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Getting an IT Job in Europe as an American
IvanHo asks: "I'm looking for success stories, hints, tips and tricks from any Slashdot readers with U.S. citizenship that have managed to find gainful employment in Europe. For various reasons, my wife and I would like to spend a couple years working in Europe -- preferably Southern Europe. For the last couple months, I have been applying for IT positions there with no luck. Although, my wife grew up in Rome and her family is there now, she is a U.S. citizen, so that well trodden route to a work permit is unavailable. Any advice? I'm trying to avoid incorporating and transferring myself if possible."
"My resume is fairly strong and I've had a couple companies express interest until they realized that I would require sponsorship to work in the EU. Given the number of H1 folks I work with day in and day out, I'm starting to wonder if it isn't harder to get a visa to work in Europe than it is here. I've noticed that even American companies are posting prior right to work in a country as a prerequisite for employment. Language is a possible problem, but I do know a couple European languages beyond English -- Portuguese and French."
Tell your prospective employer's that you're a Canadian. You will probably get more interviews at elast, even if you fail subsequent background checks .... ;-)
gus
.. if only.
This may be BS but I know a few people who claim that it's easier to work for a year in UK where it's easier to get your foot in the door then move to another EU state with your work permit as the permits are transportable.
EU residents, please feel free to call shenanigans here and tell me the real deal.
You say she grew up in Rome, which suggests that she is Italian. If she is an EU national, as the spouse of an EU national, you are entitled to a work visa.
I did it in Australia. With that rather large caveat in mind, I'm going to tell you my story anyway, in case you can pull a little inspiration out of it.
All my life I'd wanted to move to Australia, but hadn't been too proactive about it. I met a girl online back in 1999 who was from Australia, and in addition to her being extremely freaking cool, she lived in Australia. So I decided that if things kept going well with her that I'd move there. The did, so I did. Before I moved though, I got in touch with some immigration folks there, folks that run businesses for the express purpose of migrating in folks that wanted to live in Australia. His main modus operandi was marriage, but I wasn't ready for that just yet.
I poured myself over newsgroups about immigration into Australia, reading every post, answering questions where I could, etc. I learned a hell of a lot in a very short amount of time. I decided that my best bet was to just go there and try to find work after I got there. I was lucky enough to be hired by Yahoo! a couple weeks later. They sponsored me on what was to be a class-457 Business visa, that allowed me to work for one employer and live in Australia. My visa was for 2 years, but could easily be extended, and only cost me AUD$150 (my employer paid for most of it).
After I lived in Australia for a while (this part you'll be interested in) I found out about places that act as temp-agencies for out-of-countrymen. They would sponsor you, and they would pay you, but you would be hired out to various places for 6 months to a year at a time. You were in constant employment, but your gigs were short. I think this could be an option for you, especially if you can speak Italian.
Hit the newsgroups, read read read read read read all you can about immigration law, find some immigration lawyers and suck every word out of them that you can before they want money, and just live and breathe the Italian immigration process. Soon folks will approach you with options that I've not experienced and that neither of us have imagined. There is a way, I guarantee it.
Your wife, unless Italy disallows it, could become a dual-citizen. She could become a citizen of Italy and the US, with all the privileges of each and zero downside. Since you're married to her you could get two passports as well, and live in each country as long as you wished, with or without a job. This is probably the most robust option, but would probably take the longest time to set up. If you're patient, and dual-citizenship is an option, I would go this way.
I know this post is all over the spectrum, I'm not a good writer. But I hope something in here has given you an idea. The only thing between you and Italian employment is time. You'll get there if you really want to.
... the odds of a racist society. In Italy we use extra-comunitarian (non EU citizen) as a parafrase for the ass-poor immigrant to whom nobody will ever rent an apartment for a reasonable fee, give a legal job, pay the pension fund contributions, etc... Strangely enough this mistreatment also applies to an USian, Australian, Canadian... whatever. Weird, having a highly productive citizen of an avanced western country treated with the same disdain for a stinkin' north african movin' in to spread criminality (no shit, I've heard this delirium more than once...) Perhaps you're better off trying in Spain; it isn't much different from Italy as far as lifestyle goes, but they seem much more integrated and civilized than us and, for bonus, their economy is much livelier than ours!
Mi domando chi à il mandante di tutte le cazzate che faccio - Altan
I've been living and working in Europe for about nine years now, and it's probably one of the best moves I've ever made.
You WILL need a work permit and sponsorship from an employer, but this is a lot easier than an H1B.
You WILL need to make this a 100% commitment and start living like a European rather than an American abroad. Above all realize that the world does not revolve around the United States and not everyone speaks English.
In return you'll get a more relaxed lifestyle, better living conditions and a better public transport system.
Ed Almos
Budapest, Hungary
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. - Tacitus, 56-120 A.D.
