The previous post was a response to the following question:
What advice would you offer for those who want to eventually work abroad, specifically in Italy ?- Evan, Bloomington, IL

Hi Evan,
The real lengthy reply is below, but for those who don’t want to read the doctoral thesis/”War and Peace”/Complete history of Italy abridged below, here is some advice I would offer:

1- Know how you can stay in Italy and not have to hide from immigration. It is not quite as simple as walking up to your nearest consulate (for you Evan, that’s Chicago) and declaring that you want to live in Italy (MAGARI!)

2- Do some market research into the sector that you want to work in. Like in the states, a lot of the interview process involves selling yourself- but a company will definitely want to know why they should hire you over an Italian (heres a hint: I speak Native English goes over VERY well).

3- Do some research on the area of Italy you would like to move to: Milan is the capital of finance and fashion, Rome provides great opportunities for government work, banking and tourism, Florence is a good city to teach English or (again) tourism, and Puglia is beautiful if you want to be a farmer.

4- Learn Italian- maybe this doesn’t need to be said, but I was in Rome two weeks ago and I ran into this girl from Minnesota who spoke such terrible Italian, I was tempted to punch her. I give credit to people who try, but her Italian was so terrible and she was so cocky about how great it was, that about 90% of the piazza was on board with the whole “me kicking her thing.”

5- Be Persistent. The old saying “where theres a will, theres a way” really holds true during a lot of the administrative work that goes into moving across an ocean. Stay focused, and don’t be afraid to call the consulate every five minutes if you have to. I was on hold with the Consulate in NY for most of 2006…

I love the questions though! Keep them coming!

Working your way across "the pond"

Working in Italy has definitely been a wonderful experience for me over the past year, but as I spent this past weekend in Basilicata talking to my cousins I came to realize how fortunate I have been to have found a secure position with a secure contract. There are many challenges facing young people here, and even those most qualified often find themselves bouncing from job to job seeking a better contract or accepting internships well into their 30s.

Here are a few points that I have found invaluable as to the working environment in Italy.

1- Ability to work:

The first hurdle as an American is actually being allowed to work in Italy. Americans with valid passports can stay in Italy for up to 90 days, but as tourists. I have heard of people who wish to stay longer and cross into Switzerland every 3 months to keep their eligibility valid, but this is neither legal nor a valid way to stay. Alternatively, you can try to find a company to sponsor you for a visa/permesso di soggiorno (permission to stay). This is a costly and time consuming process. I recently spoke with a friend who works in HR for a multinational company based in Italy, who confirmed that working between the US and Italian government makes it difficult (not impossible but difficult) to hire Americans because of national quotas, and so is usually something companies reserve for highly qualified workers or management.

I was able to move here because I hold dual citizenship, and therefore have an Italian passport as well as an American one. This is a complicated process, but put simply, I did research into my family background and found that at the time of my grandmother’s birth, her father was still an Italian citizen (my Grandmother was born in NY but raised in Rome). Because my Grandmother never realized she was born legally Italian, she never denounced her “birthright” and so it was passed to my mother and then to me. After collecting birth, death, marriage and naturalization certificates from every family member directly connecting me to Italy and waiting 2 years, I received my passport from the Italian Consulate General in New York. This process is called “Riconoscimento della Cittadinanza” (Re-recognizing of Citizenship) and although it takes quite a while, is the best way to go for those eligible, as legally I am Italian in all effects (meaning, I can work here, vote, buy property, am entitled to health care, and can collect a pension).

2- Finding the right job for you

As an American, or either way, a native English speaker, most “ex-pats” that I have met here work either as tour guides or as English teachers. To become a licensed tour guide in Italy, which most native English speakers are not, requires passing a lengthy state administered examination. I would also point out that most people who speak English have certification in Teaching English as a Second Language. When I first moved to Rome, seeing as I have a degree in Italian Literature and history, I began looking at jobs as a Tour Guide. The problem with this is that the work is fairly seasonable (meaning GREAT in the summer- slow in the winter), but you make more money than you do teaching English (and I think its more interesting- but thats just my opinion).

I came over here with the intent of continuing on the career path I started in New York however, meaning Insurance. To this end, it helps to do some market research, which I started to do before coming over. Know who the biggest players are, and try to get an idea on where you may fit in.

The first thing I noticed is that the Insurers are all in Milan, whereas the Brokers are scattered all over Italy. When I started working in Rome, it was for an American brokerage company, which I targeted specifically (the big 3 world wide- Marsh, Willis and Aon), because in an American company being a native English speaker would present a particular advantage both to the company looking to acquire, and to me as a selling point. After working in Rome for 6 months, I switched back to Underwriting, but staying with an American company, where again, being a native English speaker had advantages.

