Job Discussion Forums

[Valaki]

Is this a very bad idea?

EU passport (non-English speaking EU country), CELTA, MA English lit, 2 years exp. including university level (Middle East).

Supposing it's feasible, where/how do I start?

[hot_shot]

RIGHT NOW?!

whats the rush??

[Valaki]

KSA problems.

[Teacher in Rome]

I'm a bit confused. When you say EU passport from non-English speaking country, does this mean you aren't a native speaker of English? (Cos that may well cause you problems in Italy.)

Probably your best bet would be to head to the bigger cities where you could pick up a bit of work. Most courses have started, and most teachers are in place in schools / institutions etc. So any work you get is likely to be a bit scrappy. On the other hand, you could strike it lucky!

Try Rome / Milan / Turin. Milan is a good option as there are lots of satellite towns, all with their own language schools.

You're not likely to get any uni work. Most is recupero lessons (i.e. helping secondary school students with their English homework / problems); corporate English in the bigger towns, and Cambridge ESOL exam preparation. (KET, PET, FCE and YL.)

[Valaki]

What about now? Any tips/leads anyone?

[spiral78]

Regular contracts are Sept/Oct through June. This is NEVER a good time of year...makes no difference if it's 2012 or 2013.

[Valaki]

Well OK, thanks for the advice but I still want to go.

I was thinking I might start calling schools from back home, while sounding really desperate. How would Italian employers react to this?

[Xie Lin]

[spiral78]

It's pretty rare to find anything from abroad, unless you find a desperate EMPLOYER. Especially at this time of year.

No chance they are going to care if you are desperate or not.

[Teacher in Rome]

I agree with what Spiral says. Few employers are going to hire you from abroad unless you're going through an agency like Saxencourt or Eurotemp. But be really careful of taking a job sight unseen.

Why not come over and see what's available? You might get a few hours here and there. This is my busiest time of the year for teaching with exam prep etc, though these hours have been planned for some time. You might find that some schools / training institutions have overstretched themselves and need a pair of extra hands. (You're unlikely to get anything fulltime though, unless you're really lucky.)

[Valaki]

[spiral78]

I've been around Western and Central Europe for almost 15 years now. Basically, finding jobs here requires some risk-taking and some up front investment. Especially at this time of year, your chances are less than they would be in September.
If you're not a native English speaker, even more problematic....

It is a risk. You might get lucky. No-one can really say!

Best general ideas:

Pick a big city (or two). Usually more opportunities in a big city. Find a cheap accomodation (online searches work in this respect). Ideally, go there in the peak hiring period. Be ready to present yourself as professionally as possible.

There is no list of schools for any one city other than what you can find on google, so far as I am aware.

You can also send CVs in advance, but don't really expect anyone to bite on these; it's just very rare that reputable employers hire anyone sight-unseen, though it's not totally unheard of.

[Teacher in Rome]

Schools are generally listed in the yellow pages: "pagine gialle". You can look these up online.

[Valaki]

OK I'm in the Milan region now. Can anyone recommend specific schools I could apply to?

[Teacher in Rome]

Try some of the business / corporate type places. Connor Language Services comes to mind, and there's also Anderson House in Bergamo.

Good luck!