There are a number of reasons:
:)
:) but it all depends on your settings of course.
1. The pay will be higher, the taxes lower. (Though your Italian counterparts will get 6 weeks vacation to your measly 2-3
2. Less paperwork and other hoops to jump through. Many EU countries can't hire an international unless they have exhausted all local options. I love Italy, but the paperwork, bureaucracy, and laissez faire attitude of governmental agencies will put you in gulag even if you speak perfect Italian. Even then, your prospective employer will probably need to be DESPERATE to hire you to advocate on your behalf.
3. They may be more willing to overlook your language difficulties (not that you said you had any, but if so, they may view your technical skills as more important criteria than your italian skills.)
I've noticed a number of firms in the Netherlands, for example, have many internationals working in the office, so for simplicity, they just speak english at work. But then again, the dutch on average speak 3+ languages better than the average American speaks english, but that's another story. It's not so in Italy. MANY people speak Italian only and maybe they can communicate in a similar Romance language (Spanish, French). I've noticed younger people speak more english, as do women (something about them doing a bit better in school than men
I would also check out UK employment sites, they sometime serve as a gateway for English speakers looking for IT work in the EU. Most of the employment agencies will have more staffing in their UK offices, and probably have divisions within them for various EU countries.
The US Military is all over Germany (namely the southern half like Hesse). They also have many bases in Italy. Right now I'm at work migrating from an NT 4 domain to AD (along with the rest of the military in Europe). Although I'm doing this as a soldier, there are MANY civilian positions in the military along with private companies (AT&T is one I work with) that require well trained civilians. Salaries can start at $60,000 with additional pay for housing and other stuff. 100% medical coverage and a GREAT retirement package are other perks. Oh, and your employer will never go under (or so I hope). You can e-mail me and I'd be willing to set you up with more details and job searches. If you have any windows, HP-UX or SCO experience, you're in demand.
PLEASE tell me that the SCO experience is needed only to figure out how to best migrate AWAY from it.
-paul
Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
I wanted to move to the UK and did my research on the internet, found some openings. But no one wanted to speak to me from half of the world away.
I figured what the heck and decided to go there for a visit. I got a visitor's visa and flew there. Spend a month just travelling and getting used to the country. Then I went in search of a job. It took me about 3 months. Eventually I found 2 agencies that specializes in my field of work. Got 2 interviews which resulted in a pretty good offer. I accepted.
The company sponsored me for a work visa. They had to prove that they couldn't find a UK citizen, nor an EU person to fill the position. That didn't take any time at all since they did have a job posting in the trade paper for a couple weeks.
The company filed the paperwork and I got a visa and started to work in a week.
So, as I was saying. The important thing is to get the job and agencies are very useful for that. There are a lot more agencies in UK than here and they seemed to be very specialized. The tough part was finding the right agency actually. I spent a lot of time in internet cafes and going through a lot of newspaper and phonebooks trying to find one in my field.
I would say work visa isn't nearly as hard to get in UK as it is in US.
I hope my experience is of use to you in Southern Europe. I should point out that the British sometimes don't consider themselves as Europeans. Still I would think the rules are similar.
Good luck! and enjoy the slow pace and long vacations you get there!
European nations are notoriously corrupt. Find an official to bribe.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
After college, I picked up with a Dutch software firm and went over. The connection was made by a history prof of mine who knew the HR director. It was a funny situation, but it worked out well.
It was the best thing I ever did. However, I found that switching jobs was damn near impossible due to language and permit issues. I worked for an international firm that worked in English and, as a result, had decent conversational Dutch, but poor technical Dutch.
I recommend you look into your wife regaining citizenship in Italy. If for no other reason that the US allows dual citizenships and your kids will probably thank you for it.
That also means you have a lot easier time of finding work over there.
Different countries have different requirements for what to include with your resume, in northern Europe you're likely to be required to include letters from your prior employers and referrals are usually not accepted. Some jobs allow negotiable salary, others are fixed salary so you might want to refrain from including salary expectations (or having them at all in some cases). The reason that companies in the US is more willing to hire skilled professionals is that there is likely still a higher skilled-worker-to-job-ratio in the EU than the US. Many companies will not consider employing people that are not fully fluent in the native language, northern Europe tends to have high requirements on your accent as well.
It's best not to think of Europe as a country. Remember 'southern Europe' is actually a collection of different countries with vastly different cultures, laws and, in most cases, languages. It would be better to say 'I want to work in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Southern France, Hungary, Romania, Greece, etc', all of which could be viewed by some people as 'southern Europe' and all of which have different cultures and laws.