3- Contracts

In Italy, the type of contract that you hold at work has a big effect on almost every aspect of life. It is not uncommon to see people with a Laurea (Italian degree, American degrees can be validated through local autorities) doing Internships. Internships have a fixed time period (6 months usually) and if they are paid, it is usually a rather small amount (400-600 a month).

Then there are the 2 most common contracts which are: “Contratto a tempo determinato” and “contratto a tempo indeterminato.” You want to shoot for the latter.

A Contratto a tempo determinato, or determined time, is a fixed period contract, usually 6 months to a year, after which the company can either hire you again or let you go with no obligations to you. Most companies prefer to hire under these contracts because they are elastic, and less costly (in terms of taxes they pay on their workers).

Then there is the “mother of all contracts” which is the Contratto a tempo indeterminato (Contract of undetermined time- this contract is largely the reason I moved to Milan). This contract is that infamous, “you can never be fired unless you commit some grave mistake or do something illegal” contract. There is a 3 month “prova”, which is a window of leeway where you or the company can still back out- an approval period more or less- after which you are integrally part of the company. With this type of contract you can also get easily approved for bank loans and are entitled to a plethora of benefits. It is a secure contract in an insecure market, but is fairly hard to come by.

What is the one bit of advice I would give? Be patient and persistent.

Cleaning day sognando di Capri

Ah Sunday, the day of pulizie (cleaning the house), which unfortunately was very necessary this week as the Turkish girl has apparently never learned to use detergents- leaving the house nothing less than GROSS since last Sunday. But now that I’m in my clean kitchen with a lovely bottle of Brunello breathing for lunch, I can write and think clearly.
This was a decisively stressful week as a broker with whom I bound a Directors and Officers Insurance policy in December decided to call up and argue about terms of coverage (but- isn’t it the middle of March? Yes, oh faithful readers of Experience.com, it is the middle of March). Anyway, I had, in the quote letter, binder (confirmation of coverage before policy issuance for those not in insurance) made very clear that companies with negative net worth or in fallimento (financial failure) were excluded from coverage. This is both smart from an Underwriting point of view and fairly standard at the price we closed the deal at. Despite my abundance of disclosure, the broker decided to call up demanding that we take the exclusion out of the policy after 3 months, citing the fact that the same client just bought an 80,000 euro pollution policy with us as well. The whole request was absurd- and I informed him that we will be happy to review everything at the policy renewal in December and that if the 2 companies in question were financially fine now, the exclusion isn’t active anyway. Either way, he pursued the issue for 2 days taking up about half my day with nonsense.
Anyway, I’ve spent the large part of the day so far reflecting, as per usual. I decided this morning to watch a great old movie with Clark Gable and Sofia Loren called “It Started In Naples”, which is about an American man who goes to Naples to settle his brother’s estate, only to find that his brother has an 8 year old son. Of course, he falls in love with the child’s Aunt (Sofia Loren) and the island of Capri (a place that puts my island- Long Island- to shame).
Outside of it being a fabulous movie, it made me think about the few trips I’ve taken there. The first time, I was 17 and going into my senior year of high school. Capri is one of those magical places that creeps into your soul when you’re not paying attention, and makes everyone want to be Italian- figurati (great phrase- the Italian version of New York’s Fuggetaboutit) those of us who are Italian-American. I was ready to drop out of school and become a grape picker!
Anyway, one morning, I woke up early to go running and wound up taking a sunrise walk with my mother to go see the Faraglioni (rock fragments the jet out of the sea, very well known on Capri). It was calm, peaceful, and beautiful combined with the sun that rose over the sea illuminating first the water and then the whole island. Some Italians in the area stopped and asked us for directions- seeing my mother and assuming that she too was Italian. Then surprised to find her decisively un-Italian looking daughter spoke back while she stood there and smiled. Although it was only a few short moments, it is one of my favorite moments in life and one of the most special memories I think I will ever have with my mother.
A few years later I went with my grandmother and Aunts to the island one day. We wound up on the opposite side near the Marina Piccola (Small marina) and found the most amazing place on earth to eat lunch- right on the water. Again- nothing short of a magical experience, especially watching my Grandmother who was raised in Rome, rediscover the beauty of a place she left about 60 years earlier.
Finally, about two weeks after my excursion with Grandma, my best friend Sammy came over to visit and of course, we wound up on Capri. The last night we were on the island, we decided to take it easy and have a coffee in the Piazza. Sam had a rough night the evening before, when, after a delicious meal and a few hours in a terrible club, some hooligans in the hostel we were staying in, decided to bust into our “dorm” in the middle of the night and dump a plastic bag of freezing water on her. This, by the way, is probably not the best way to be woken up at 3 in the morning.
So, back to the Piazza, we sat down and were having a nice little aperitif when I noticed that there was some activity on a stage set up in the middle of the square. We had unknowingly stumbled upon the town’s patron saint celebration- which meant dancing in tradition garb, singing Neapolitan folk tunes and apparently dragging a few American girls on stage to help with the music on instruments that I had never seen before, and never seen since. Not to put too fine a point on it- but again, magical!
So that’s what I’ve been thinking about on cleaning day!

