WestLABoy

Hi everybody,

I am a Civil/Environemntal Engineer and I have my degrees from The US. I live in LA and I work on Water and wastewater treatment plants (design, calculations, process). I am very interested in finding a Job in Europe to have some european working experience. Any advice on how I might be able to find a job in my field in europe? Do you know any job search websites or companies that might help me find a job anywhere in europe? Also I am US citizen so would it be very difficult for me to get a work permit? I greatly appreciate your comments on this matter.

Casa Santo Estevo

It will be difficult to obtain a work permit for Europe. We too are going through a downturn and the market place is slow. You will have to offer something extraordinary if you want to find work in Europe.
Here is the link to EU work site.
http://ec.europa.eu/eures/home.jsp?lang=en
Ian used to work in the U.K. water Industry so here are few specify links to help find work in that industry.
Giving links to various U.K. bodies:
http://www.water.org.uk/home/resources-and-links/links
Some websites listing work within the U.K. industry:
http://www.workgateways.com/
http://www.monster.co.uk/
There are others but if you do a search you should find loads more.

Do you have skills in any other language than English? If not you will find near on impossible to find work in these countries. By language skill I mean are you able to talk technically is the other language.

WestLABoy

Thank you for your comments. Well....unfortunately I don't do something extraordinary here in LA..I am just a project engineer with 3 years of experience. Also, as you mentioned, language will be my biggest obstacle since I only speak in English. I am sure that I will be able to learn a new language quickly, however, being able to talk technically a new language could be very challenging and time consuming.

I have a very well-paid job here in LA and I just love the idea of living in Europe. I would love to drive 200 miles and cross several countries with different cultures and people as opposed to be driving 200 miles and you realize that you have not left the greater LA area Yet!!!

Anyways, it seems that I have to through away the fantasy of living and working in europe (work permit difficulty, language barrier, possible lower salary ...). Sigh!.....

Just do you know what country or countries might be the best or better for me if I am super lucky to find a job?
Again thank you for your feedback.

Hillybilly

The problem you are going to have, even if you were to seek work in the UK, is that you would have to familiarise yourself with our different design codes and of course the metric system!
Every EU country has an Institution or College of Civil Engineers which you would have to seek admission to if you were going to practice. So, your US degrees & qualifications would have to be recognised and accepted by them.
Have a look for starters at www.ice.org.uk and contact them for more info.

Le Chant

Gaining employment in this sector in the UK shouldn't be too much of a problem. I have a civil engineering background and before becoming a wastrel ex-pat, I was the UK, NI & Northern Europe manager for a Remediation Company in the UK. There are plenty of contractors as well as consultants that would have a look at your CV. Just do a search on 'environmental consultancies - UK'.

There are of course similar companies here in France and right across the EU. But, as has already been said, lack of language would be a huge barrier, unless the company expressly needed a fluent english speaker for a specific contract.

Good luck.

WestLABoy

Thank you very much all of you for your comments.