9502 Job hunting in Italy

Lucy, I have a English friend in Abruzzo with similar background. She works freelence for an English company. Do you have any contacts in the UK???

It's often more a case of 'who you know' and not 'what you know'. You may need to do some networking in your area and getting to know people. I have a friend who has been in Italy nearly four years and still can't get work.
Lorraine

Actually no I'm sorry Lucy. Her field is market research.. Why not see if there are large hotels in Le Marche and see if they hold events. Ancona??? Other than that perhaps self employment if you prefer marketing and organising events. On the other hand maybe in time via your husband and his friends and contacts you will find something. Is he from Le Marche???

I have a young Italian friend who has a degree in marketing and has found it very difficult to get full time work, she worked for an agency for a number of years until she landed a full time job, and that was through a government sponsered scheme.Sorry to cast a cloud , but jobs here even for young graduates are very hard to find, and the pay and the hours are not rosy. She leaves home at 8am and often does not return for another 12 hrs.
A

Angie,

your picture is verya ccurate...that is the downside of living in Italy...That is why I moved to the UK ...If I will ever come back to live in Italy- and it looks like taht might be the case- I will certainly practise freelance. Corporate jobs just do not exist in Italy!

Paola

I fully agree with Angie and Paola, but keep on trying and networking. The situation is similar in many countries in the Continent. Jobs are more readily available in the UK. Many young Europeans go there to work as they cannot find jobs in their own countries. It will take lots of patience and courage to persevere. My best wishes are with you.

Perhaps an idea to get started with "who you know" is to find out what festas are on & if you can help out with anything with those. If you don't live in a town (but rather the countryside outside) you need to get in & start talking to people, even if you just get to know all your local shopkeepers, and network also with other English. We came out here with lofty ideals of being fully integrated & never speaking to an English person again but for one they are a great way to get to know people & also they will have been there, done it & got the T shirt. I've set up a little dancing school & when my frustration with the Iack of commitment here compared to the UK (& i mean turning up at least 3 weeks out of 4, nothing more) gets too much it isn't something I can moan to an Italian about. And before I get jumped on I know I'm living her & should just accept it, but when you have spent your time & effort firstly getting qualified & then putting together interesting lessons it does get to you!

It is also evident that job opportunities are going to be much higher in larger cities such as Milan, Rome, etc. Many Italians have to leave their region of origin just for this reason. The smallest the town... the fewer possibilities.

Hi there, I still do some freelance work in the uk for events. I worked in 5 schools when we first arrived - teaching English conversation, but only got paid once a year! Not great if you need money...

However I do some events with the tourist board and our local town, but more for helping to improve tourism - certainly not for money as its just not there.

How good is your italian? It really needs to be great to consider working anywhere in Marche as not many companies require just English speakers. Do give me a call if you would like a chat - our phone numbers are on our web site. Incidentally where are you in Marche?

regards

Pam

Hello Lucy,
I read what you said and the other comments made and I think the most accurate thing people have said it that its about who you know and not what you know.
I myself have years of experience in one certain field, but it hasn't helped me one bit here. I like you went on the agency route looking for jobs to no avail. In the end it came down to speaking to some Italian friends. I now have a job working with some Italian friends. Its not very nice work and certainly not what I was trained to do, but at least it's work.
Whilst I appreciate working as an events organizer in England is a career, certainly here in Le Marche there's no money in it. In fact most of the fiestas are organized by the locals for the locals without any payment.
Try to think more laterally about work, there are lots of new factories built or in the process of being built. Try and find out who the owners are and if there are any jobs going.
It depends on how much you actually want to live here and what your really willing to do for it!