Italy Info
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
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Home Country: italy
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 Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:46 am Post subject: EMPLOYMENT IN ITALY (Getting a Job) |
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EMPLOYMENT IN ITALY (Getting a Job)
EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS
Italy has a relatively high unemployment rate, which was officially running at around 8.9 per cent (in the north around 5 per cent, in central Italy 6 per cent and in the south 21 per cent) of the workforce in October 2002.
As already indicated, unemployment varies according to the region and in the impoverished south it’s as high as 50 per cent in some areas, where the youth has traditionally migrated to the north or abroad in search of work.
Unemployment is a disaster for Italy’s youth; some 30 per cent of young people in the under 25-age group are unemployed, many of whom have little prospect of finding a job. It’s difficult for young Italians to get a foothold on the employment ladder due to lack of experience and many young people, even university graduates, attend vocational high schools or special programmes to gain work experience.
Although unemployment has hit manufacturing industries the hardest, no sector has survived unscathed, including the flourishing service industries. Some of the hardest-hit industries have been construction, electronics, communications, the media and banking, all traditionally strong sectors. Many companies have periodic bans on recruitment and expect many employees to accept short-term contracts, rather than life-long security (Italian job security had traditionally been among the best in Europe). Over a quarter of Italy’s working population have short-term contracts.
Unemployment benefits are virtually non-existent in Italy and less than 25 per cent of the country’s unemployed are eligible for any form of unemployment compensation, and families have traditionally been expected to support their unemployed members. There’s no national scheme or assistance for the long-term unemployed in Italy, although there’s a limited degree of support for low-income families in the south.
JOB HUNTING
Job hunting includes the following resources:
Newspapers
Most national, regional and local newspapers contain a situations vacant or jobs section (Offerte di Lavoro or Offerte di Collaborazione) on certain days of the week. The Milan daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera, publishes a Corriere Lavoro (www.corriere.it/corrierelavoro) job supplement on Fridays and the financial newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore, publishes Cerco Lavoro – Giovani for college graduates on Mondays and also publishes a Lavoro & Carriere supplement.
There are also specialised local and national newspapers for job seekers such as Il Posto (the job) and Il Concorso (which lists civil service and local government jobs) in Naples, Trova Lavoro and Bollettino Del Lavoro (www.bollettinodellavoro.it), a monthly publication available at employment offices and libraries. Jobs are also advertised in industry and trade newspapers and magazines. Ask the locals which publications and days are best for job ads. in your area.
Most major newspapers and magazines have websites where you can usually access their ‘situations vacant’ sections free of charge and local and national newspapers are available in libraries, bars and cafés in Italy, so you don’t always need to buy them. Italian newspapers are also available abroad from international news agencies, trade and commercial centres, expatriate organisations and social clubs (although they don’t always contain the ‘appointments’ or ‘situations vacant’ sections).
Most professions and trade associations publish journals containing job offers (see Benn’s Media Directory Europe) and jobs are also advertised in various English-language publications, including the International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal Europe, Wanted in Rome and other local publications.
You can also place an advertisement in the ‘situations wanted’ section of a local newspaper in Italy in an area where you would like to work. If you’re a member of a recognised profession or trade, you could place an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine dedicated to your profession or industry. It’s best to place an advert in the middle of the week and avoid the summer and other holiday periods.
Employment Offices
Visit local employment offices (uffici di collocamento) and other offices in Italy (see our section on Employment Agencies). Jobs on offer are mainly non-professional skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled jobs, particularly in industry, retailing and catering.
Information Centres And Libraries
Local information centres (informagiovani) are useful for information about jobs, job hunting, education and training, for more details visit their website (www.informagiovani.it). Main libraries also provide a range of resources for job seekers, although they don’t specifically provide advice and assistance for the unemployed, as in some other countries.
Recruitment Agencies
Apply to international recruitment agencies acting for Italian companies and foreign companies in Italy. These companies chiefly help to recruit executives and key personnel, and many have offices world-wide, including in many Italian cities (see our section on Employment Agencies). Some Italian agencies may find positions only for Italian and EU nationals or foreigners with a residence permit.
