Over the years, I’ve worked with professionals in Switzerland who look exactly like what the market asks for.
Their CVs are clean and well structured. Their experience makes sense. They’ve localised their applications, learned how the system works, adjusted their language, and followed the rules closely. From the outside, they look exactly like what the market asks for.
Nothing appears obviously wrong.
And yet, at some point in the conversation, things slow down. There’s usually a pause before they say something they hadn’t planned to admit.
“I sit down to apply and just stare at the screen.”
“I keep tweaking the same paragraph instead of sending it.”
“I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, but it feels heavier every week.”
The kind of tiredness people don’t talk about
This comes up most often during job searches and career transitions. Sometimes after a redundancy. Sometimes after choosing to leave a role that no longer fits. Sometimes after months of effort with no clear feedback or movement.
In Switzerland, this kind of exhaustion rarely looks dramatic. People don’t stop functioning. They continue applying, preparing, staying polite, flexible, and patient. Interviews are still well researched. Deadlines are still respected.
What changes is not how things look from the outside, but how much energy it costs on the inside.
How motivation actually fades
Motivation usually doesn’t disappear all at once. It thins gradually, almost quietly.
One client described delaying applications until late in the evening, telling themselves they would send them “after one more edit”, until the day ended without clicking submit. Another spoke about spending entire evenings refining details on their CV, then feeling too drained to follow through. Someone else noticed they no longer felt nervous before interviews, not because they were confident, but because the outcome no longer felt fully connected to them.
When we slow these moments down together, the cause is rarely laziness or a lack of ambition.
Where the real friction sits
More often, it’s misalignment that has gone unaddressed for too long.
They’re applying for roles they are qualified for, but not roles they feel drawn to. Their effort remains high, yet their sense of influence is low. Many have adapted so well to expectations here that they’ve lost clarity around what they actually want to stand for professionally.
What we usually do to counter this is quite simple: we don’t start with big career goals or five-year plans.
We start with specifics.
For example, we ask… which part of the process is draining you the most right now? Is it the applications themselves, the interviews, the waiting, or the constant need to explain your background and decisions? What has changed recently, whether it’s a manager, a visa situation, family responsibilities, or simply your tolerance for uncertainty?
From there, we look at the cost of staying exactly as things are. Not in abstract terms, but in daily, tangible ones.
The real ‘cost’ of staying the same
Energy, like cancelling plans because you feel inexplicably exhausted after a day of “just applying”. Confidence, like questioning experience you’ve relied on for years.
Time, like weeks passing where nothing moves forward, yet everything feels mentally consuming.
Once that cost becomes visible, we look for one small shift that is actually within reach.
Small shifts that restore choice
For some clients, it’s changing how they speak about their expertise, letting go of constant justification and owning their impact more directly. For others, it’s setting boundaries around effort, applying less but with far more intention. For some, it’s finally involving another person, a coach, a mentor, or a trusted peer, instead of carrying the process alone in silence.
That’s often when motivation starts to return.
Not because the situation suddenly becomes easier, but because a sense of choice comes back into the picture.
Without pressure. Without forcing urgency. With clarity.
People begin to notice what genuinely motivates them. Some respond well to clear challenges and structure. Others need visible progress instead of open-ended waiting. Many regain energy through accountability rather than self-discipline.
Quite often, they also realise something important: their motivation didn’t disappear. Their values shifted.
Transitions tend to expose that. When who you’ve been professionally no longer fits, but the next version isn’t fully formed yet, motivation often dips before direction becomes clearer.
If this is what you’re going through right now, please know that you’re likely in a phase that calls for reflection before momentum.
If you’re job searching or transitioning in Switzerland and finding it harder to stay engaged, I hope this offered some clarity, even a little. Sometimes understanding why motivation changed is enough to stop turning that frustration inward.
And if you want to talk through where your energy is leaking right now, you don’t have to do that part alone. 🙂 Send me a message and let’s talk.
Sincerely,
Adelina Stefan
Adelina Stefan
Founder of Advanced Talent LLC
MCC-ICF Coach & Mentor | MBA, MA
Senior Intercultural Career & Transformational Master Coach
