Profile: Claudia Gass

Position: Senior HR Officer

The BIS is my first real employer - before joining in 1992 I went to a commercial college that trained administrators, and temped in a couple of local companies between language study stays in French-speaking Switzerland and England. My background is very Swiss: we're not what you'd call an international family! However, I've always enjoyed languages and wanted to use them, so focused on companies with global operations in my job hunt. Funnily enough, the BIS and its activities were not very familiar to me back then, despite growing up in Basel.

My first job at the BIS was in the Building, Security and Logistics section, where I spent six years. Interacting with people has always been the part I enjoyed the most, so when a vacancy in HR came up, I was thrilled to be selected. I have not regretted that move one single day. Many things have changed in and around HR since then, but my job today still gives me full exposure to the mix of people, cultures and languages from around the world. This makes every day different and thanks to our globally recruited staff members with very varied backgrounds, you constantly learn new things and can get into some very animated discussions on a whole range of topics. In my case, it also makes me see my home country through different eyes - a perspective I'd recommend to everyone! In short, working at the BIS often feels like living abroad without leaving the country, and then I can go home to my familiar Swiss surroundings.

From an insider's perspective, I think it's fair to say that the BIS is at the heart of what's going on in the financial world. I think we do make a difference, although we don't have the power to prevent problems - all we can do is advise and warn. I really value the flat management structure we have here: you often see senior managers in the staff restaurant, and they generally also know who you are, even if you're not that high up.

The work/life balance is generally pretty good, too. Of course, people here work hard, but it's not like an investment bank where you're expected to be available 24/7. That said, some people worked long hours when the financial crisis was at its peak, but at least most of them didn't have long commutes.

Recently, I have been involved in a very exciting project: this recruitment website! I've been talking about photography and graphics and all kinds of things I haven't really had to think about before. So although the BIS is a small organisation, it does offer opportunities to broaden the skill sets of its staff.