Engliano

I'm really interested in what we all do here for jobs or career, how do you survive ? have you retired here or did you come for work reasons ? do you speak Italian and if so has it directly influenced your success here, do you work from home ? if so what do you think are the most successful work at home jobs ?

I'll get the Ball Rolling.

I'm a mech engineer, i got posted here, i speak and understand a little Italian.

Pecora Nera

I married an Italian and persuaded her to move back to Italy to open a B&B She reminded me often that we might have been better living in the UK.

We never managed to sell our house in the UK because we moved at the time of the mortgage fiasco, and so we had no money for a B&B

For 2 years I told everyone I met that I needed work, any type of work. I worked as a gardener for two crazy women who were trying to create an english garden in the middle of piemonte, and as a assistant landscape gardener for a guy who is now one of our closest friends. Prior to this my total gardening experience was mowing my mothers lawn (under sufferance with a flymo)

I have picked olives and I also managed to get 2 months work with a builder who needed a labourer, hard hard work. But it paid really well.

I met a guy who wanted to improve his English, but after getting pissed with him at the local bar he decided to set up an import export business with me. We have just finished our second year trading.

My italian is.... pretty poor to be honest I get by and sometimes resort to pointing miming etc.

I wish my Italian was better and I do try to improve it but for me it is very difficult.

JD1963

I'm a working artist with my wife and deal mostly with luxury companies. Recipients of our work are celebrities, private collectors, Royalty and dignitaries. We also run a school outside Bologna offering specialised art based courses to the public. We bring in teachers from around the world and from within Italy.
My Italian is basic but i get by. I'm in the process of learning, i have a tutor who pops into the school once a week to teach me but over the last few months he usually calls me on the day of the lesson to tell me why he can't make it. His excuses are entertaining. i always thought it was the student who had to make the excuses not the teacher

Engliano

Thanks for sharing PN. You sound a little similar to me, do anything to survive kinda guy ! thats a great attribute and an interesting story. Did you meet your wife in the UK ?

Thanks Isakat for your PM, i understand and respect your wishes of privacy and you have an amazing story too and avery interesting one!

Pecora Nera

Yes Mrs Sensible is a teacher but in the UK she was a waitress working in an italian restaurant. I kept going to the restaurant sometimes 4 times a week to see her and to try and get her to go for a drink with me. It was costing me a small fortune.

Eventually I persuaded her to go to a traditional italian pizzaria with me. Halfway through the meal she had a word with the waiter and confirmed her suspicions. An Italian restaurant owned and run by Spaniards.

Twinkle Canelli

Hi Engliano

I moved over to Italy almost 3 years ago mainly because my BF had moved over and was having a house built here. My daughter was then 11 and due to change schools in the UK, and I thought that an Italian education and lifestyle would do her more good than the Croydon comprehensive (and the accompanying social problems) she would have experienced in the UK.

It's been really hard as he is now working on the other side of the world and only comes back every two/three/four months. I've gone from being an independent career woman with my own flat etc, to a very dependent and bored housewife, who can't even speak the language any better than when I came!

Due to illness and various other problems, the house is still a long way off being finished. I had thought I'd come over, learn the lingo, and walk straight into a challenging and rewarding job, but reality isn't at all like that. I miss my friends and family and have discovered that Italians are very friendly people, but they are also quite private and don't quite want to let stranieri into their circle. My Italian hasn't improved because I don't socialise with any Italians, but have been forced to seek out other English speakers (which is why I'm on the forum). I live in a very small town in the middle of nowhere, and can say hello to a dozen people when I go for a coffee, but they don't necessarily want to talk to me any more than that. Unemployment is high here and jobs go to the locals first, but I am fortunate that my BF is able and willing to support me financially.

My daughter, however, has blossomed. She is now totally fluent and is popular and happy, and can at last see the benefits of living here.

So at the moment, although a little lonely, I am enjoying the summer - I am probably fitter and healthier than I've ever been in my life, and not a day goes by when I don't think how lucky I am to live in this beautiful place.

Garbatellamike

I was sitting in the office in London and got an email from the HR Dept (as did lots of others) asking whether i would be interested in going to work in Italian Office.

I sent in an expression of interest. Got back the job was in Rome for 3 years and would be preceeded by a full time academic year back at Uni learning italian on full pay.

I thought about it for several nano seconds and then applied. I was surprised to make the interview short list of 3 and even more gobsmacked to be offered the job.

And here I am.

I work daily in an office where Italian is the working language but we generate lots of corrispondence in English too. I am now known as the "International Section" of my Sports Club and this has been a great way to integrate into the local community.

The immersion at work and sport combined with the intense Italian course means my Italian is coming on (I read well, translate italian to english very well, speak OK, however, writing in Italian is still much weeker than other skills) Oh and these days I don't sound quite so much like Officer Crabtree (for you 'allo 'allo fans) as I used to.