The reality is that you will be hard-pressed to find employment anywhere in Europe unless you can demonstrate a real reason for them to have you over many other people from their own company (non multi-nationals are unlikely to have appropriate tax expertise for example). Your best bet would be to find some country which has limited local talent but is developping rapidly, some of the East-Europe countries for example, but in all cases look into the particular country in question.
The rampant anti-Americanism in Europe at the moment might be a problem too.
Rich
Often times, European countries determine nationality based upon descent, not where one was born, so even if she was born here in the US, she might be entitled to an Italian passport if her parents are Italian, or maybe even grandparents.
If that's the case, then you're automatically entitled to a work permit in any EU country. Just watch out for all of the other crap that you'll need to move to most European cities, like a printout of your police record and all sorts of other paperwork (and you thought the number forms was bad here in the US!)
I did this over a year and a half ago, and now I'm firmly installed in Antibes, which is on the south coast of France, with Nice 20 minutes to the East, and Cannes 10-15 to the West.
My story isn't the most helpful, as I kind of forced my way in. I got a contract position working from the U.S., and made myself so useful that they wanted to bring me over because they felt that THEY were the ones losing by having me far away. They were very reluctant to go through with the official employment because of fears of how tough the French government would be, but it turned out to be so much easier than anyone expected.
I almost think that all the fears of Visa sponsorship or more fear than reality, so you might want to convince your prospective employers to just give it a try, as the cost to apply is often very little (100 - 150 Euros usually).
Some things to remember when coming over: Start learning your new language now. It's hard enough starting over in a new environment, the language barrier makes it even tougher. Expect to deal with some anti-American hostility, (but realize it's a broad projection, and not targeted at you specifically). Prepare yourself for new experiences, and try to embrace, rather than reject, things that are unfamiliar.
And finally, above all else, remember this. You'll be in a foreign country, speaking a new language, and you'll finally get to be that exotic foreign type who comes to the company and speaks with a sexy accent... ;)
...don't mention the war (on terror).
Three years ago, my family moved to the UK for pretty much just this reason. We'd always wanted to live there, and my father had just padded his resume enough to make it worthwhile. So he - to make a long story short - called some friends in Germany, had them incorporate a small company, form a join-venture agreement with a large-ish German corporation, have them establish an office in London (with three people in it), and that was the basis to get him a sponsorship.
In the UK, being an immigrant (business) worker is a pretty good deal. You get NHS coverage, a decent tax system, and (if you're Commonwealth) the ability to vote in UK and EU elections. You're also only tied to your job for four years. After that, you become a permenant resident (technically, your passport stamp changes from "Leave to Enter to Complete Previous Leave 3(3)(c)" to a "Permenant Leave to Enter"), meaning that you only have to have a job somewhere, as opposed to where you worked to get the visa in the first place. After two years of that, you're eligible for citizenship, which is only really a paperwork battle - the theory being if you've managed six years straight of being gainfully employed in the country, you've probably got enough contacts to keep you employed, and hence, you're good bet to them.
Cue The Sun...
I hear they mostly only accept workers and immigrants from middle eastern countries.
I've been reading this form and I'm seeing something over and over that just drives me crazy. It makes it so painfully obvious that most Slashdotters know next to nothing about Europe.
The truth of the matter is that with the exception of really wealthy European nations (Scandinavian, German, France, Switzerland, Benelux), most Europeans LOVE Americans. Non-EU countries especially. The poorer the country, the higher view of Americans they have. I mean, it's amazing how much Romanians love America. Disturbing, but amazing.
I am the lucky holder of an EU (Irish) passport, and I am thinking very seriously about moving to Europe. What resources can anyone recommend to find work in the EU from the States? I check out Monster, but my feeling there is that it's much like US Monster (ie, worthlessly overrun with recruiting spam.)
To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
America does not require you to hand over your passport/revoke citizenship of your place of origin when you become a US citizen. I think most if not all of the EU member countries follow this rule (I'm from England originally and have lived with my US wife in California for quite a few years now and have looked into the whole dual citizenship thing). So I'm betting that your wife would still be able to get a renewed passport from her former country if she contacted the consulate in the US. The trick then would be to get yourself in the country with her. Just because you're married doesn't give you automatic rights to work in the EU if your spouse is born there. Granted it is easier than just trying to get a visa over there if you haveno connections, as your wife can be your sponsor for your visa application, but visa applications do take quite a while. I know that at the moment for the UK visa applications are taking about 12-15 months to complete (unless you're David Blunkett ;) ).
I am a U.S. Citizen working in Budapest, Hungary for IBM (SQL monkey). If you're serious about this, have as much lined up and in place prior to coming - it's going to take time. Granted each country is different (though I'm not sure how the EU calculates into things as Hungary just joined in May), but regardless of where you go, it's going to take time. Hell, the US takes a good long time too. Also, IIRC be aware that any income over $80,000/year income will be taxed both by the country you are in and the IRS when you return to the states (I think I remember reading this somewhere on the Embassy's website, though it might've been the IRS site).