Chambers Of Commerce
Foreign chambers of commerce (camera di commercio) in Italy maintain lists of their member companies doing business (or with subsidiaries) in Italy. British nationals can join the British chamber of commerce in Italy, Via Dante, 12, 20121 Milan (Tel. 02-877 798 or 8056 094, www.britchamitaly.com) for between €140 and €1,200, for a range of different memberships and benefits. Italian chambers of commerce abroad are also a useful source of information, as are Euro Info Centres (EIC) found in the major cities of EU countries. Infoimprese (www.infoimprese.it) is a useful website of Italian chambers of commerce with information on companies.
Internet
The Internet provides access to hundreds of sites for job-seekers, including corporate websites, recruitment companies (see our section on Internet) and newspaper job advertisements (you can use a search engine to find them).
Unsolicited Applications To Companies
Apply to American, British and other multi-national companies with offices or subsidiaries in Italy, and make written applications direct to Italian companies.
Italian companies are listed by products, services and province in Kompass Italy and directories, available at libraries in Italy, and main libraries and Italian chambers of commerce abroad.
Making unsolicited job applications is naturally a hit and miss affair. It can, however, be more successful than responding to advertisements, as you aren’t usually competing with other applicants. Some companies recruit a large percentage of employees through unsolicited applications. When applying for jobs, address your letter to the personnel director (capo del personale) and include your CV (in Italian), and copies of references and qualifications. If possible, offer to attend an interview and tell them when you’re available.
Letters should be tailored to individual companies and professionally translated if your Italian isn’t perfect. Some Italian companies require hand-written letters from job applicants and may submit them to graphologists. When writing from abroad, enclosing an international reply coupon may help to elicit a response.
Networking
Networking basically involves getting together with like-minded people to discuss business. It’s particularly useful in Italy, where people use personal contacts for everything from looking for jobs to finding accommodation. In fact, a personal recommendation (raccomandati) is often the best way to find employment in Italy, where nepotism and favouritism are rife. When looking for a job in Italy, it isn’t necessarily what you know but who you know.
It’s difficult for most foreigners to make contacts among Italians and therefore many turn to the expatriate community, particularly in Rome and Milan. If you’re already in Italy, you can contact or join local expatriate social clubs, churches, societies and professional organisations. Finally, don’t forget to ask your friends and acquaintances working in Italy if they know of an employer seeking someone with your experience and qualifications.
Personal Applications
Your best chance of obtaining certain jobs in Italy is to apply in person, when success is often simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Many companies don’t advertise at all, but rely on attracting workers by word of mouth and by their own vacancy boards. Shops and supermarkets often put vacancy notices in their windows or have notice boards where employers can advertise jobs, although these are generally for temporary or part-time help only.
It’s recommended to leave your name and address with a prospective employer and, if possible, a telephone number where you can be contacted, particularly when a job may become vacant at a moment’s notice. Advertise the fact that you’re looking for a job, not only with friends, relatives and acquaintances, but with anyone you come into contact with who may be able to help. You can give lady luck a helping hand with your persistence and enterprise by:
* cold calling on prospective employers;
* checking ‘wanted’ boards;
* looking in local newspapers;
* checking notice and bulletin boards in large companies, shopping centres, embassies, clubs, sports centres and news agencies;
* asking other foreign workers.
When leaving a job in Italy, it’s wise to ask for a written reference (which isn’t usually provided automatically), particularly if you plan to look for further work in Italy or you think your work experience will help you find work in another country.
SEASONAL JOBS
Seasonal jobs (lavoro stagionale) are available throughout the year in Italy, the vast majority in the tourist industry.
Many jobs last for the duration of the summer or winter tourist seasons, May to September and December to April respectively, although some are simply casual or temporary jobs for a number of weeks. Italian fluency is required for all but the most menial and worst paid jobs, and is equally or more important than experience and qualifications (although fluency in Italian alone won’t guarantee you a well paid job).
