….why schools in Milan are short of cash.
Few would deny that Italy has some of the highest tax levels in Europe. Yet, despite the, apparently increasing, tax income, the schools in Milan actually ask parents for, in some instances, monthly contributions to help bolster funds. … Continue Reading
OK, so you are young, Italian, from the south of Italy, have just finished struggling through a five year degree course which took seven or eight years and you have had the courage to move all the way up to Milan to do a Master in some business school or other. All in the hope of landing an internship (internship is ‘stage’ in Italian), which may become a permanent job.
You have just about finished your Master and are doing the interview rounds. You have a degree mark or 100 or higher, possible ‘cum laude’, and have passed all the Master exams with flying colours. Everything looks positive.
Then you go to a few interviews only to find that you are not called back for a follow-up interview. You cannot understand why, all the questions asked seemed so normal. Friendly even. I mean they even asked about your boyfriend/girlfriend. That was maybe a little unusual, but, well, they do want to get to know you.
Do you remember that odd, but seemingly innocent questioning concerning your boy/girlfriend? Well, perhaps it was not as innocent as it first appeared. Because, the interviewer was trying to establish whether your ‘separation’ is likely to affect your work, presumably because the employer has had problems of this type in the past. And unless you answer satisfactorily, you may not be offered an internship, let alone a full time position. It appears that those from the south of Italy who are seeking work in the north are more likely to receive a grilling about relationships than those from the north.
Now, whereas this line of questioning may very well be considered illegal in the UK, in Italy such questions are quite legal and normal. However, these questions could be described as being more than a little discriminatory, even if, with the rigid Italian employment laws, companies do need to be very sure that they are not going to end up with deadwood. It is still very difficult to remove poorly performing employees in Italy, hence these investigations into such indirect personal matters.
You could simply lie, and say you have no boyfriend/girlfriend at the moment, but if they find out later, you could face problems, and these problems could prejudice your future career.
As an alternative, you could say that the relationship is not serious, that you are more than happy to work in north Italy and willing to move out of Italy if offered the opportunity. Many companies in Italy are well aware that many Italians are highly reluctant to move away from their places of origin for much more than a short time, and so they are often extremely content to find an Italian who is prepared to live permanently in another area of Italy, or even better, to travel regularly or move abroad.
Then again, you could be honest and let the company take you as you are, and risk not being offered an internship or a permanent position. Then at least you will know what kind of company you are dealing with.
If your boyfriend or girlfriend is in north Italy, either studying or working, make this very clear and you will be considered a lower risk.
Above all, be aware of the potential traps contained in questions about relationships and have an answer prepared. Occasionally such questions may simply be a way of monitoring your reaction to emotional issues and nothing more, but…. Better safe than sorry, as the old English saying goes.
One thing is certain though: it ain’t all that easy for young Italians to find a job.
OK, I guess this post should be in Italian, but those Italians who can understand it are potentially very good job candidates for multinational Italian or foreign companies. And knowing this might be helpful.
Cara Jo, a fellow blogger from over the pond, was a little disappointed to see that I had not written about Italy’s current state of non-government. Well, I’ve decided to attempt to explain the current political situation in Italy.
First of all, it’s not true that Italy is without a government, in that Prodi’s crew still run things, however, his government, or rather coalition, is unable to create new laws. It can administrate the country up until the results of the elections of 13 and 14 April are known.
Now, as to what happened. As many will know, the actions of one Clemente Mastella, the leader of one of the parties that made up Prodi’s fragile coalition, effectively destroyed Prodi’s government’s tiny majority. This meant that Prodi’s government could not continue, and Prodi lost a confidence vote. He therefore felt obliged to hand in his resignation and step down as prime minister. … Continue Reading
As I’ve mentioned a couple of times recently, I was called to appear as a witness in a law suit. I went to court today.
For reasons of confidentiality, I won’t say why, but I don’t see why I can’t talk about the experience in general. You never know, someone may find themselves in a similar situation someday, so this post may help them understand what to expect, especially if they have been called to appear in front of an semi-formal court in Milan. You will find out why I thought this was ‘semi-formal’ a little later on.
To kick off, I expected the hearing to be at Milan’s main court building, so I went there, passed through the metal detector, entered the huge main hall and found a sign. Only the court I needed to go to was not listed. Wrong building, I thought. I suspected as much, and had even asked my other half if there were other courts in Milan. She said no. Oh well.
I looked around and, somewhat hidden away on the left and right hand sides of the main entrance, there were two information offices. I showed the letter I had received from the lawyers to the lady behind the desk and she shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘Not again’, and then she explained that the court I needed to go to was in a street nearby, behind Milan’s imposing main court building.
I was given directions, got a little lost, and hopped in a taxi because time was running a little short. That’s when I discovered that the other court premises were behind the main building. It would have been helpful, I feel, if the address of this other Milan court had been given in the letter I had received from the law firm which had called me to appear as a witness. If the ‘other’ Milan court had been on the other side of Milan, I would have had a problem. Moral: Ring and ask for details of exactly where the hearing will be held.
After having arrived at the other court building, and after having passed through, and set off the alarm, of yet another metal detector (If there are a lot of people in front of you, then passing through the airport style system, complete with x-ray machine, could take some time….). At another information desk, I was told that the court I needed to go to was on the first floor, but in the event, the room, for it was not really a court room, was on the second floor. There was a little notice which showed the name of the judge presiding over each ‘court’ and, luckily, each room was clearly numbered.