Clean up your CV, add fluent languages as skills, etc.
Step 1 is finding a company willing to handle the paperwork and costs involved. Other markets might be better, but it took me over 5 months in Hungary - mainly because I don't speak Hungarian, but also because I'm American.
Once this is done, there is usually a waiting period where the company must present the position to the government to see if there is someone suitable within the country to fulfill the position. This, at least in Hungary, can take up to 60 days before the final decision to award a work permit can take place, possibly adding to the length of time. My work permit required my Passport, diploma (HS or College), paperwork showing residence, offer letter and some other work provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers (they were handling the entire affair with IBM).
Step 2 is aquiring a Work Visa or some other kind of visa that will allow you to work in the country. This usually requires that a work permit already be issued.
Step 3 then involves the rest of the paper work - Social Security Cards, Temporary and Permanent Housing Card, Tax ID Card. I've been legally employed since September 1 and have been given the Tax ID Card and the Temp Housing Card. I need the Permanent Housing Card before I can be issued the SS Card even though I'm already paying Social Security.
In all, from Interview 2, when they took all my documents, to actual hire date, it took 7 months and I'm still not completely done.
I will have to go through this again in July/August (it is supposed to be easier the 2nd time around), as the first work permit is issued for 360 days and my Work Visa expires the day prior to my hire date anniversary. My second permit & visa will be issued for 365 days. I've been told that after 2006, I will be able to obtain a work permit that will be valid for 5-7 years, afterwhich I need to obtain something similar to temporary citizenship.
Experiences in other countries, particularly those that have been EU states for some time will probably have an easier time (maybe, I'm not sure), however I will say that it has been one of the most difficult hirings I've ever imagined having.
On second thought, my fiancee (the reason I'm here in the first place) is going to have an even more difficult time getting permanent residence in the US after we're married, so maybe it's not too bad afterall.
I worked in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sinagapore and the Philippines.
:-P
Those are in Asia as well, but are relatively small compared to China, so it is pretty much like being in Europe since each country has its own language ( Malaysia and Singapore have 4 oficial ones). You can hardly get more "polinlingual" than that. I will not mention India since that would be more of the same.
I don't know how extensively you have traveled through China, but to pretend that it has one homogenous language is absolutely ludicrous. They have one lingua franca which is obviously Mandarin Chinese. But they have many other tongues. Not dialects, but languages on their own right, completely uninteligible in respect to Mandarin.
So frankly your perceived Asian monolingualism is more likely down to the fact that you have been working in one of the few monolingual countries in the world and that you only go to Hong Kong for bussines
As for Japan being a large country, well, I don't know what you are smoking, Japan may be densily populated, but in terms of territory is not disimliar to Germany (slightly bigger) or France (smaller).
I have got the feeling that you are talking more from the point of view of your prejudices thatn from a dispasionate comparison.
Back in Europe, you can work all around the place if you speak English. If you speak German or French you literally have conquered half the continent.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Spain, Portugal, France and Greece (I can't be bothered to check Hungary) are all part of the EU, and as such they share many laws about immigration.
Example: if one person has EU citizenship (which may be the case with the poster's wife) then that pesron can live anywhere in the EEA (European Economic Area) and bring his/her partner to the country. The partner has full rights to live and work in the country.
Italy, Spain, Portugal and France may be different, but there are threads of culture, religion and language that make them very similar to each other.
Your rampant anti-US sentiment is a myth. As long as some people keep equating George Bush with the US (as you seem to be sadly doing) there will be the posibility to claim rampant anti-US sentiment exists.
I have not seen US people beaten, hassled, harrased or discriminated in Europe, in the contrary, they are always welcomed because the people of Europe are not parochial, have very good memories and are in general grateful. Some US politicians lack all these, so it is unsurprising that those politicians and the people that pander their message feel presecuted by the free and informed European people and intelectuals.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
German nationality has always been regulated by bloodlines, which is what you are explaining. The dark side of that is that people of lets say Turkish descent, that have lived in Germany for generations, could not obtain German nationality!
This does not apply in other countries, specially southern ones that follow the Napoleonic legal system, in which nationality is decide mainly by the place where you are born with some precise exceptions.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
... do not hate them.
They are justifiable skeptical of the bull in the glass shop.
In any case they treat everybody with a certain desdain, which is not in purpose: they treat each other liket that aw well!
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
You don't need a job offer to apply for it, nor do you need anyone to sponsor. You just have to prove you have some money to sustain you while you are there.
The idea is for you to go to UK for an extended visit of up to 2 years. You can work during that 2 years but not more than 50% of the time.