Now trying to work out if I can apply for the job for the next 3 years when it comes round

PS Engliano, I am the product of a broken home (council estate) and like you was the first (and so far 28 years later still the only) member of my family to go to Uni. At an interview a few years back I was asked about my family and went through various sorry tales and the guy came back with "well I suppose you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family!" he was spot on.

ciao a tutti
Mike

malcesine99

Interesting thread

I am not quite in Italy yet (4 weeks today) but hope you don't mind me sharing:

I worked all round the Med for a Tour Operator and after too many years dealing with Lager Louts and the likes decided to try a civilised Lakes and Mountains Operator, my dream was to go to Italy, as was everyones it seemed - so after a few years elsewhere in Europe I eventually got a ski season in Cervinia and got posted to Lake Garda that summer (Malcesine surprise surprise). I absolutely adored it and had the time of my life. When I least expected it met the man of my dreams and ended up living just outside Verona for nearly 2 years. I felt really isolated and homesick after having my first child and when I was became pregnant with No 2 managed to persuade my OH to come to Scotland. We came with nothing, OH spoke very little English but through a lot of determination and bloody hard work we have done okay for ourselves have a lovely house, good jobs and 3 gorgeous boys.

We spend a fair amount of time in Italy and as the years have gone on feel more and more drawn to coming back. I believe in taking chances in life and although some people think we are mad, we are upping sticks after 11 years and are on our way back. The only security we have there is a house but no firm job offers yet(bit scary!). Hope I don't sound too reckless, we have thought this through but we are realistic things are not great in Italy (or here for that matter!)

I can converse not too badly in Italian but don't have great reading or writing skills yet. Hopefully being immersed fully into Italian day to day life I will improve on this

I came across this forum by chance and thoroughly enjoy popping in now and again for a chat

So that's my wee story (well - a very condensed watered down version but don't want to bore you all to tears!).

Twinkle Canelli

[QUOTE=malcesine99;10172389]Interesting thread

We spend a fair amount of time in Italy and as the years have gone on feel more and more drawn to coming back. I believe in taking chances in life and although some people think we are mad, we are upping sticks after 11 years and are on our way back. The only security we have there is a house but no firm job offers yet(bit scary!). Hope I don't sound too reckless, we have thought this through but we are realistic things are not great in Italy (or here for that matter!)

QUOTE]

Good luck cos you've got real stressful times ahead of you, but I have always believed that you don't regret the things you do try, only the things you don't. Far worse to be sat in Scotland in ten years time, wondering what might have been.... Hope it all goes well

malcesine99

Thanks Twinkle!
Lovely to hear your experience too.

Patty

Malcesine - your story is a little bit similar to mine. My OH came to live with me in the UK for 14 yrs (our first child was born in Italy) - then we had another 2, and when they were 17,12 and 5 we decided to come back here to Italy. That was in 2003 and we're still here We had no jobs and looking back, I think we were a bit mad but its all worked out (more or less) and although I moan alot about Italy I seriously dont know if I'd go back to the UK. My children are now fully integrated here and very family oriented and bilingual. There are pros and cons wherever you go - but just think - here you have the sun, the wine and the food

Patty

Back to Englianos question - I came to Italy because I married an Italian. I used to work in an office but since coming here I have been an English teacher. I work in a large factory and I teach all levels of adults. Its good because I work from 8.30 to 5pm, which is quite unusual for an English school. I live very close to the factory so thats a bonus. The pay is crap and we dont have a very good contract - but the benefits are that I have met a lot of lovely people and made some good friends. All in all I probably get more job satisfaction here than I did before.

MarkRD

I first came to Italy in 1984 on my year abroad from uni, where I was doing Italian & German Studies (note: I intended doing Russian and German but they cut Russian from that particular uni <thatcher years> so I had to make another choice...!)
Met my now OH just a few months later and came back to live together in 86. Started out with EFL teaching with no experience and no qualifications other than I could speak English.. some pretty dire teaching jobs but only to be expected.
Got my TEFL cert in 87 then went on to a better school although 'contract' conditions were still pretty grim, no paid holidays, sick leave etc.
Started looking for a 'proper' job and got into an office in 89 (got married in meantime) - hard work, but good money..since then I've been in 5 different companies/offices, during most of which time I've regretted not sticking to the teaching, as it's probably what I do best.
Still do the occasional private lesson, lecture, translating etc.

Tried to get into freelance translating about 6 years ago but realised it was tough and I was too used to the 'steady job' situation so moved to another one. In answer to your question Engliano, personally I find working from home practically impossible, but that will always depend on your own self-discipline, family situation etc.

Now commute 100 km / day for a mostly tedious office job, which I don't particularly like. Only advantage is that I use my 4 languages daily, and get a decent salary.

As a friend-freelance-translator put it - when he goes for a pee he isn't earning any money, whereas I am.

Engliano

My God ! to many stories to comment individually, but i'm genuinly shocked at the amazing stories and wealth of experience you guys have ! Keep em coming, its nice to have one thread where everyone can log a story of who they are and how they got here !

Pecora Nera

Hi Patty,

If Mrs Sensible was on this forum she would write.

I came to Italy because I married an Englishman. I tried to escape to the United Kingdom but he brought me back