I arrived in time, and waited for about fifteen minutes before being called in front of the judge. The hearing was semi-formal, and the room in which the hearing was held was an office. Behind a desk sat the judge, and to either side of the desk were two pairs of lawyers representing the parties.
I was told to remain standing while the judge explained that what I was about to say must be truthful, and asked me if I understood this. I replied in the affirmative, and was told I could sit down. I was asked my name, address, date and place of birth, and then was, very briefly, questioned by the judge about the case. While I spoke, the judge wrote what I said, and then read what she had written back to me. This was useful because for a moment I got the impression that she may have misunderstood something I had said. In the event, she had not, and her check confirmed this.
After the judge had questioned me, the four lawyers present were asked if they had any questions, and they said that they had not – to my slight relief. I was then asked to sign the judge’s ‘transcript’ of the statement I had made, and to sign another document. I was thanked and told I could go.
Total time taken: about 15 minutes in front of the judge. I think it went quite smoothly.
As I have already mentioned, the only potential problem was knowing the exact location of the court room.
Oh and one small, obvious, but possibly useful, tip. Make a brief list before the hearing of the information that you think the judge or the lawyers may ask for. I did this, referred to it, and it was handy.
Speaking to a lawyer friend beforehand may also prove useful, as this will allow you to understand what to expect in terms of questioning during the hearing. I did this too because I like to be prepared. I have done a lot of negotiating in the past, and have always found that good preparation helps you keep control of a situation. Yes, I know that this was not exactly a life threatening event, but you never know, and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Finally, my Italian is good enough to allow me to deal with these situations (At least after today, I know it is!), but if you do not speak Italian very well, then it may be a good idea to speak in your mother tongue, in which case, your testimony may be postponed until an interpreter can be present. Not doing this could, potentially, put you in a difficult position, but then again, the lawyers’ calling you should consider that a non-Italian speaker may have problems before the hearing in my opinion.
Verdict: In all, a lot less traumatic than a job interview, I would say, but then I was not exactly a key witness, so I did not receive a real grilling. Not fun, but an interesting experience.
Only this time, Prodi decided to accept Mr Mastella’s offer. It sounds as though someone reminded Mastella that it does not look all that good for a government to have a Justice Minister who is under investigation for corruption. Then again, maybe Mr Mastella found out that the allegations against him (and many of those who are members of his party, from what I’ve read) were highly likely to be transformed into charges. Again, not good for a justice minister to be facing charges, especially in today’s Italy, where regard for the country’s politicians appears to be a rock bottom levels.
One may also conclude that the light seen by Mr Prodi must have been quite bright, although he has resisted appointing Antonio Di Pietro to the position of justice minister, most probably because he knows that Di Pietro would start overturning too many stones. And such an approach would most definitely fatally fracture Prodi’s ever more fragile coalition government.
Of course I will not mention that Mastella was probably doing his level best to keep Prodi out of other investigations, which could have led to Prodi himself facing allegations of wrongdoing. And this situation does not, in any way, explain why Prodi may have been reluctant to accept Mastella’s initial resignation.
The political turmoil in Italy continues to be tumultuous, as usual. Situation Normal – you may know the rest….
I know a lot of Italians from down south. You know, that area of Italy where the people tend to have a bit of a reputation for being a little work shy. One of those ‘stereotype’ situations, if ever there was one.
All of the southern Italians I know are pretty hard working individuals and many are ambitious as well. These guys and gals are only really up here in Milan because they cannot find work down in the south. However, I’m sure if you head off down to Bari, Catania and the other places lying around the heel of Italy’s boot, you will find that there is no absence of young people, and many of these individuals will be working.
It’s not so much the southern Italian mentality down in south Italy as the political mis-management and the, er, ‘influence’ of certain other organisations. And, as an side, it has to be said, that these here ‘certain other organisations’ are much better organised than that mother of all Italian organisations: the government. Or so it would appear.
Anyway, I digress, the point I’m attempting to make is that down in the south of Italy, the problem is not so much that of lazy people, as a lack of opportunities. And before someone points this out, I’m aware that the speed with which things are done down south is rather slower than here up in the north. This is another reason why the more ambitious southerners who cannot carve out a niche down south, come up north.
By way of example, my friend and partner in the sausage thing, Gaetano Salvo, who hails from the south, is the last person you could call work shy or lazy, I can tell you.
Potential employers take note: southern Italians can potentially make more willing employees than those from the north of the country. They are lovely people too.
Via RSS: Blog from Italy's Feed
To get Italy flavour news and updates via Twitter, follow: @newsfromitaly 2300+ followers and counting.For those who did not know, Francesco Cossiga, who died the other day, was an Italian politician and one time President of Italy. Cossiga hailed from Sardinia, was a fan of John Le Carre and had earned himself the nickname “the pickaxe” owing to his no holds barred criticism of other Italian politicians.
As you may be aware, the generally tumultus world of Italian politics is in turmoil. The Berlusconi government is teetering on the brink of collapse, but what is really surprising, is that this collapse was sparked from the inside.
From spat to full-blown split. Silvio Berlusconi’s marriage of political convenience to Gianfranco Fini has ended in tears. Scorned lover Berlusconi even rejected Fini’s last minute attempts to kiss and make up and remain part of Berlusconi’s party of love. End of love in. Period.
Recent Comments