Seasonal jobs include most trades in hotels and restaurants, couriers and travel company representatives, a variety of jobs in ski resorts, sports instructors, jobs in bars and clubs, fruit and grape picking, and various jobs in the construction industry.
If you aren’t an EU national, it’s essential to check whether you’re eligible to work in Italy before making plans and you may also be required to obtain a visa. Check with an Italian embassy or consulate in your home country well in advance of your visit. Foreign students in Italy can obtain a temporary work permit (autorizzazione di lavoro provvisoria) for part-time work during the summer holiday period and school terms. The main seasonal jobs available in Italy are mentioned below.
Holiday Company Representatives
The duties of holiday representatives include ferrying tourist groups back and forth from airports, organising excursions and social events, arranging ski passes and equipment rental, and generally playing the role of Jack of all trades.
A job as a representative is tough and demanding, and requires resilience and resourcefulness to deal with the chaos associated with the package holiday business. The necessary requirements include the ability to answer many questions simultaneously (often in different languages), to remain calm and charming under extreme pressure, and above all, to maintain a keen sense of humour. Lost passengers, tickets, passports and tempers are everyday occurrences. It’s an excellent training ground for managerial and leadership skills, pays well and often offers opportunities to supplement your earnings with tips.
Some companies operate both summer and winter hotels and camps throughout Italy. Employees are required to speak good Italian. Representatives are also required for summer camps, which are organised for both adults and children. Among the main employers are Alpitour Italia, Viale Maino, 42, 20129 Milan (www.alpitour.it), Club Med(www.clubmedjobs.com), Francorosso International (www.francorosso.it) and Valtur (www.valtur.it).
Hotels & Catering
Hotels and restaurants are the largest employers of seasonal workers, from hotel managers to kitchen hands, with jobs which are available all year round. Experience, qualifications and fluent Italian are required for all the best and highest paid positions, although a variety of jobs are available for the untrained and inexperienced.
If accommodation with cooking facilities or full board isn’t provided with a job, it can be expensive and difficult to find. Ensure that your salary is sufficient to pay for accommodation, food and other living expenses, and to hopefully save some money. The best way to find work is to contact hotel chains directly, preferably at least six months before you wish to start work.
Grape & Fruit Picking
To find a fruit or vegetable picking job, visit the local information centre, which will provide you with a list of farms in the area taking on temporary workers for the harvest season. Local employment offices (uffici di collocamento) and agricultural co-operatives (Sezione Circoscrizionale per l’Impiego Collocamento in Agricola/SCICA) may also be helpful, although it’s generally best to contact farms directly.
You may not be provided with accommodation and students normally camp while working. Pay is usually on a piece work (lavoro a cottimo) basis, where the more you pick, the more you earn.
One of the most popular summer jobs in Italy is grape picking. Goodness knows why, because it’s boring, badly paid and involves hard physical work, although a surprising number of young people find it appealing. Occupational hazards include mosquito and other insect bites, cuts from secateurs, rashes on your arms and legs from chemical sprays, and incessant back pain from bending all day long.
Accommodation and cooking facilities can be extremely primitive, and the cost of food and accommodation is usually deducted from your pay. The main grape-picking areas are Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Marche, Piedmont, Puglia, Trentino, Tuscany and Veneto, where the harvest (vendemmia) is in September or October.
Ski Resorts
A seasonal job in an Italian ski resort can be a lot of fun and very satisfying. You will get fit, improve your Italian, make some friends, and may even save some money.
Although a winter job may be a working holiday to you (with lots of skiing and little work), to your employer it means exactly the opposite! Ski resorts require an army of temporary workers to cater for the annual invasion of winter sports enthusiasts. As well as the jobs in the hotel and catering trades already mentioned above, a variety of other jobs are available, including resort representatives, chalet girls, ski technicians, ski instructors and guides. As a general rule, the better paid the job, the longer the working hours and the less time there is for skiing. Employment in a winter resort usually entitles employees to a discounted ski-pass.