The process is simple and cheap. see
http://www.britainincanada.org/Visa/working.htm
that's not the governement site BTW, so ask your UK embassy about it.
For anyone who wants to go to Canada. There is a similar VISA for citizens of these coutries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and United Kingdom. See
http://www.workpermit.com/canada/working_holiday.h tm
in general, these two sites are good
http://www.workpermit.com/
http://www.anyworkanywhere.com/
Ok, enough Karma whoring for me.
I believe that you need no immigration Visa in the Netherlands if your salary is above 45 000 Euros a year. in Gemany they have the same thing but the barrier is I believe 85 000 Euros, although they are now thinking about lowering it. In France you can be sponsored quite easily now if you get a high tech job (it used to be very hard at one time), but you need to speak french, as 99% of business is done in french and people there are quite monolingual.
Good luck
if you think about Italy, you need to speak italian .....
also consider that salaries are much lower than USA and cost of living much higher...BUT money..
it's a much better place to live for sure!!!
Les amerloks sont trop cons, alors pas de danger que les européens les engagent même pour ramasser les ordures...
It's not easy. Pretty much no one here will consider you unless you already have your working papers and you're fully legal to work in Spain. Pretty much there are enough qualified British and Irish people showing up looking for better weather, working hours, looking to be with spouses etc. that there's little incentive to bother sponsoring when there are so many other people here.
Also, forget about trying to get a job here without being here. It's one of those things that is technically possible, but you're talking close to lottery odds. Either you find a way to get here and get here legally, or forget it. Sorry man, I'm here now, and it's not easy. However, I wanted it enough that I am here. If you want it, make it happen. That said, in Spain, go to Barcelona if you want to work. Madrid is an awesome city, but Barcelona seems more serious about everything and the economy seems better. Just an observation since I've only lived in Madrid.
I won't speak for the rest of Europe, but Spain is tough going. Remember, unemployment here is extensive and there are lots of Europeans competing with you for those jobs. Leverage the English angle, as much as Americans are being told that the entire world loathes them (it doesn't) everyone here wants to speak English and every employer wants fluent English employees. Also, if you don't speak Spanish well, right there, 80% of your employability vanishes.
Just laying it out for you. Hope this helps.
Seriously. I forgot. I have a couple of Republican friends here and their number one complaint about Spain is that everyone just assumes that you're going to be ashamed of Bush and you'll want to join along in the Bush bashing. If you're the type who'll defend Bush, or one of those My Country Right or Wrong types, be prepared for long awkward pauses in conversation, outright hostility or people looking at you like you're a cretin. Europeans don't hate Americans. Seriously. But they hate Bush with the white-hot burning intensity of ten thousand suns. Either join in in the effigy burning, or learn to stay away from political conversations.
I wish were kidding here. Mod me as Flamebait if you want, but I'm here on the ground and I'm calling it like I see it.
I gave this advice on /. a couple of years ago (an almost identical ask slashdot), and I think it still holds.
Nobody is going to hire you away from the colonies. What a big risk for a HR drone to make, and the trail of paperwork left behind could be damaging to the company if they need to get rid of you later.
You need to show up in person. You need to show the prospective employers you speak the local lingo fluently, at least well enough to get by in meetings and talking on the phone to customers. By meeting them in person, you show you are already established in the area, so they will not have relocation costs. You need to network, and the best way to do that is to make friends in bars, churches, and other social scenes, then ask around for contacts. Everyone has a cousin or ex-girlfriend who is a web designer or knows word processing (which in reality is a network engineer or a coder). Meet them, buy them beers, let them know you are looking for job leads.
Plan on spending a few months "as a backpacker", because its illegal to come over and just start looking for work on a tourist visa (same as going to the US and then getting a job). So make sure you have two trips planned, and money put aside to survive the first few months of being a non-working tourist. In the spare time when you aren't networking, take language classes to get up to fluency.
As soon as you get out of the airport, you can settle down in a rented apartment and start your networking. But if you accept a job with a company, let them know you have to return to the US for a couple of weeks, and get the job contract in writing before you leave.
When you return to the US with a job offer from a company, it will make getting the visa application so much easier. Allow a few weeks of bureaucracy through the embassy/consulate, and when you next enter the country you'll have a valid visa for working. It also allows you to bring back a ton more luggage for you and your wife.
I'd also suggest, if you have a quite specialised skill, of doing the independant contactor route. Fixed term contract, specific project plan, specific termination date. In much of europe, it is much harder to hire and fire permanent workers. Orders of magnitude more difficult in places like France and Germany. But contractors are loved by high-tech places with specific projects. They know you won't stick around on their payroll at the end, forcing them to find another similar job for you. Use your time in each job networking for your next job, it takes a lot longer over here than in the US to pick up a new contract.
