{"id":4854,"date":"2015-09-04T14:01:56","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T12:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=4854"},"modified":"2022-01-23T15:06:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T14:06:40","slug":"fci-019-finding-a-job-in-italy-with-liz-knight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/fci-019-finding-a-job-in-italy-with-liz-knight\/","title":{"rendered":"FCI 019 – Finding a Job in Italy with Liz Knight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"finding<\/a>
Liz’s office in Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest obstacle for many North Americans who would like to live in Italy is the prospect of finding (or rather, NOT finding) a job. When the expat bug first bites them, most assume that they\u2019ll just show up, find a job in their chosen field, and then resume their career without any major detours. HA!<\/p>\n

Actually, there are two hurdles to overcome: legal permission to work in Italy<\/a>, and then finding gainful employment. \u201cGainful\u201d being the key word there\u2014many businesses are more than happy to \u201chire\u201d you if you\u2019re willing to work for free. Indeed, it can often seem like Italians don\u2019t value other people\u2019s time and expertise, acting almost offended when you tell them that you expect to get paid for writing, translation, or other services. More on that later.<\/p>\n

My friend and fellow expat in Rome, Liz Knight, has plenty of experience with all of these challenges. She\u2019s a lawyer by training, but her passion is for Italy and travel. Ever since her first family vacation to Italy as a teenager, she\u2019s had an \u201con again, off again\u201d relationship with the country, including several semesters abroad during college, and two expat experiences. Currently, she\u2019s been living in Rome (again) since 2012. And she\u2019s still hustling to piece together a steady paycheck\u2014like the majority of the expats in Italy. She shares some acute insights about this during our podcast conversation.<\/p>\n

Finding a Job in Italy<\/h2>\n

Part of the challenge is the economic realities of Italy\u2019s job opportunities these days. Unless you\u2019ve been living under a rock for the last 3-4 years, then you know that Italy, like the rest of \u201cMediterranean Europe,\u201d has been struggling to dig itself out of a long recession.<\/p>\n

There are also some cultural forces at work here, too. For example, there\u2019s a tendency towards socialism that drives everyone\u2019s salary towards the fat part of the curve (a curve that\u2019s already skewed to the low end of the scale).<\/p>\n

\"working<\/a>
Liz’s old office in Texas (JUST KIDDING!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Liz noted during our conversation, engineers with prestigious Ph.D.\u2019s only make about 25% more than a secretary at the same company. In the U.S. for example, a top-level engineer might make 600-700% more than an entry level employee. So from a financial standpoint, there is little incentive in Italy to study hard or work hard to stay ahead of the rising taxes and provide some level of extra comfort for your family.<\/p>\n

Yet, there are other European countries that lean pretty far to the left, too, but at least the wages are higher and\/or they have incredible social programs which justify high taxes. In Italy, it\u2019s the worst of both situations: ridiculous taxes and unreliable pubic services. Things are harder still for someone without the safety net of an involved family living close by (often in the same house).<\/p>\n

Liz Knight<\/h2>\n

Lest you think it\u2019s all doom and gloom, Liz will assure you that it\u2019s not. No, in fact the positives still far outweigh the negatives. There are the often cited glories of Italy\u2019s sublime beauty, best-in-the-world cuisine, and historical treasures. But perhaps even more alluring is that intangible magic that occurs when all the ingredients are mixed together on a perfect summer evening, resulting in a spell that bewitches your soul and causes you to make wonderful, irrational decisions\u2014like becoming an expat in Rome. Damn the consequences and pass the vino!<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth-Knight\"<\/a>But wait, there\u2019s more! During our talk, Liz offers some of the best practical advice that I\u2019ve heard yet for people like her and I (and maybe you?) who are determined to live out our Italian dreams. Check out what she has to say, and then get to work on the preparations long before you trade-in your remodeled 1960\u2019s ranch-style home in North Dallas for 50 square meters of un-airconditioned discomfort in the Eternal (Infernal) City.<\/p>\n

Liz Knight is originally from Nashville, Tennessee, practiced law in Dallas, and currently lives in Rome\u2019s charming Ghetto neighborhood. She works for herself as a freelance attorney, alas, trying to synchronize her watch with her clients back in Texas.<\/p>\n

If you like silliness or Italy or both, or enjoy misadventures in\u00a0Random English<\/a>, consider liking her\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0for daily news, pics, and funnies.<\/p>\n

And if you want to \u201ccatch her in the act,\u201d check out the Facebook Page for Rome\u2019s Comedy Club<\/a>. Liz will be performing there on 25 September, 2015 and most every \u201clast Friday of the month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click the link to check out other episodes and see my list of the <\/span>best podcasts about Italy<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/feeds.soundcloud.com\/stream\/222231023-rick-zullo-1-fci-019-finding-a-job-in-italy-with-liz-knight.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a> (Duration: 44:53 — 41.1MB) | Embed<\/a><\/p>

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Subscribe: Email<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The biggest obstacle for many North Americans who would like to live in Italy is the prospect of finding (or rather, NOT finding) a job. When the expat bug first bites them, most assume that they\u2019ll just show up, find a job in their chosen field, and then resume their career without any major detours. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,6,4,344,124],"tags":[52,390,345,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11819,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854\/revisions\/11819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}