If you were a foreigner and want to live outside your home country, are you destined to work in an unskilled jobs in Italy? If your dream is to work in Italy but you don’t know what to do and you feel lost, you need to read this article. It is normal to have many questions about what to do in Italy, as well as the choice of your professional goal. Remember that moving to another country is not like changing clothes! I think one of the first concerns is “are there jobs in Italy?” But the second concern is the quality and characteristics of the jobs.
This will be the subject of this article, so I will answer these main questions:
Are unskilled jobs in Italy the only option?
What is an unskilled job in Italy?
If I move to Italy, will I have to change area?
First of all, it is important to define what types of jobs are within the unskilled job classification in Italy.
What are unskilled jobs in Italy?
The term “unskilled job” has different meanings, I will use this term referring to jobs that have “few” requirements to be performed and which is usually the first option for those who want to move to another country.
Another feature of unskilled jobs in Italy would be to do activities that “Italians” do not want to do. Historically this was the place occupied by immigrants in Italy. Obviously, things have changed, but hardly anyone notices this!
To be more practical, the professional activities that usually come under this term are:
- Badante: people who take care of the elderly.
- Cameriere: Waiter
- Babysitter
- Donna delle pulizie: cleaning lady
- Muratore: bricklayer
Obviously, the list could be even longer, but the idea I want to convey is that the meaning of “unskilled job” is to perform an activity that does not need a high level of professional education or a high level of Italian.
This category of professional activities turns out to be the first and often the only option for those who do not want (or cannot for some reason) regularize their profession here in Italy.
It is important to remember that these activities are not “less” than others, although they are considered in this way. However, this would already be another article;)
Are unskilled jobs in Italy the only option?
Many think the answer to this question is obvious, but it’s not! Regardless of your qualification are you meant to take care of the elderly? This without considering whether you are able to do this job or not.
It is very common to hear people saying “if there is no work for Italians, figure for Brazilians”.
Anyway, I’ve heard all about the impossibility of getting a job in Italy but I decided to study and learn from who did it. This is how I started my studies. During my master, I studied the process of integration of Brazilians in the Italian labor market. I interviewed people with success cases and learned from them.
And I realized something amazing, the difficulties that a Brazilian has, an Italian also has! To be honest, in this trajectory to achieve the dream career here in Italy, only two things change:
- Learn Italian
- Cultural background
I always say that after overcoming these two aspects just mentioned, we are all in the same boat. In addition, just as Brazilians do not know how to look for a job, so do Italians. Therefore, it is difficult for everyone.
To answer the question, I would like first to make some reflections.
a) Do not have a clear objective
Before saying my point of view on whether unskilled jobs in Italy is the only choice, I would like to ask you:
- What would you really like to do?
- What type of work would give you real professional satisfaction?
It doesn’t matter if what you would like to do is within the “unskilled jobs in Italy” classification or not. What matters is that you have a clear vision. If you do not have this clear vision yet, my advice is: stop everything and concentrate your strength to define this aspect.
It is soooo common when I ask people “what is your professional goal?” getting these answers:
- I can do everything, as long as it’s honest
- I accept anything including unskilled jobs in Italy
- I am not choosing a job; I am willing to everything.
“Everything” is not a professional goal and this speech will only spoil your communication! You may have more than one career goal, just can’t have a career goal called EVERYTHING …
In other words, you need to define the areas you would like to work on. You may even have a plan A and B, but they need to be clear.
b) Do you have the ability to work in one of the unskilled jobs in Italy?
This is something almost nobody considers! It is often thought that “few” requirements mean none requirements or even worse, that anyone can do any kind of work within the unskilled jobs category in Italy. This is a serious mistake! Now I’ll tell you about my first job experience in Italy.
I worked as a waitress for 6 months and although I learned a lot, it was a horrible experience for several reasons. However, it had an aspect worth to report here.
I felt like the most incompetent person in the world
Why? Because I couldn’t do the simple things, like take the customer order.
Maybe you already knew, but it’s always useful to repeat: Italians are passionate about everything that involves food and most of them are really demanding. That is why they often asked me how the dish ordered was made and you can imagine how complicated it was to explain a dish I had never eaten before.
To make matters worse, my Italian at that time was awful, which made the task even more difficult.
Besides, I felt very bad for the service I was offering. While I would take two plates (burning my hands, I don’t know why they were so hot) my colleagues would take three or four.
This had a huge psychological impact, because I thought: I’m doing a simple activity, imagine what can happen if I do something more complicated.
THIS IS THE MISTAKE!
There are no “simple activities”! All activities need technique, attention and experience. Do not choose one of the unskilled jobs in Italy just because it is easier or because you “have no other choice”. If you have no experience in the field, be aware that you will start from scratch and need to learn the new profession.
In addition, it is worth noting that the kitchen environment here in Italy is a bit stressful…
c) What to do?
Breathe deeply and do not enter in the “despair” mode. The first thing is to have respect for all professions and face each of them with the apprentice modality.
The second thing is to respect your values, skills and goals. Look inside you and see the options of what you can do, not sorting them into unskilled jobs in Italy or not.
Choose the profession in line with what you have chosen in your life. I think you did not leave your home country to have gastritis and feel a deep sadness everytime you leave home to go to work.
I remember very well when I was working in the financial sector, where I had to analyze contracts and stay in front of my computer all day long. I was going into depression. This is serious and we need to consider!
The unskilled jobs road in Italy is not always the easiest and shortest road to achieve your goal. This will depend on each case.
Do not ask “will I get there?” But “how do I get there?”.
Start now your search for the job that respects your characteristics.
Hugs and good luck on your walk,
Marcela Oliveira
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