As a fall back plan, create a one person company in the US (or better yet, Quebec for francophone countries) and bill through that. You'll be outside the social net of the local country, and miss out on many of the benefits, but its a way to avoid all kinds of visa questions if you can't get a residency permit.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
I'm interested in doing basically the same thing as this guy, but in Germany. I will get my MS in Electrical Engineering very soon. I speak German, but it's admittedly a little rusty.
My problem seems two-fold: I want an entry-level job, and I've had trouble finding opportunities on par with the US.
Can anyone who has been through this offer some suggestions?
"Above all realize that the world does not revolve around the United States and not everyone speaks English."
But for most of the world it truly does. That is why so many people dislike the US. Think about it. All them currency trading and values are based on dollars. Most of the worlds commodities are priced in Dollars. No one in the US gives a plug nickel who gets elected as the president of France but every newspaper in Europe seems to have an opinion about the US president. All there pilots talk to the control towers in English even a French pilot talking to a French air traffic controller speaks English. All programmers program in English. Even Pascal which was written by Wirth is basicly in English. You see a huge number of American movies and TV imported to every country in the world. For better of for worse the world pretty much does revolve around the US.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
My wife's company would like to transfer her to an office in their Swiss office in Lucerne / Luzern, but she's got baggage -- me.
So, they're willing to sponsor her, take care of her visa & other paperwork, help set her/us up with an apartment, and bring her over for a couple of year, while she learns how the European side of her company works and she gradually makes her way up the management ladder.
Meanwhile, I'll have to leave my job and basically start over; there's basically no chance that her company's Swiss office would have any IT work (it's all either in the US or outsourced to India). But that's alright, it's an opportunity strongly to be considered, right? But I haven't the slightest idea what the IT market is like in this little, seemingly rural part of the country, and there's so much that needs to be sorted out before going and once we get there.
Maybe it would be easier to just bus tables at a ski resort and take a few years off from IT...
I need to start working on my resume, or CV I guess. European CVs don't bear much resemblance to American resumes, do they? It seems like they're a lot chattier & biographical than the dry list of titles & skills & credentials that is expected over here. Just one more thing to do in the next handful of months....
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
Are you suggesting that transit infrastructure in North America is lacking? I mean, Seattle has a two stop monorail that serves a city of more than three million people. Are you daring to suggest that is somehow inadequate?
501 Not Implemented
...I'd suggest come to Italy as a turist first. Try to stay here for a while, choose a place to stay and try to meet as many people as possible. Having a job here is mostly a social skill - the more people you know, the more you'll get the chance to have a job.
:)
Resume aren't so important compared to the power of actually meeting people. Having a good resume helps but won't make a difference.
And stay out of big companies for a while - they tend to be too similar to their counterparts in the US, and sometimes they fire a bunch of people "just because", if you know what I mean.
Be ready to some weirdness, especially when talking about the government or the bureaucracy... remember that those things aren't supposed to work by anybody, so take it easy.
Good luck!
ps: I'd suggest Tuscany
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
OK, getting away from all the Xenophobes around here, I've got some real advice for you: it's bloody difficult. I've been trying every avenue I can find, and keep hitting brick walls, and I'm from NZ so I have a head start on most nationalities (nobody hates us :-). There's this woman, see... Yep, old story, but she's The One. I can't get a Work Permit for her country (Belgium), and I won't be some sponge taking advantage of her, nor will I do it illegally, and it's way too early to be talking of tying the knot, so for now I'm stuck over in Australia trying to reach the ONLY way I've found to get myself in.
:-), I'm targeting the UK. I'm over 30, so working holidays are out. I'm in IT, so fast track visas or standard sponsorships are out. That leaves the UK Skilled Migrants program. Bascially if you have a bachelors degree, 5 years experience in a job requiring that degree, and earned over GBP40,000 in the last 12 months, then you get a Migrants Visa with no sponsorship or guaranteed job required and no restrictions on whom you work for while in the UK. I'm 7 months towards the earning my 40k, only 5 months to go...
Anyway, being only English speaking (but working on my Dutch
You don't say what your occupation is, I'm guessing you're IT as well, but if you or your wife were a teacher or a nurse or a doctor, then you could write your own ticket to just about any country on the planet. Check out the other Shortage Occupations for the UK to see who can be fast-tracked.
If you insist on Southern Europe, language is a HUGE problem, if you don't speak the local, don't expect to be welcomed with open arms. Pick a country, learn the lingo, visit their embassy to quiz the staff, and keep your eyes open for any opportunity that comes your way, not just normal work (charity volunteer, study programs, etc).
As I used to joke with a mate of mine who scored a Greek passport through his parents, an unemployable goat-herder from the Greek islands can move anywhere in EU he likes to beg on the streets, but a highly skilled, motivated, committed, tax-paying, law-abiding want-to-be-a-citizen like me can't even get a foot in the door...
