Job Discussion Forums

[MrMojoRisin]

I'm a British citizen, just graduated with a degree in English Lang and Lit, did my CELTA & had my first TEFL experience working for Embassy CES summer schools in the UK. Now I want to find my first proper tefl job in Western Europe. I've scoured the net, been trying to do my homework and have concluded that Belgium, Holland and France offer much less of a tefl market - esp for newcomers - than Spain, Portugal and Italy. So it is in these latter 3 countries that I feel is where my path lies...

So I've scoured the net, I've made lots of speculative applications, dishing out my CV via email to recruitment agencies, schools that advertise, and schools that don't advertise. I've had little response, and any response has been negative. Have I basically been wasting my time? Is the way to get work to actually go out to the place of your choice and fish it out? Hound language schools?

This is easier said than done... surely this is a risky method, and to say the least expensive. & when should you undertake this "on the ground" approach? Just before the academic yr begins I presume... which for Spain, Portugal, Italy is October, correct??

HOW do you get a job

[Teacher in Rome]

I can't speak for the other countries, but if you want a job in Italy, it would be much easier to come to Italy, rather than trying to get a job while still in the UK. True, there are some recruiters (Saxoncourt etc), but I don't know what their criteria are in terms of experience.

Come over at the end of August to get yourself sorted out paperwork-wise (you'll need a codice fiscale and permesso di soggiorno) and send your CV out to as many schools as possible. Teaching starts up again in the first or second week of September.

One thing to bear in mind about Italy is that it's not super-cheap and you'll need a fair amount of cash to tide you over to your first paycheck - beginning October if you get work in September. There's a lot more work in Milan and Rome than in other cities, but your Euro will probably go a lot further in smaller towns.

Good luck!

[MrMojoRisin]

Thanks for your information....

What is a "codice fiscale and permesso di soggiorno"? Do they take time to arrange? and I assume they have to be arranged before starting work?

I actually have a friend in Genoa who should be able to put me up for a while and so save me money!! What's the tefl market like there? Any ideas? In fact which italian cities have the biggest markets??

[Teacher in Rome]

A codice fiscale is a tax number, a little like your NI number, which you can get easily at the Ministry of Finance. Just take along your passport, and you get a number on the spot. (You can't get paid without this number, so it should be your first priority.)

A permesso di soggiorno is a permit to stay. You need to go to the questura (foreigners' police) and fill out a form, leave your passport, etc etc. It can easily take a couple of weeks to get this. Recently the questura have been asking people to show evidence of work contracts in order to get the permesso, which is a little bizarre. If this happens to you, you can either go back the next day in the hopes of seeing another police officer, or wait until you do have a work contract. You need a permesso if you want to open a bank account, or if you want to get something like an electricity contract; but otherwise, you can do without it if the police are demanding evidence of work first. Just get a work contract, then go back to the questura and show it to them. You may also need an E111 to get a permesso, but again, this varies. By the way, if the police ask you to pay to get a special "bollo" (stamp) then they are mistaken - the permesso doesn't cost a thing, and neither does the codice fiscale.

This might all sound a little confusing, but the rules seem to have changed a little recently, and they weren't applied uniformly to begin with.

I'm not sure how much work there is in Genoa, but it's a lovely city and well worth trying out - especially if you have somewhere to stay. You should find some work there, though. Try the "pagine gialle" (Yellow pages) - I think there's a Benedict's School (chain of language schools) as well as a few others.