Sports Instructors
Sports instructors are required for a variety of sports, including badminton, canoeing, diving, golf, gymnastics, hang-gliding, horse riding, mountaineering, parachuting, rock-climbing, sailing, squash, sub-aquatic sports, swimming, tennis and windsurfing. Whatever the sport, it’s probably played and taught somewhere in Italy. Most jobs for are available in the summer months. If you’re a qualified winter sports instructor, you should contact Italian ski resorts. Ski instructors and guides should also contact tour operators, large luxury hotels, and ski rental and service shops.
You should start applying for work from May onwards. Interviews usually take place from early September through to early November and successful candidates are on the job by mid-December. If you miss the May deadline, you should still apply, because many applicants who have been offered jobs drop out at the last minute.
ENGLISH TEACHERS & TRANSLATORS
There’s a high demand for English teachers, translators and interpreters in the major cities in Italy, particularly in Rome and the north of the country. There’s also a high turnover of teachers in language schools and a constant demand for translators (and sometimes writers) from Italian companies.
Language Schools
There are literally hundreds of English-language schools (scuole di lingua) in Italy, many of which expect teachers to have a TEFL (Teacher of English as a Foreign Language) certificate or its equivalent, although this isn’t always the case. Some schools employ anyone whose mother tongue is English provided they’ve had experience in teaching, while others have their own teaching methods and prefer to train teachers to their own standards.
Many of the best schools are members of the Italian Association of English Language Schools (Associazione Italiana Scuole di Lingua Inglese/AISLI), a list of which is available from the Cambridge Centre of English, Via Campanella, 16, 41100 Modena (Tel. 059-241 004). Language schools generally pay less than you can earn giving private lessons, but they provide a contract and pay your taxes and social security. However, you may be able to obtain only a short-term contract or freelance work. You’re usually paid by the hour and therefore should ensure that you have a guaranteed number of hours per week. Schools are listed under Scuole di Lingua in the yellow pages.
Private Lessons
Italians tend to favour learning lots of grammar and you also find that students know a lot about English literature, but cannot speak a word of it correctly! If you aren’t up-to-date with grammar and you want to teach privately, you should stick to teaching conversation or children.
Work is generally easy to find, particularly in university cities and towns, as students must usually study English as part of their course work. Many foreigners teach English privately and are paid cash-in-hand by students, much of which is never declared. Most people find that when they have a few students they spread the word and before you know it you have as much work as you can handle.
You could also try placing an advertisement in local newspapers and magazines offering private English lessons, although replies may be received from Italian men who think that ‘English lessons’ implies something other than language lessons! The going rate for private lessons varies, but averages around €30 per hour (it’s usually higher in major cities than small towns).
Translators & Interpreters
These are other occupations that tend to come under the heading of English teaching, with many expatriates moving between the three professions quite easily. Professional translators and interpreters are in huge demand and are usually employed by agencies.
For anyone speaking fluent Italian and wanting to work in Italy, it would be worthwhile training as a professional translator or interpreter. Professional translators are paid by the page (or line) and the average rate is €15 per page, although this varies according to the kind of translation. Rates are higher in Rome and the northern cities than in the south.
Translating is a long and tiresome business, you must usually work to stringent deadlines, the subject matter can be highly technical (requiring special vocabulary) and translations must be precise. If you don’t translate medical notes, legal papers or business documents accurately, any mistakes could have serious consequences! Interpreters are employed mainly for exhibitions, congresses and seminars. You may be paid a flat rate for the day, e.g. between €35 and €55, or by the hour, e.g. €8.
University Teaching
English is taught in most universities in Italy and positions for assistants (lettori) in the English-language departments of Italian Universities are open to foreigners with university degrees. Applications should be made directly to the Rector of the University, followed by the name of the town or city, e.g. ‘Al Magnifico Rettore, Università di . .’. The same procedure should be followed for the University Institute of Modern Languages at Feltre and Milano, and also for the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano and the Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli. |
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