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MY SWISS CAREER

LOVE

‘Never put your personal life on hold for work’

Trea Tijmens, originally from Holland, has worked as a matchmaker since 2005, helping expats find love in Switzerland. Here she tells The Local how she went from head hunter to heart hunter and offers some tips on how to navigate the Swiss dating scene.

Published: 2 December 2013 09:00 CET
'Never put your personal life on hold for work'
Trea Tijmens moved to Geneva in 2000 with her family.

What inspired you to set up SuccessMatch?

My professional background is in Human Resources. I have always worked in the front side of Human Resources as I find that most exciting.

After arriving in Geneva in 2000, I had the opportunity to work as a recruiter and head hunter, working with International professionals and matching them for professional purposes.

Nine years ago, I launched SuccessMatch catering to the same target group: professionals.

But now, instead of matching them for professional reasons, I match them for personal reasons. The reason I switched from head hunting to heart hunting is that I came across a lot of professionals who had a busy and successful professional life but no private life.

Matchmaking is my passion and I am proud to say that I recently became the first certified matchmaker in Switzerland — in fact, in continental Europe.

It’s simple: I’m convinced that to love and be loved is a basic human need. Ultimately love is what is most important in life; I launched SuccessMatch to help busy professionals find love.

What kind of people come to you for help? 

Our clients have busy and successful professional lives, they tend to be highly educated and often have an international background, they enjoy a good quality of life, in fact; they have everything in life except for a great partner to share that life with. Clients range in age from mid 20s to late 60s.

How does it work?

SuccessMatch offers confidential and personalized services. I personally meet and get to know all of our prospects at our office in Zurich or Geneva. First I offer a complimentary consultation without obligation on either side in order to better understand who the prospect is and what they are looking for in a partner and the level of service that suits them best. If we both want to work with each other the client needs to sign a contract.

We offer a dating service, a matchmaking service that includes another in-depth intake interview, Myers Briggs personality profile, professional photo shoot, date preparation, coaching and accompanying you throughout the dating process.

Date other expats in Switzerland at meet@thelocal

How would you describe the dating scene in Switzerland?

What dating scene? 

I meet a lot of singles and often hear complaints about the dating scene in Switzerland. True, cities like Zurich and Geneva are so much smaller than other cosmopolitan places, and perhaps here in Switzerland things happen more through personal introductions.

However, I work with clients in New York, Amsterdam, Paris and London and often hear that the dating scene is miserable there as well – albeit perhaps for other reasons.

Is it really so hard for expats to meet people in Switzerland?

If by people in Switzerland you mean Swiss, then yes, it can be challenging to meet Swiss singles, especially when you focus on work and do not speak the local language.

In general, (although I do urge my clients not to generalize), the Swiss are the nicest people but perhaps not the most outgoing or spontaneous upon first encounter or chatty to complete strangers.

The Swiss are relatively family oriented. They grew up here, already have their network of family, friends here and have an existing social life and activities so they may have less need to connect than the single expat who still needs to build his or her life here.

What advice would you give to expats looking for love?

Never put your personal life on hold for professional reasons. I have seen too many people who did that and regretted the wasted time and opportunities later.

Consciously build up a good social life as soon as you arrive in your new environment.

Connect with other people, not only to other expats but also with local people. Joining in activities is the best way to do this, take any type of class (one where you have the opportunity to meet people of the opposite sex), join sports group like hiking or skiing, go to a local church.

Remember that love can be found anywhere at any time so make a conscious ‘effort’ to become aware of your environment and potential opportunities to meet someone nice.

Connect with others as much as you can. This will make your life more enjoyable and interesting and may lead you to find that special partner.

You can contact Trea Tijmens for a complimentary consultation at [email protected] or visit the SuccessMatch website. She is also the CEO of Dating Success.

Click here to check out The Local's dating section

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HEALTH

IN PICTURES: 7 of the French government’s sexiest public health adverts

An advertising campaign aimed at convincing young people to get the Covid vaccine has attracted international attention, but it’s not the first time that French authorities have sexed up their public health messaging.

