The title sounds promising: Trova lavoro Subito! Or Find a job now! The essay by Stefano Parmigiani and Alberto Forchielli, expert in international business development, as well as Managing Director of Mandarin Capital Partners, advises Italians looking for a job abroad on what to take into consideration before leaving.

“As first thing, you must ask youself whether you do want to leave your country. Too often those leaving have not carefully considered what they are going to miss and what they are going through. Living abroad implies a totally different time management: you have to check the reasons for which you are leaving, your level of foreign languages and what kinds of compromises you are ready to accept”.

Forchielli dismisses two big myths Italians believe in: 1) that working abroad as such is always preferable. And 2) that Italians are preferred by employers in comparison to other nationalities because of their flexibility, social skills, versatility. “It is true that Italians are often experienced as “nicer”, but this matters only in the unlikely event of them being equally skilled as other candidates”.

Moreover Forchielli makes it clear there is a huge difference between where Italians “would prefer” to go and where, instead, they eventually move to. The main dream destinations are England, Australia and the US. Nevertheless, as evidences show, the majority of young people end up staying in Europe because of geographical closeness and no need of visas.

  • Which categories of workers are most wanted in each country?
  • In United Arab Emirates jobs available are mainly as nurses, obstetricians and doctors.
  • In Australia better chances are for technical workers, i.e. engineers, production technicians, artisans.
  • In Germany there are many jobs available in aerospace and mechanics.

“What missteps have to be avoided?” we asked the expert.“Not making sure your cv is impeccable. Most of the jobs are offered through online job boards and for many candidates the only contact with companies will be an email with an attached resume. The second misstep is applying for a position you are not suitable for. You are going to be discarded, with the only result of decreasing your selfesteem. Although you might expect a no, it always hurts”.

If the first impact is negative, how long you do you have to wait before going back to Italy?

“If it is negative, probably you should not have left. Whatever happens, however, you should wait at least a couple of years if you want to pursue an international career. If you want to go back to Italy instead and stay there for the rest of your life, my advice is to hold for at least six months and then try to figure out what is wrong and why. It is often much easier leaving your country than going back to it”.

Do you dream about leaving Italy? Where would you like to go? Let me know by tweeting @RoosterGNN or @bluelisaaa using the #studyabroadbecause.