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Bit of a rant about working in Rome - am I wrong here?

 
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Dancebiscuits



Joined: 03 Dec 2012
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2013 9:03 pm    Post subject: Bit of a rant about working in Rome - am I wrong here? Reply with quote

I lived in Rome for about a year in 2010 and it was the most wonderful place. I loved it dearly and regret on a daily basis that I don�t live there any more. Unfortunately, having shopped around for new jobs in that incredible city, I have the following rant to contribute to their already flailing economy. Have I enormously got the wrong end of the stick?

ESL schools in Rome want to employ teachers with the following:
�Native English (free if you�re born in the relevant country)
�Eligibility to work in Europe (free if you�re from Europe. You have to be prepared to break the law and risk massive deportation-related issues if not and yes, many schools ask you to do so)
�Two years of experience (arguably free-to-profitable, depending where you�ve worked before)
�CELTA or TESOL (about �1,000 GBP minimum, depending where you studied and stayed, and what you ate and how you travelled while doing so)
�Degree (a LOT of money and about three years of your time)
�Minimum of basic spoken and written Italian (arguably free, depending how you learned)
�References (god knows what you have to put up with to get these from ESL schools these days)

And for these things they offer you the princely sum of about 1,000 Euros a month. Before tax. From this you have to buy
�Accommodation (500 euros a month is realistic)
�Transport to get to school punctually (or you�ll get sacked).
�Food (because if you�re not properly nourished you�ll be tired, and get sacked).
�Smart enough clothes to maintain a �businesslike appearance� (and a washing machine, hot water/electricity bills to sustain it) because otherwise you will be sacked.
�Transport to Rome for an interview, because nobody hires over Skype these days and then enough money to set yourself up with accommodation, food, clothes, transport and bills for two months while the school dicks around with payroll. Because if you ask for prompt payment, you�re likely to get sacked.
�Enough of a lifestyle to keep you smiling and friendly to your students (AKA �customers�), because otherwise you�ll be sacked.

On top of all that, your contract ends from late June to September and you have to look after yourself, often giving up your accommodation, flying yourself elsewhere to work for summer and starting again from scratch each time.

And they wonder why they get backpackers who leave after 3 months and then their school goes bust. Sigh.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 4:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds grime...

Forget Italy. Come to Russia! Most of the buildings here had Italian architects anyway : )
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Teacher in Rome



Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 1286

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 8:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not actually in Rome any more, but lots of what you've listed seem to be standard minimums: native speaker of English, degree educated, qualified to CELTA level... This has been the case for many years - in many places, not just Italy. Pretty much Europe wide, as far as I know. The same as expecting an interested applicant to show up in person for an interview. They want to see you before taking you on. Otherwise how would they know that you're serious about working for them if you aren't even in the same country?

Of course you're going to need to be punctual, well turned out, and friendly. The school is going to send you out to their clients, after all. You'd need to be all of these in pretty much any job in Italy, and in any teaching job that I have ever had, wherever in the world.

Yes, the wages are low. Cost of living is high. I can't disagree there. Most entry level roles in most sectors are around the �1000 pcm mark. ELT teachers are not being singled out for poor payment, believe me!

If your school is dicking around with the payroll, that could be a sign of poor cashflow. Unfortunately, it happens with a lot of Italian companies, who aren't being paid regularly by their clients. The organisation I worked for in Rome had a big contract with Telecom Italia, who paid 180 days after the contract finished. This is, unfortunately, pretty standard stuff.

But my biggest question, is why you're trying to get work in Italy if you don't have the right to work here. Why is that on your rant list? Why do you feel (if you do, that is, would hate to make assumptions) entitled to work in Italy just because you want to? I can't just breeze into a teaching job in San Francisco or Melbourne, for example, just because I want to, if that makes you feel any better!