John.
I'm a Brit who visits USA quite often (holidays, every couple of years) and we always buy lots of stuff there..
And that's so *before* you take into account the US exchange rate issue. Mind you, if you get paid in Euros or Pounds sterling you might do well if the dollar drops again... or not.
I worked in europe for a little over 7 months and it was great. I worked for a consulting group and traveled all over western europe. I would recommend you find a good immigration lawyer and talk to them before you talk to a company that way you can say just sign here instead of you'll need to do 40,000 pages of documentation before you can hire me. Also hop on the expat websites for europe and just in general, find out how they got started or just network. There are alot of american expats in europe.
Germany offered me an IT visa if I could just prove I was able to earn more than 50,000 euros per year. I was making in excess of 300,000 at the time (got to love the old exchange rate). This was automatically renewed every 5 years if I wished so basically I could have stayed as long as I wanted.
Find a specialized company, show them how your american ambition would be to their advantage and how you can help them sell their business. The european 9-5 on the dot with no overtime and frequent coffee breaks is counter intuitive to us as americans and as such whenever I would work late or through a coffee break it made mtgmt very happy and I moved up very quickly.
There are International Schools all over the world. If you happen to have teaching credentials you could work at one. They will pay you, house you, and handle most of the paperwork.
They have recruiting fairs in the springtime, in places like Boston and San Francisco.
You might end up teaching a bunch of 10th graders how to use Microsoft Excell. So its not the most technical of IT positions, but International School communities are a lot of fun and its not a bad life.
SpyDock: Scientific Python in a Docker container
How can you say that Europeans love Americans? The only reason EU and USA got along because of a common enemy. But historically EU and USA have been rivals.
1790's: France and USA fought undeclared naval war.
1810's: England and USA fight war.
1860's: England and France threaten to intervene on South's behalf in civil war to keep cotton trade.
1890's: Spain and USA fights war.
1917-1918: Germany gets busted trying to get Mexico to invade USA and so USA joins WWI.
1930s: England begins to consider the possibility of a naval war with USA.
1940s: Germany declares war on USA.
1950-1980s: USA fights cold war by itself as Europeans demand detente (except England).
1990s: Europe Union argues that it should be world counterpoint to USA.
2000s: Chirac and Shroeder elected on anti-American platform. Chirac and Shroeder ask to sell weapons to China. EU manipulates position in WTO to undermine US economy.
History will record that that Marshall Plan and NATO were the largest strategic blunders ever made in world history. America would be better off if the entire EU had been occupied by Russia.
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Since contract work is usually inherently short-term the paperwork is much easier. In addition, since the american agency is the one who actually pays you, the IRS has very generous per-diem deductions. Here's a list of employment agencies I found on google.
(Little background note: I am a United States citizen, and have had two successful job interviews in Germany. It was not easy for me.)
/better be/!), but don't try to apply entirely in the language of the country you're wanting to move to if you don't have a strong command of the language spoken there. You will sound like a dumbass, even when the person reading it understands that you're just learning, not everyone will be so understanding. Having said that, I again stress that you had better be making a TON of real effort to learn-- it's good for you, puts hair on your chest, etc..
/two days/ with the help of headhunter. When I was looking on my own, it took over two months. Food for thought.
/are/ jobs out there. Keep at it. Don't whine.
;>
/sure/ that they are on board with you during your journey. Be understanding that the other person (or people, or dog) will have other expectations and requirements-- their parameters will not inherently be your parameters.
Unfortunately, "green cards" are not easy for non-EU citizens to obtain. However, there are options for you.
One way to find work in Europe is to transfer within a company you already work for. But, if you worked for such a company you'd already know that... so, I will spare you the details.
Here are some tips for finding work in Europe. My experience is as a US citizen getting hired in Germany, but I think it will apply to a number of situations... grain-of-salt disclaimer over:
1. Don't expect it to be easy. "Old Europe" has got a lot of good talent. Why should they hire you? Remember that you will be more expensive for them to hire than a local every step of the way. You need to give them a reason to invest in you.
2. If your language skills are poor, write in English. Explain that you are working on it (and you had
3. Get your ass over to where you want to be hired. Get in contact with a few companies, and tell them when you will be in their neck of the woods. Drop by in person-- you are not on vacation, you are looking for a job. While not technically legal, this works. It is much harder to ignore a person than a piece of paper. Never pester, but do have a relentless inward attitude.
4. Find a headhunter. Major advice here. I found a job in Munich within
5. Don't get discouraged. It can be really, really tough-- but there
By the way, you could just marry an EU citizen. Just find someone (probably an Eastern European) and pay them.
No problem. Seriously.
