Keep (net)working

One summer day I discovered a technology that would revolutionize my art projects and beyond – NFC tags! To be precise, NFC tags in form of stickers. Pretty much every smartphone nowadays can read NFC tags because it uses the same technology to make contactless payments. I started thinking: “What short piece of information do I want to share with people?” My contact details of course!

And the personal business card idea was born.

Considering the standard size of a business card, the NFC tag would take up a lot of space. Nevertheless, I still wanted to integrate the NFC tags into the design. They look hypnotizing to me (kind of like hypnotoad), so I transformed them into owl eyes. I made many handmade NFC cards ever since, but now I’d like to present you… my masterpiece 😉!

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April 2025 was the first month of my unemployment. I chose to leave my job when I stopped learning. I felt like I could do much more than technical/engineering support. The uncertainty of my role after internal reorganization was causing me quite a lot of stress, so I decided to trade it off for the uncertainty of unemployment 😀 In any case, I needed a break between jobs, and I could financially afford it, so why not making a leap of faith towards something more exciting? At first, I was very excited to spend my days outside and have a good sleep.

The first three days of unemployment I attended the Polymesse job fair at ETH university. It’s meant for ETH students and graduates, but as my insider told me, nobody checks and cares about your relationship to ETH. Basically all important tech companies from the Zürich canton have their booths at Polymesse, give lectures and swag. Job fairs are the best way to get insider information about the company when you don’t know anyone working there.

I read a book called „The 2-hour job search” by Steve Dalton, which suggested contacting relevant people on LinkedIn out of the blue. I couldn’t see how this method would lead to success. When I get contacted by random people interested in my company, I usually find it rather annoying, unless it’s an acquaintance of an acquaintance. There must be some kind of connection. That’s why I started thinking of different ways to make connections, especially in person.

Networking is something that I neglected during my last job and this is my biggest lesson for the future. Keep networking, not just working.

Polymesse job fair was my chance to make good business cards as my personal branding. I wanted people to remember me, for example my curiosity, creativity and tech spirit. I quickly designed a simple card where the NFC tag would be the centerpiece. When you read it, it goes straight to my LinkedIn. Focus, my boyfriend, printed 100 copies in Greece for around 20 EUR. Apparently, they have a different business card format in Greece (90×50 mm) compared to Switzerland (85×55 mm). The Greek one is slightly longer on the bigger dimension. Great, another way to make my card stand out in a pile! My previous NFC tags were not readable by iPhones, so this time I bought compatible ones (NTAG215).

You can buy the NFC stickers for example from Amazon: Link
Programming the tag is very easy too. Download a smartphone app called NFC tools. Make sure you enable the NFC communication in the settings, then you can write your own info into the tag using the app.

I convinced my friend Shu to join me at Polymesse and have some fun. On the first day in the morning, we were actively approached by people from the booths. There were more booth employees than students and everyone was still fresh and excited. The situation quickly changed after lunch and since then we always had to wait in a queue to talk to employers. I had my list of target companies and within three days I managed to talk to all of them. We also got two sets of professional CV photos for free! I gave away many business cards and got two interviews, expanded my network and knowledge of the job market. Overall conclusion – companies were not hiring new people due to economic situation. It was becoming clear that my unemployment would last a couple of months. This was not very encouraging to be honest, but nothing could spoil our good mood supported by warm spring sunshine.

While recovering from intense networking in the bench area, we met a very friendly Uyghur guy Shizzy. We were drinking beers at the end of the day and sharing how we all ended up looking for a job. We had a great time and I decided to keep in touch with Shizzy. I slowly started sharing some networking events with him and

Shizzy had a brilliant idea – let’s start an unemployment support group!

We called it Propeller, because our goal was to push each other forward. Together with his Polish friend Marcin we started meeting weekly in a neighborhood bar and discussed our job search. We shared our successes, traumas and made a task list for the upcoming week. Shu joined us a couple of months later. The constant stream of rejections and uncertainty can very quickly destroy a job seeker’s motivation, but this is not the worst. The worst, in my opinion, is when you are not treated like a person with valuable skills. When people don’t respect your time, their commitments or ask you to work for free. Unemployment can be a long humbling experience, but you don’t have to face it alone! I am endlessly thankful to this group for making me feel heard, supported and curious about what comes next.

Let’s rewind a couple of months into the future, September 2025. Applying for job ads didn’t get me anywhere, no matter how qualified I was for the role. I realized that I needed to adapt my strategy and intensify my networking efforts.

Let’s say it as bluntly as possible: “It doesn’t matter how qualified you are when you are one of hundreds of applicants in the list. You are a needle in a haystack.”

I had to meet as many people as possible to help me move to the top of the haystack. I was confident to do well during an interview, but first I needed to increase my chances of getting one.

I subscribed to one newsletter and I managed to get a free ticket to Swiss Medtech expo in Luzern. This was not a job fair; its primary purpose was to connect Medtech companies with suppliers. As I was preparing my business cards for the following day, I realized that I did something hilariously dumb. During the registration I was asked to fill the company that I work for, so I automatically wrote Unemployed. When I got an email explaining how to pick up my badge, I started laughing when I connected the dots. Yes, they would print Unemployed on the badge under my name 😀 But hey, I realized it the day before, so I took corrective tools with me to the conference.

The following morning I saw my badge and chuckled for a while. Eventually I fixed it and moved on to networking. I was a bit shy in the beginning, but to my own surprise, I forgot that I genuinely enjoyed talking to people! I heard the same story again – many companies could use my skills, but they were not hiring. Of course I was disappointed, but I still enjoyed my time. I even ran out of business cards with NFC tags!

The next day was even better. Since I already fulfilled my duty and got contacts from the most interesting companies, I came to talk to people with no specific agenda in my mind. As I looked at my badge with Unemployed erased, I decided to just own it:

“I’m unemployed by choice. I am not ashamed of my situation. Of course I would love to find a new job, but it’s not urgent. I am ready to wait for the right job.”

As soon as I approached people with this mindset, it was easier to connect and I enjoyed the networking even more. People started sharing about their partners in a similar situation, asked me for my experience, expressed their regret of not taking a long break, gave me tips about their own networking activities… Remember to be yourself, Sandra ❤️

P.S.: Networking and my unemployment support group did eventually help me to land a job. Shizzy’s friend recommended me to the relevant department in his company when I applied for a job. Let’s toast to new beginnings!