The risk is mainly all yours if you work illegally. Stupid of schools to offer you illegal work, and definitely not smart of you to accept it. Find another way of staying in Rome. I hired a teacher at 20 hours a week - legally - because she was also studying Italian at John Cabot Uni. Look into these sorts of arrangements.
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Dancebiscuits



Joined: 03 Dec 2012
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Sat May 04, 2013 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"But my biggest question, is why you're trying to get work in Italy if you don't have the right to work here"

I do - I'm British.

It was me stating the fact that some schools (I encountered 3) are willing to employ people from Oz and USA and South Africa, they're just not prepared to do the leg work to do so legally.

Also I think I didn't make myself clear: Of course schools want employees to be punctual, professional, experienced, qualified, trained, neat and pleasant to their clients/students. My point is if they don't actually pay enough for said staff to buy clothes, food, medicine and accommodation all at the same time - and then stop their contracts for 3 months a year on top of that - how do they expect their staff to be those things?

I've had three Italian job offers now, all of which have been for full-time hours, requiring qualified, experienced, professional staff but none of which paid enough to actually exist on (let alone give you an incentive to take the position!). Do they expect teachers to live off savings?
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JustinC



Joined: 15 Mar 2013
Posts: 138
Location: The Land That Time Forgot

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How is this a rant about Rome? It's a west European capital so it's expensive, it's desirable so the wages are low, it's probably technically bankrupt so payments are irregular.
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Teacher in Rome



Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 1286

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
My point is if they don't actually pay enough for said staff to buy clothes, food, medicine and accommodation all at the same time - and then stop their contracts for 3 months a year on top of that - how do they expect their staff to be those things?

I've had three Italian job offers now, all of which have been for full-time hours, requiring qualified, experienced, professional staff but none of which paid enough to actually exist on (let alone give you an incentive to take the position!). Do they expect teachers to live off savings?


This is the reality of life in Rome for anyone on an entry-level wage. Anyone - not just ESL teachers, but Italians too. Italians are notching up debt, or using their family's savings. Or living cheek by jowl with three generations in a one-bedroom flat. 2 million Italians are going without healthcare because they can't afford prescription charges (the "ticket"). Shops and small businesses are going out of business at an extraordinary daily rate because a) there aren't enough customers, and b) they don't get paid on time.

And as for contracts... The nine-month contract has been standard for years. No Italian company is going to pay you for three months of the year while you can't work (because there are no clients / students in summer.)

The only way to earn decent pay in Rome - in my opinion - is to either work as many hours as you can possibly fit in to the day, or stick around for long enough, learning Italian and being more useful than a teacher, so that you can get higher paid work. At that point, you will probably also have a more decent contract with pension, holiday pay and so on.

I'm not sure if life would be any easier in any of the other European capital cities. It's not such a great time, economically, for Europe right now. Wages seem to be stagnant, while the cost of living seems to keep on rising. You might do better in places like Milan, but I'm not convinced. It's harsh, but maybe the options are to lower your expectations, learn the art of "arrangersi", or find another way to increase your income.
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Aimer



Joined: 12 Feb 2013
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The cost of living in southern Italy is significantly cheaper than Rome, Milan, the big Norhern cities and even just generally in the north. Salaries may be a bit lower for a standard TEFL teaching job in the South but not much less. I'm not saying you'll be wealthy by any means but it is certainly a decent living wage and you'll find you are better off than most Italians, certainly compared to ones doing comparable jobs. Also there is a lot of demand for private lessons, so if you are living somewhere big enough it is easy to boost your salary with a bit of effort. You'll still need to find work for 3 to 4 months in the Summer though.

Everything else you point out is just the reality of TEFL teaching in Europe and there are lots of reasons why it is like that. If you aren't able to deal with this reality you are probably better off moving on to another job, or at least another continent, as you will be very lucky to find a significantly better situation.
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peaches604



Joined: 12 Feb 2011
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I teach in northern Italy and it's possible to make way over 1000 euros a month. There were months where I made 1500/1800 euros.

The trick is not to work for one school but offer your service to various Business English schools. I get paid anywhere from 20 - 50 euros per hour.
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