That said, here's my last hard-won piece of advice for the moment: If you have (and it sounds like you do) a partner, make
Good luck, and have fun!
Having permanent residency and a full unlimited work permit in Germany I had to follow up on this one and call the "Bundesagentur fuer Arbeit", the "Federal Work Agency" directly in Nuremberg (Click on IMPRESSUM for information on how to contact them).
According to them, an American who has acquired permanent residency status (through marriage, birth etc.) in Germany and who has been issued a permanent work permit unrestricted by employer or type of work, can be additionally issued a similar work permit in other EU member states, except for the newly admitted EU members such as Poland or the Baltic states.
Basically this means that an American permanent resident has the same rights as a EU citizen as far as mobility between member states concerned, though he has to go through tons of red tape to exercise them.
Good that I held off on submitting this. I just talked to a lady at the Dutch General Consulate in Dusseldorf and she told me that they do not automatically issue Dutch residency or work permits on the basis of German residency or work permits. She says, it seems to work kind of like the US-H1B deal, I would have to find a dutch employer and they would apply for the permits.
I don't know which of the two is right, the German Bundesagentur or the impatient and slightly annoyed lady at the Dutch General Consulate, but I think the truth is somewhere in between.
I'm in the military in Germany, working for NATO. I'd suggest that you look into civilian/contractor positions with NATO.
As I understand it, the NATO rules say that they have to at least consider candidates from any NATO member nation (I was recently speaking with someone that was complaining about the difficulties of having to do phone interviews with an American applicant because of the Time Zone differences).
Also, for NATO, the required language skills are normally English and/or French, so you should be good there.
The main NATO page is http://www.nato.int, from there you can find links to the different locations, and each location should have a "Jobs" or "Employment link.
Good Luck
Nuke
According to them, an American who has acquired permanent residency status (through marriage, birth etc.) in Germany and who has been issued a permanent work permit unrestricted by employer or type of work, can be additionally issued a similar work permit in other EU member states, except for the newly admitted EU members such as Poland or the Baltic states.
.int or .eu TLD.
Yes absolutly, the spirit of the law in all EU countries is the only advantage a citizen has over a permanent resident is beeing elligible to be a civil servant and the right to vote; although in many EU countries now, RP can vote in local elections.
I just talked to a lady at the Dutch General Consulate in Dusseldorf and she told me that they do not automatically issue Dutch residency or work permits on the basis of German residency or work permits. She says, it seems to work kind of like the US-H1B deal, I would have to find a dutch employer and they would apply for the permits.
Since the Maastricht treaty the EU is a Single market http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU. Which means among other things : Freedom for citizens of its member states to live and work anywhere within the EU, provided they can support themselves (also extended to the other EEA states). in fact this has been extended to for PR too later by a specific EU directive, have a look in the EU site, it's in a
In practice, when you are a EU national or PR settling in a new EU country, the law gives you three months to find a job, and then you are automatically elligible to get a work permit.
Keep in mind that you may be thinking today about staying only a couple of years overseas but your opinion might change during this period of time. Keep that in mind when you choose between your options to go overseas. Don't sign up for something that will force you to come back to the USA even if you don't wish to do so.
I am a Spanish citizen living in the USA. When I came here with a J visa, I thought I would stay for a couple of years just for the adventure and head back home. After you learn the language, start making friends, and start to feel part of the community; it is very hard to head back home. Where is home anyway? I have been here in the USA for four years and I feel a fish out of the water now when I visit Spain. I know that I will have to head back to Spain eventually because that is part of the deal in the case of the J visa but my heart aches just to think of it. I may end up immigrating to Canada, where the immigration laws are not so corky (in my personal opinion, at least), and try again to come back to the USA in the future (If I don't change my mind while I stay in Canada).
Well, in fairness, it was a bidirectional thing. Basically, what happened was that after World War I, the Grand Fleet was being cut down while at the same time the Americans embarked on a huge battleship construction program. This in turn led the British to revise their own building schedule and resume building battleships of their own.
The British jealously guarded their right to be on the high seas, saw an expanding America as a threat. Both the USA and UK were putting together war plans. Yes, the USA was thinking about invading Canada as an opening move in a war with Britian.
Fortunately for both Amerians and British alike, cooler heads realized that a battleship race between Britian and Germany was an underlying cause of World War I, and so it seemed awefully silly to repeat the same mistakes. So the Americans and British sat down and came up with the Washington Treaty, which limited the number of battleships in both navies.
After World War II, NATO, which, with respect to the Navy, was basically just the USA, with the UK as a vital but junior partner, embarked on a policy to ensure that no nation actually owned the seas. Eventually the British downsized their navy as a result of a famous 1960s paper that said the H-bomb made Navy's obsolete, but the USA did not. So right now the world's right to trade on the high seas is essentially the result of Pax Americana.
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