# Moving to Germany: thoughts



## bahamut (May 28, 2009)

Hello, I’m a 30 year old guy from Italy. I would like to have your opinion about the chance of leaving Italy to come to Germany. I’m deciding to leave, even though I have a steady job (which I hate) in the administrative field. I have good skills with computers, and languages, I work as a freelance translator from english to italian and I create italian subtitles of english tv shows. 
I don’t have any specific qualification, meaning I’m not graduate, I’m not an Architect, a Doctor or anything like that. Do you think I’ll be able to find a decent job anyway? I don’t want earn millions, I just want to have a chance. 
Thanks


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## James3214 (Jun 25, 2009)

Well, it's not impossible and you have the advantage that you don't need to get permission to work in Germany as an EU citizen, but it really depends on your ability to learn and speak German and use it to find what you are looking for. I think your chances of finding a job are greatly enhanced even with basic German.


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## bahamut (May 28, 2009)

Thanks for your reply,
yeah, I figured so. Being trilingual would guarantee a job for sure, the only problem is that I've read that german is very difficult and even if you apply a lot, it would take at least 1 year to speak decently! 

Anyway, it's something that I should do, better sooner than later.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

bahamut said:


> Thanks for your reply,
> yeah, I figured so. Being trilingual would guarantee a job for sure, the only problem is that I've read that german is very difficult and even if you apply a lot, it would take at least 1 year to speak decently!
> 
> Anyway, it's something that I should do, better sooner than later.


As you are under 35 and have no formal qualification, you might want to look into the Apprenticeship Programme for young EU citizens:

Home

Sonderprogramm für junge EU-Bürger - www.arbeitsagentur.de

You'd get help with language courses and under certain circumstances also with financing your living expenses while getting your qualification.


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## lzzjp (Oct 19, 2013)

I also had interest in going to Germany, but as my wife is Japanese, I think German language would be really complicated for her.
Anyway, as you are Italian, one thing I'm sure is that you can get jobs in Italian Eis Cafe.
They pay around 1550~2000 euros, food and a room to live is provided free of charge.
For some skilled like you, it might sound not good, but maybe it would be a solution to at least improve your German Skills.

As you have experience with subtitling and translation ENG-ITA, better take a look for the good opportunities in UK.
I was looking this site called GRAPEVINE and found job offers for people with experience you have. 

grapevinejobs . com / mediajobs/ 42201,Subtitling_Assistant_Deluxe_London . html


Good luck mate


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## sunra (Oct 11, 2013)

I don't see what you could get without any qualifications apart from freelance translating, which is what you want to get away from, but you are only 30 so studying may still be worthwhile (it's only 3 years). I also work as a freelance translator and my experience here is that many people perceive freelance work as quite negative. If you don't have any formal qualifications or a fixed work contract it's like they don't believe that you can really support yourself. My guess is you could probably get a good, low-level job with Italian-German skills, but without some kind of professional training or university degree you won't find any administrative positions whatsoever.


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## bahamut (May 28, 2009)

lzzjp said:


> I also had interest in going to Germany, but as my wife is Japanese, I think German language would be really complicated for her.
> Anyway, as you are Italian, one thing I'm sure is that you can get jobs in Italian Eis Cafe.
> They pay around 1550~2000 euros, food and a room to live is provided free of charge.
> For some skilled like you, it might sound not good, but maybe it would be a solution to at least improve your German Skills.
> ...


Wow, great reply, thanks. I'll have a look at it! 
I'm not worried to be employed as a waiter or something similar. To me, the sentence "you're overqualified for this job" doesn't exist. Unfortunately, many hiring managers tend to not consider candidates which have a bit more of experience as they think they will leave the job soon. 
That's not my case, I just want to move from here, I need to change. Here in Italy things are terrible, you can speak to any person and even those who have what is considered a good job aren't satisfied. You can feel the disappointment on the air. This said, I know Germany it's not the paradise, but I always felt myself more germanish than Italian if you know what I mean, so I would like to give Germany a shot. You're right about the UK, it could be easier for me to get a job, but it's also true that nowadays everybody goes to London and the reality is that when there's a job opening, there are 1000 of applicants. I, on the other hand, wouldn't mind to go in less "crowded places" if you know what I'm saying, like it could be, I don't know, Belfast in the UK or Freiburg in Germany.



sunra said:


> I don't see what you could get without any qualifications apart from freelance translating, which is what you want to get away from, but you are only 30 so studying may still be worthwhile (it's only 3 years). I also work as a freelance translator and my experience here is that many people perceive freelance work as quite negative. If you don't have any formal qualifications or a fixed work contract it's like they don't believe that you can really support yourself. My guess is you could probably get a good, low-level job with Italian-German skills, but without some kind of professional training or university degree you won't find any administrative positions whatsoever.


This freelance thing might be true, but it's not the way I support myself. I work 60 hours per week, and if you could see my résumé you would be able to see that I also have a full time permanent job. So it's not an easy choice for me, but I'm really sick of how things goes here.

PS
Sorry if I messed something up, but I replied from my phone.


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