Advice Please
 

I'm moving to Italy in July to start a new life. However my Italian is very weak and I was wondering if anyone one be kind enough to give me some advice on how difficult it is to find a job/place to live.

Thankyou in advance

Re: Advice Please
 

Finding a job is very hard , unless you are prepared to do hotel or restaurant work, also you may get work teaching English . You dont say where you want to live in Italy, as a lot depends on that .

Re: Advice Please
 

Yes I agree with Casa Mia. It is very hard if your Italian is weak. However you can improve on this no problem.
A lot does depend on where you are, how old you are, Who you know and what type of work you're willing to do.

Re: Advice Please
 

You didn't say what job you do? Some foreign companies and research institutions that have offices in Italy have english as their 'working' language. I'm talking about companies like IBM, Google. If you could get in one of those they would help you with your italian.

Re: Advice Please
 

Thanks everyone for your comments, i appreciate them.

Well i'm 21 and open for any kind of work really, anything that could support me financially while i improve my italian.

Also, as of yet i havn't made any plans as to where in Italy to move, is this an important factor i mean are some areas better than others?

Thankyou

Re: Advice Please
 

As you haven't yet arrived, I suggest that if you consider doing CELTA (Cambridge Certificate in Enlish Language Teaching to Adults), as it would enable you could get a job in a language school as an English teacher.

The course takes four weeks and costs around a thousand pounds, but you could then get a job earning 800-1000 Euros a month (depending on location). You can live off this as a single person, and you wouldn't need to speak much Italian - I didn't when I arrived.

You might get a job without CELTA, or you could consider doing a shorter TEFL course, which will do for some schools. It all depends on where you are, and what the demand for teachers is like. CELTA (or an equivalent 4 week course) is the gold standard qualifications for new teachers.

For courses, check out: http://www.cactustefl.com/
For jobs, check out: http://www.tefl.com

Of course, you might get some private teaching work just by virtue of being a mother tonge speaker - a lot of people want to learn English. However, it would take time, effort, a bit of luck, and ability in Italian, to build up the contacts, and is it fair to charge money for lessons when you have no teaching qualifications or experience?

The best time to start a TEFL job is in September, and there almost certainly won't be any work in August (unless you apply to work at a summer camp, which is an option), but this would give you time to get certified, save some money, and improve your Italian.

I advise you to come out her with a couple of thousand Euros, just to get yourself a room and be able to support yourself for a while (unless you have family, etc. here).

Which area of Italy is 'better' or 'worse' is entirely subjective. It depends what you want! As a 21 year old (single?) I assume that you don't want to be stuck in the sticks, and there won't be many jobs in rural areas. Also, next to no one will speak English in a rural area, so it would be very tough for you. On the other hand, in a place like Florence, you barely hear any Italian - it's like an American university campus. A univeristy town like Bologna, Perugia, etc. could be good for you.

Regarding the language, what are you doing right now to improve it? If you get a good Italian tutor in the UK and dedicate an hour a day to private study, you could at least learn some key vocabulary (numbers, days, months, telling the time, directions, greetings, food/drink, etc. etc.) and learn to conjugate 20 or 30 common verbs in the present tense. It would make a hell of a difference when you arrive. Italian isn't that hard to learn (relatively) when you compare it to other world languages, although any language is a chellenge. You will find that many words are similar in Italian and English, as they come from latin.

I'm sorry to sound patronising, but living in a foreign country isn't like holidaying there. It can be damn hard and frustrating sometimes, and Italy isn't the easiest place to work. In many oriental countries you'd get a job just for having a foreign face and speaking English. However, lots of people make a successful move here, so don't be discouraged. Just don't have any romantic ideas that it will all be heaven. You can email me on [email protected] if you want any more advice.

Good luck!

Re: Advice Please
 

Hi Yellowdog. I find this post very interesting. I would like to move to Italy and had no idea that there might be companies there that have English as the primary language. I currently work as a Proj. Mgr/Business Consultant. Is there a website that details such companies or some other way I could find out about them?

Many thanks.

Jennifer

Re: Advice Please
 

No I don't know of any site. I'd would try subscribing to the big europe wide job sites like monster for instance. If they feel that you are the right candidate then they will help you make the move. I start work soon in a research facility and its a very big mix of people from all over the world so to be able to communicate we use english, which after spending years struggling to speak italian at work with italians the shoe will finally be on the other foot!
I have seen adverts on monster quite often for google and I know they speak english in their offices in milan. My wife worked for IBM and even though she is italian she worked on an international level based in milan but spoke english all day at work.
Obviously to get you in its great but you need to make the effort to learn the language to feel like you are actually here!

Like this one! http://www.stepstone.it/offers/offer...nCtId=20080426

Re: Advice Please
 

Hi Yellow -Thanks for the advice. I think I will teach English at first (while immersing myself in the language and taking courses), finish the last 6 months of my MBA and then start applying for jobs like these. Very cool to know though so thanks, :)

Re: Advice Please
 

Did you also know that GE is the biggest employer in Florence? Might be worth taking a look at their site too.

Re: Advice Please
 

Hi Testarosa, no, I did not know this, so thank you very much :). I have actually come up with a new scheme today to live in Italy until I can find employment locally and am about to post a thread - but thank you again. I will def check them out.

BR
J