Working at SERI: Stefania Cantoni

What do you do exactly?

I'm the head of the SERI Declaration Centre, where we process declarations from service providers from the EU/EFTA who will be working in Switzerland for short periods. As part of my role there, I'm responsible for the Sypres and recognition.swiss online portals, seeing to it that the content there is always up-to-date, correct and helpful for users. I make sure that the services are always up and running, and that we keep improving them. Another role I have involves SERI's national contact centre. There we give information to people with foreign qualifications about what they need to do to practise their profession in Switzerland. We also advise cantonal authorities, educational institutions and employers on any questions they might have.

What do you like about your work in particular?

I really enjoy the combination of operational responsibility, strategic development and dialogue with stakeholders at national, cantonal and EU/EFTA level. This active dialogue with the relevant authorities makes my role exciting and rewarding. I also love the technical aspect: my work on designing and optimising our IT applications helps to increase efficiency and improve the user experience.

What challenges do you expect in the near future?

As we approach the end of the year, we are in our busiest phase as many service providers are renewing their declarations for next year. It's a huge challenge to process them all on time and still maintain our usual high quality standards. Another ongoing, very important task is optimising our applications and processes.