How to Find a Job in Florence in 5 Steps (Coming from Someone who Knows)

Struggling with how to find a job in Florence? I know, the struggle is real!

After graduating from university, I decided I wanted to do some traveling. So, when two of my friends suggested I accompany them to Florence, where they would be studying Italian for five months, it seemed like a great opportunity.

The three of us could share a small studio, thus cutting costs; I’m European, so no working visa was required; and I’d get to spend several months in Florence, one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

The only problem was I had no money. Nada. Like, a few hundred pounds before my overdraft was maxed out.

Did I go anyway? Yes I did. And I used these helpful tips to get a job. 

First, Let’s Talk about The Visa Factor

If you’re not from the EU, you’re going to have factor in visa requirements as well. My understanding is that unless you have an employer willing to sponsor your working visa, they’re pretty hard to get.

This leaves non-Europeans with two options: either come on a student visa, which allows you to work up to 20 hours a week (my friends studied Italian at this school and would highly recommend it; there are also a lot of courses focusing on art and art history, not to mention insanely cheap university courses), or come on a tourist visa then hope and pray you can find an employer who will sponsor you to convert it into a working one.

If you’re not bilingual and/or an experienced professional in your field, I wouldn’t hold your breath on this one. Of course, the unspoken third option is to work illegally doing cash-in-hand work of the sort that I’m going to go on to describe.

Obviously, this isn’t recommended, although I can’t say that I didn’t see it happening.

Here are five steps in how to find a job in Florence. 

1.       Assess your Options

So, you want to work in Florence. The most obvious question to ask before you arrive is: do you speak Italian?

If you have a working knowledge of Italian, many more jobs are going to be open to you – especially in a popular tourist destination like Florence, where bilingual waitresses, tour guides and bar staff are the norm.

If you do not speak Italian, however, all is not lost – there are still options. I was proof of this.

Common roles for English speakers in Florence include nanny, language tutor, tour guide and artist’s model. Hell, you can even be a street artist if you have the talent and the appropriate ‘permisso per artiste de strata’.

But you’re going to have to think about whether this is the kind of work you want to be doing before you head out there – there’s no point being in Florence if you’re going to be miserable because you hate children but could only find a job in childcare.

2.       Get Ready

Once you have an idea of the kind of work you’ll be pursuing, make up a CV following Italian conventions, both in Italian and English (if you’re not fluent, have someone who is proofread it).

Make sure you include your Italian address and phone number (if known – otherwise update your CV as soon as you arrive in Italy), and information about your nationality and visa status.

Not long before you go, you can start perusing the classified section in The Florentine, Tuscany’s leading English language paper and a veritable goldmine of useful information.

This will give you a taste of what jobs are out there. You can also post your own ad for free, advertising your services – more on my own experiences of this time come.

3.       Move to Florence

Be brave. Come with enough money to keep you floating while you find your feet, then dedicate yourself to job hunting once you’re there.

You’re unlikely to secure a job, especially a non-professional one, without being there in person – although you might be able to arrange a few meetings or make some contacts prior to arrival, which is always nice.

If you haven’t sorted out accommodation in advance, then book a room somewhere for at least the first two weeks, perhaps a month. That’ll be one less thing to worry about for the time being.

4.       Get Out There!

Once you’re in Florence – get job hunting. Explore the city, look in windows and on notice boards, talk to people in places you’d like to work: bars, shops, restaurants, tourist sites, whatever. Networking is your friend.

Advertise your services in coffee shops, the library, in schools, on social media. Make job hunting your full-time profession.

This is the crux of how to find a job in Florence: make friends! The city is incredibly community-focused. 

5.       Enjoy Florence!

If you find a job that leaves you with enough money, time and energy to make the most out of living in Florence, then fantastic. If not – keep your ears open and an eye out for other opportunities.

Of course, sometimes things don’t work out as you planned.

If you end up not finding a job, or hating the job you have found, or just not enjoying having to work when you want to be enjoying Florence, then that’s OK. At least you’ll be able to go home with your head held high knowing that you tried – and you picked up some valuable life experiences and got to spend at least a month in Florence en route.

 

The Job I Ended up Getting

I don’t know if I was just incredibly lucky, but my experiences of job hunting were actually fairly painless. I decided to focus my efforts on looking for work as a part-time nanny and artist’s model.

It turned out that the childcare was a lot more profitable than modeling, and I became an au pair.

I placed an ad in The Florentine advertising my key selling points (TEFL-qualified, experience working with children, native English speaker, BA in English) which went live a few days after I arrived – and I was inundated with emails from interested parents.

I met a few who lived within walking distance and whose proposed working hours suited mine, and within two weeks of arrival had a regular gig lined up looking after two Italian boys, aged seven and nine, working about 15 hours a week. It was a pretty cushy job that left me with ample time to write and explore Florence, and just enough money to live on (although remember I was sharing a studio with two friends – that saved a lot of money, but was cozy to say the least!).

Again, I’d like to emphasize that perhaps my experiences were a fluke – but overall, it was pretty easy.

Have you had experience living and working in Florence? Please share them below.