1679 How to find work in Italy?

Hi Anna, there is a good search facility on the site, located in the top blue bar, there has been much discussion, you seem to have some useful skills to bring, good luck.

I'd have thought that portable skills are key; I think that you have to offer more than locals can (or else why not get a local in!), or offer something new. I guess the killer will be "what have you got that others haven't".

To find a position (when based in the UK!) in the travel/tourism field would be dreadfully hard...... yes, it's transient/seasonal. You might want to consider boradening your search criteria to allow you to plump up your CV so you can show you have renetly used your business Italian & have got experience of the 9-to-5 in Italy.

........not that I have been giving this a stack of thought!
;)

Anna,

It might turn out to be rather difficult to apply for jobs directly from the UK, unless (as you probably know yourself) you apply with International companies having branches in Italy. But to do that, you would have to apply for higher positions (in most cases, that is). You might try with companies such as DHL and the like, they have application forms online, and you might point out you want to work in Italy.
On the other hand, I would suggest you buy "IL CORRIERE DELLA SERA" and other major Italian newspapers (IL CORRIERE DELLA SERA has a dedicated section every Friday with plenty of job ads), and see if anything suits you.
On the other hand, it all depends on whether you want to start at the very top, or suit yourself with any job. I know this is not the best option, but it would be a way to start working anyway, and look for a proper job in the meantime. I know this is not going to be easy, but, again, unless you apply with big companies, there's little chance you can do everything from the UK.
The good thing is that being mother tongue, and having some experience anyway, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to apply with small/medium companies dealing abroad.

Francesco
[url]www.learnitalian.bravehost.com[/url]

If you allready don't know this Inter European database of jobs all over Europe
(EURES) could at least give some ideas. When you get to the search you just
pick the country and then also region, link is:

[url]http://europa.eu.int/eures/home.jsp?lang=en[/url]

Good luck!

Paul

Anna,

I am italian and I know it is not easy at all to find a job in Italy at the moment. First of all people are likely to get scared of a cv from someone living abroad, they might just not interview you because they do not want you to come all the way from the uk just for an interview (that happened to me when I was looking for a job in London, as soon as I moved there, and I had a uk address I found a job). So cheat if you can, you said you are half italian, use one of your relatives address on your cv.

The repubblica ([url]www.repubblica.it[/url]) has a good section for jobs.

I would think that it would be easier to find a job like the one you are describing in Milan, Bologna,...cities where people are welthy and travel.....

well, ultimately an italian cv is different from an english one... i once found on the internet a european cv format that was satisfactory. if you can't find it with google i'll give a hand.

Regards

Paola

Thanks so much for your time and advice everyone! It really helps (and motivates) to know that other people have dealt with the same issues! Also, thanks for the website addresses! Fingers crossed ;) Anna

Hi Anna

Try [url]www.venere.com[/url] - and go to the Lavora con noi section. They're an online travel company who seem to have a few vacancies in various places including Rome.

I'm in quite a similar situation myself - speak Italian, experience in tourism but unfortunately am a bit too remote to get jobs in any of the big cities. I would agree with Latoca - it's quite hard to get anything unless you're actually here - in fact it's hard enough when you're actually here! Can you get yourself over to Italy for a couple of months just to see how things go. I think if you were in one of the big cities (Rome/Milan) and are fairly resourceful something would come up. There are all the same recruitment agencies (Manpower, Adecco etc) and there have callcentres requiring fluent English speakers etc etc. If you get something, anything just to have some Italian work experience on your CV things could start to move from there.

Good luck :)

Hi Anna,

I tried to find a job in Milan 3 years ago. Admittedly, my Italian was a bit limited (improving on it now!) and I made an attempt to translate my CV into Italian at the time and emailed it to various customer service related companies (Ryanair, various ferry services) but obviously that attempt wasn't that great as I got no replies whatsoever! :o

Subsequently, I went to Milan for a long weekend and visited 3 or 4 of the local job agencies (Manpower, etc), but was told that - although I was welcome to leave my CV - they'd only be able to help if I had a local address and codice fiscale!! In your case it might be ok if you could provide them with an Italian address, as previously suggested!

Eventually, I visited a German insurance company I'd emailed before and they arranged an interview for me for four weeks later. Sadly I had to cancel as my circumstances suddenly changed here and I had to stay put, but at least it would've perhaps given me a start.

Emailing UK companies based in Italy is a good idea, though I'd always follow them up with a phone call! None of the manufacturing companies I emailed came back to me and as most of them were located outside the city, I was unable to find them without a car.

I think it's definitely worthwhile going there (once you've decided where), perhaps for a week, and doing some digging in the local yellow pages. Also look at the papers beforehand and make notes of some companies of interest to pay them a visit! Bring copies of your CV with you (not sure if [url]www.monster.it[/url] has templates as the UK version has) and just walk in!! Should be less of a problem if you know the language fairly well... :)

Good luck!!!

Stephanie

Hi, I received this email yesterday...

From: Diana Trier

Subject: The English Studio, PT

Dear Franz,

A long time ago now, you kindly left us your CV. We
are looking for a part-time teacher at the English
Studio, Pistoia If you are interested in coming to
meet us, please let us know.

Yours, Diana
-------------------------
You can write to them!

I am Italian, but I live in Bristol. In 2002 I moved with my husband to Tuscany and we looked for work for TWO YEARS!
Our emails and letters were ignored while we were living in England...and our phone calls too, when we moved to Italy.
We were too qualified for any job (I speak 5 languages and I have plenty of experience in several fields)

Unless you have a friend who knows somebody who is looking for people, please DON'T do our mistake, it has costed us lots and lots of money as many people promised "mari e monti" but when we actually wanted work, they disappeared.

You need to be aware that since legge Biagi has been approved, ALL Italian jobs are precarious, mostly part-time, and always "a tempo determinato" meaning that the lavoro fisso has completely disappeared.

Alas, you cannot guarantee anything to pay rent or bills, and the situation is bad.

The only chance is for people UNDER 24 who can benefit from contratto formazione, which is the only contract that employers want to do (to pay less tax).

Good luck....but I can give you a list o friends with your credentials who have been looking for a long while and cannot do anything.

Also remember that you salary, if you get one, will be no more than 850 euros for month....even if you have 5 degrees. The utility bills, though, are enormous. We paid 100 euros per month for electricity..

I wished I researched more the situation before moving myself.

ciao
Franz

Franz,

what you are writing is so sad and so tue at the same time. The fact is, things do get a wee bit better if you look for a job in the north, but the picture you described is very accurate. especially for the contratti di formazione.

That's why I moved from Italy to the UK, one can't spend his life being in an unstable situation and unable to leave the family house!!!

Good luck though!!!

P

I have lived and worked for more than 4 years in the UK, then decided to come back to Italy where my parents are, I am their only child and wanted to be close to them as they get old.

People thought I was a workholic in the UK, I used to work for long hours, it is true, but this is because I enjoyed every minute of it. I felt motivated, rewarded (salary is not everything though) and appreciated. One of those studies about work performance, and how to get the best out of employees, says that what motivates people once you provide them with a decent salary and a suitable working environment is the feeling they are "loved".

In Italy, unfortunately, employers have a completely different attitude towards their employees, they make you feel like they are doing you a favour in employing you and paying you a salary. Any success is looked upon as due and hardly ever celebrated, not even with a "thank you, you have done a great job", maybe for fear that you may ask for a pay rise...

I now happily work for a UK company again, but I am based in Italy, I work long hours and I enjoy every minute of it...I have the best of both worlds!