When in Rome...

In the spirit of Spring Break (I remember spring break- I went back home to work...enjoy Cancun college kids!), I’m going to use this time to enlighten you all on the greatest place on earth and where I spent my weekend.

I went home, home to Rome. What a magnificent city that, in my opinion, fully embodies all that it means to be Italian. Rome is a fantastic city because the ancient world mingles with the modern world in a way that is so natural you can hardly tell one from the other.

I spent Friday night at an Aperativo (Italian happy hour), where you get a nice drink but then eat ridiculously good food for 2 hours. Saturday, I hung out with friends and our night finished up at Piazza Trilussa. Rome, which is a city filled with students and tourists has an “American zone”- called Campo dei Fiori- which during the day is a flower market, but at night when the flowers are gone opens up to an awesome bar scene with 9 or 10 places that all spill out into the Piazza highlighted by a statue of G. Bruno, who was burned for heresy- a heresy we call “Science.”

Italians usually hang out across the river at Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere. Essentially, Piazza Trilussa has a set of wide set stairs where you can sit and talk and sing and do pretty much anything- but in the open air. Saturday night made me appreciate the phrase “Dolce far niente”, or “How sweet to do nothing.”

Going to Rome also made me think about the decisions we make in life though. I was happier in Rome than I had been- maybe ever. And yet, I moved to Milan. It was the balance between my career and fun. Milan, especially if you work in financial services (so- insurance- yeah that’s a financial service), is the capital of work. If you want a serious career, Milan is the place to do so. Adult decisions are tough! But, as I frequently remind myself- at least in Milan I’m only 4 and a half hours from Rome!

The right time to move abroad

I read an article a few weeks ago in the New York Times about colleges who give high school seniors the option of doing a gap year abroad(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/education/19educ.html). I’m torn about how I feel about though. Here is the rationale behind that:

Bad Idea:

Leaving home the first time (which a lot of people do when they go to college- I certainly was one of them) can be traumatizing. You can make up for that by being in a University setting where you still study and being surrounded by people who are in the same proverbial boat. It helps you bond- and it takes the sting off of the difficulty of being away from home.

Being in a place where they don’t speak the language can make a lot of the normal problems in life worse- because ultimately our ability to communicate is what bonds us to the people who surround our lives. That means that if you are in a European city where most people speak a decent amount of English- wonderful- but if you’re doing service projects in the mountains of Bolivia, well…you better speak Spanish!
What it comes down to, is that I think most people at 18 are too immature to handle rent and amenities, going out responsibly and being able to (to put it simply) “not die.” I have a roommate here who is 18. She’s Turkish and miserable. She doesn’t speak Italian or English and so it is impossible to communicate with her. Frankly, communicating with her is necessary as in the past week, she has left the gas on the stove while we were at work, left the door open all night, shut the water off in the bathroom while playing with knobs and needs to be taken care of the few times we go out socially as an apartment. So, basically, we had to smell with the potential of being blown up and murdered. These are little (or not so little) things that most people know not to do with age- but on the safety of a college campus there is that little bit of room for error.

The US Dollar is also terrible right now (1.50 USD to 1.00 Euro), but this will need some time to bounce back.

Good idea:
Studying abroad is one of the most amazing experiences a person can have. You meet fascinating people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. You learn about other countries and cultures while learning tons about yourself and your own inner potential. And its just plain fun!

On a totally unrelated note, I’ve picked up one of my old habits here- I started playing on one of Milan’s softball teams this week. Its fun! I have always played on a competitive level- but this team is a mix of old and young, experienced and inexperienced. There are also two older men on the team who were playing in rolled up jeans- which made me think of a Brooklyn pick-up game circa 1954. Or maybe The Sandlot! SMALLS! The GREAT BAMBINO! THE SULTAN OF SWAT! THE COLLOSUS OF CLOUT!

That to me, is finding the best of American culture in my city!
This is also a good time to check out the sports blog (link to the right), for a good chuckle and some interesting insight into that world!