least C1, English B2 for documentation and frameworks

Personal Requirements

• Diligence and willingness to have your own code critically reviewed
• Ability to explain technical matters to non-technical colleagues
• Willingness to learn as technologies change

Common Mistakes in the Application

• Listing twenty technologies without saying what was actually built with them
• No link to GitHub, GitLab or a visible project - for developers this is the most important reference
• Purely technical language, even though HR often reads the application first, not the specialist department
• Playing down the apprenticeship and its projects, even though in Switzerland these count as full professional experience

Typical Employers in Switzerland

Zühlke, Adnovum, ELCA, Netcetera, Ergon Informatik, Swisscom, PostFinance, Bedag, Abraxas, cantonal administrations.

Excerpt from a Cover Letter

Dear Ms. Meier During my IT apprenticeship (EFZ) at Bedag, I spent four years contributing to a specialist application for the cantonal administration - Java in the backend, Angular in the frontend, around 40 active users daily. What I learned from that was not a language, but how to keep asking a specialist department questions until the requirement is genuinely clear.

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