mah88

Hi everyone. I'm a 34-year-old UK-Austrian citizen looking to build a life in Italy, accompanied by my 13-year-old dog. I have a BA in English and I'm CELTA-qualified, so I suppose that limits me to teaching jobs. However, I do speak intermediate Italian. My work experience consists of teaching English and Spanish, a content writer role, and a restaurant supervisor role, but I'd rather work in content editing, translation, journalism or even just any office job.



I've been looking mostly at Turin, but also Verona, Padova, Bergamo, Brescia and Udine. This is because I imagine there will be more opportunities in these cities, but also, I believe they are less prone to earthquakes (correct me if I'm wrong?). Furthermore, I suffer from a long-term health condition, so I would need good healthcare and have read that things can be a bit iffy in the South, even though I'd also considered Bari. Nevertheless, if there is a southern city which has good healthcare and decent employment opportunities, then I would be interested (feel free to suggest).



I'd also appreciate any advice on which city in the North would best suit me. I'd like to make Italian friends, have things to see and do, and would prefer the least cold northern city in winter. Thanks a lot for reading all of this!

philat98

I wouldn't worry too much about earthquakes. Most modern properties are constructed to withstand an earthquake.
Southern Tuscany is quite a nice area. The hospital at Siena is one of the best in Italy. I suspect it might be possible to find work in places like Siena, Grosseto and Arezzo where there are good numbers of tourists.

mah88

Thanks. I'll see if I can find any suitable work there online. I've been applying for jobs all over and not had much luck so far, apart from an offer of 1450 in Bari which I thought was too little.

philat98

I would forget Bari. It would be easier to find something in person rather than online.

mah88

Because of the low salaries or?

philat98

Bari is one of the poorest regions of Italy(87 out of 106). If you want a job you are better looking at the richest.

mah88

Fair enough.

daniel_t

Have you ever considered Milan? Rents in Milan are prohibitive, but there are decent commuter towns with good train connections. By the way, it's become a cumbersome task to get qualified English language teachers from the UK. I suppose your Austrian nationality would makes things a lot easier.

I don't know much about southern Italy though. By the way, I imagine there are still close links between Tyrol and Südtirol (Alto Adige in Italian) - this German-speaking province only became an Italian territory in 1920. Bozen, or Bolzano in Italian, is the regional capital.

C.2s

Going back to your original post I'll throw in my two pennies worth :

Earthquakes. Ummm....Should you ignore earthquake risk altogether? Let me put it this way: I once was teaching a class of Italian 8/9 year olds and I asked them if they had any questions about life in the UK. The first question was 'Do you have earthquakes?' and I said 'Um... well...no, not really.' If the question is 'Does Italy have earthquakes?' then the answer would be 'Yes, absolutely and there's a long history of them being very destructive.' Yes, the places you mentioned in the North are lower risk in terms of earthquakes. It's a matter of geographical fact. You can easily google a map of the country showing the earthquake zones. You can also check on a much more local level, right down to individual housing plots. Yes, in theory modern buildings are supposed to be able to withstand earthquakes ... but most Italian cities are full of old buildings, and there have been numerous scandals involving construction work that isn't up to the standards they are supposed to meet.

Teaching: as mentioned above I have done some. You'd possibly have an advantage if you are 1. a madrelingua inglese and 2. an EU citizen, because employers are looking for that. I think you'd have no problem finding work, especially in any reasonable sized city. Most of that work is likely to be poorly paid and a bit piecemeal in private schools and it's not easy to make a living. State schools are much harder to get into, and generally you can only do it through a cultural association or other organisation that has a contract for a few hours a week helping kids do Cambridge exams. But you might be able to find a good employer. Oddly a city with a big English speaking community can bring opportunities; for example a NATO base often means an English speaking international school... and that international culture also might mean that they treat their employees better.

​​​​​​The jobs you'd prefer: The job market is tough. Pay is generally much lower than northern European countries, but so is the cost of living. Working in the more affluent areas (as suggested in the other comments) would help. Following that logic then you might have to consider Milan (if you haven't already) as that is really the most important city for your preferred roles. But of course rent is higher also.

HOWEVER, why not look at it another way. Most of the jobs that you are talking about (including TEFL) can be done online. For teaching your experience of other languages and living in various countries would probably help you attract students from all over the world (I have taught people from at least 20 different countries using Skype, Zoom, etc). Could you do a mixture of the various jobs that you are interested in? Perhaps some online, and some in the real world? And if so, does that mean that you can choose anywhere you like in Italy as long as you have a good enough internet connection?
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mah88

I have considered Milan and I do like the city from when I visited back in 2014, but I was worried it'd be too expensive, even in the surrounding areas. However, I'll look again on immobiliare.it

I've never been to Bolzano, but would be interested in visiting.

mah88

Thanks for that information. Certainly some things to consider. However, I would much rather have one job that pays enough rather than mixing online and in person. To that end, I'd prefer a job in person in order to socialise rather than a remote teaching job. If I can't find a in person job that pays enough, then I'd be open to working online but preferably not in teaching. My main concern, at 34, is finding a stable career that has some room for progression. Alternatively, if I can't find a job in content writer etc., perhaps I could work as a teacher for a while, building up my job experience, allowing me to improve my Italian in day-to-day life so that I can apply later for a job in different career that requires fluent Italian.

daniel_t

Most language schools pay much less than 1450 - we're talking about net tax. People can afford to charge more for private teaching, though realistically I think you'd be better off looking for Italy-based jobs at the big ELT publishers (e.g. Pearson, Macmillan, Cambridge, Oxford, Trinity, etc.).

Multinational companies might be your best bet, but those are few and far between here.

mah88

Thank you.

Thairetired2016

How can you be an Austrian-UK citizen? It is illegal under Austrian law. Austria does not allow dual citizenship except for a few exceptions. Doubt you qualify for any of these?

daniel_t

Wow have we got the border police here?

I can't see why it's illegal if one of your parents is Austrian and the other is British. Nationality law is bloody complicated but quite fun to delve into.