Published: 8 July 2021 17:22 CEST
Updated: 11 July 2021 12:16 CEST
IN PICTURES: 7 of the French government's sexiest public health adverts
Image: AIDES.

It’s an international cliché that France is the land of l’amour – or at least the land of le sexe – and that reputation does seem to be justified, given how often French public health bodies have turned to sex in an attempt to get their message across.

From the suggestive to the downright scandalous, here are seven examples of health campaigns which relied on that oh so French fondness for romance.

Get vaccinated, get laid

The Covid campaign in question was created by regional health authorities in the southern Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur region.

The poster which has got people hot under the collar features two very attractive and very French-looking people kissing, seemingly in the back of a cab after a night on the town. “Yes, the vaccine can have desirable effects,” it says.

The campaign has proved so popular that it will soon be expanded.

Promoting road safety

Earlier this year, the French Road Safety Delegation released a video ahead of Valentine’s Day, which showed a couple sharing an intimate moment in the bedroom.

The full 30-second video featured the slogan, “Life is better than one last drink for the road”.

Another image of two people kissing, seemingly without clothes, included the line, “Life, love. On the road, don’t forget what truly matters.”

Fight against HIV/AIDS

While the link between road safety and sex isn’t immediately obvious, less surprising are the references to intimacy in the health ministry’s HIV awareness campaign from 2016.

Each of the different posters shows two men embracing. Straplines include, “With a lover, with a friend, with a stranger. Situations vary, and so do the protective measures.”

The posters shocked conservative sensibilities, and several right-wing mayors asked for them to be taken down in their towns. 

HIV awareness campaign

Just a few days after the controversy over the ministry’s posters ignited, the non-profit AIDES launched its own campaign, and it didn’t hold back.

The posters showed scuba instructors, piano teachers and parachutists, all of them naked alongside their students. The slogan: “People undergoing treatment for HIV have a lot of things to pass onto us. But the AIDS virus isn’t one.”

“Even if we’ve been spreading this information since 2008, we realise that a lot of people don’t know that antiviral treatments prevent spreading,” head of AIDES Aurélien Beaucamp told France Info.

“People are still afraid of those who are HIV-positive.” 

Government-mandated pornography

It’s common for sexualised advertising campaigns to be labelled pornographic by critics, but in 1998, the French government went a step further and created actual pornography.

READ ALSO Language of love – 15 of the best romantic French phrases

The health ministry commissioned TV station Canal Plus to create five short erotic films to encourage the use of condoms and prevent the spread of HIV. The campaign featured up-and-coming directors such as Cedric Klapisch and Gaspar Noé.

“The only possible way to look at, to get people to protect themselves, is to show, show everything, show simply and without creating an obsession of the sexual act and the act of wearing a condom,” Klapisch said, according to an Associated Press story published at the time. 

You didn’t really think we’d include images of this one, did you? (OK, here’s a link for those who are curious).

A controversial anti-smoking campaign

https://twitter.com/MarketainmentSE/status/212863393143586817

It’s time to forget what we said about romance, because there is nothing romantic about this 2010 campaign from the Droits des Non-Fumeurs (Non-smokers’ rights) association and the BDDP & Fils communications agency.

The campaign featured several images of young people with a cigarette in their mouths, looking up at an adult man who rested his hand on their heads. The cigarette appeared to be coming out of the man’s trousers.

The slogan said, “Smoking means being a slave to tobacco”. The association said the sexual imagery was meant to get the attention of young people who were desensitised to traditional anti-smoking messages, but the posters caused outrage, with members of the government publicly criticising the choice of imagery.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ love

On the other end of the spectrum is this very romantic video from the national health agency Santé Publique France. It was released on May 17th 2021, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and was part of a campaign against anti-LGBT discrimination and violence. It is set to Jean-Claude Pascal’s Nous les amoureux

Showing a diverse range of couples kissing, holding hands, and healing each other’s wounds, the video ends on the word play: “In the face of intolerance, it’s up to us to make the difference.”

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