How to Find Work in Rome

How to Find Work in Rome

Since antiquity, Rome has been an important regional and international culture hub. For art and history lovers, the Eternal City is just the perfect place to be, so perfect that many people wish to make it their home.

Imagine getting up in the morning and walking to a bakery to have your breakfast, while running into different ancient ruins and monuments on your way; or grabbing a beer with a view of the Colosseum on a weekend after a whole week of hard work. Imagine being able to appreciate the art of Raphael, Michelangelo, Giotto, Caravaggio and many others whenever you want.

Sounds like a dream, right? Fortunately, once you find a source of income in the city, this dream can come true real quick. In case you are wondering how to find work in Rome, here are some tips for you!

Keep an eye on Porta Portese and others

A newspaper and magazine stand in the largo della Moretta. Porta Portese is distributed for free on Tuesdays and Fridays. Photo by Anthony Majanlahti from WikiCommons.

Porta Portese newspaper has been helping people find jobs in Rome’s metropolitan area since 1978. Fully dedicated to classified ads, the paper is distributed on newsstands for free on Tuesdays and Fridays.

If you speak some Italian or have a friend to help you go through the ads, the paper is an interesting search engine. Given its popularity, it also has a website and an app where all sorts of ads can be found.

Searching for job opportunities on the online platform may be easier and allow you to quickly apply for immediate-hire vacancies; yet, don’t miss the chance to also take a look at the print version as interesting medium and long-term opportunities can be often found.

Download the Porta Portese app on Google Play or Apple Store.

You may also want to take a look at Monster, Trovolavoro, Indeed Italia, and craigslist, which are other famous and effective job search engines in Italy.

If you don’t speak any Italian, focus on English-language platforms

A very tricky thing about finding work in Rome is that Italy in general is not a country where English is widely spoken as a second language. No need to panic, though. Some platforms present only job offers for English-speaking candidates. You may find vacancies that require some level of Italian, but most of them don’t require Italian at all!

My favorite English-language platforms are Jobs in Rome and Wanted in Rome.

Pay a visit to job centers, it’s worth the try

Photo from La Sicilia.

If you are already in Rome, try passing by a job center. Italian citizens have personalized and deeper assistance, but foreigners can still try their luck checking the agencies’ bulletin boards. If you are from a European Union country, it will be even easier for you to send an application.

Some agencies also post bulletins online and notify about Recruitment Days.

Check Porta Futuro’s website, one of the job centers in Rome.

Work as a pet sitter

That’s actually me walking a dog at Piazza Venezia.

Rome is one of the most dog-friendly cities I have ever been to. The amount of pet owners is incredible and the city has a great infrastructure for the dogs’ well-being. This means that working as a pet sitter can potentially boost your income.

On my first months in Rome, I downloaded an app called Rover and was able to make enough money to pay my rent just through the app! Of course, this might not be the most stable job you’ve ever done, but it can definitely buy you some time while you look for opportunities or even complement your income in an easy and fun way in case you find yourself another job.

Besides Rover, another app I have tried is PetBacker. Its policies are a little bit stricter than Rover’s and I receive way less requests in there, which makes me think that the former is more popular in Rome than the latter. However, having a profile on both apps is for sure a great way to amplify your chances of receiving pet-sitting requests.

Dog park at Via dell’Imbrecciato. Photo by the author.

The only thing you need to create your account on the apps is a valid ID, which can be your passport, and a bank account to receive the payment. This bank account can perfectly be of an online bank.

The apps allow you to choose the services you offer and the tariffs you charge. Dog boarding services usually cost around €20; house sitting and drop-in visits cost around €15; and dog walking costs around €10 per half an hour. Try to keep your prices near this average.

Consider teaching English and other subjects

Photo from Pxhere.

If you are already a teacher, your chances of finding work in Rome are pretty high. There are several international schools and language centers in the city, and they are always on the hunt for Native or Advanced English speakers.

You might also consider private lessons. The number of adults interested in learning English has considerably increased in Rome, and many parents want to make sure their children grow up bilingual. In the case of children, you can also work as a tutor teaching math, biology and other subjects.

Promote yourself

Applying for open vacancies is the most traditional way of finding a job. However, you should not discard going the other way around: instead of going after the vacancy, attracting the vacancy to you.

There are lots of groups on social media, especially Facebook, dedicated to job matching. Create a nice description with an informative image to promote your skills and post on as many groups as you can.

Photo by David Joyce from Flickr.

A LinkedIn profile is another excellent way of putting yourself out there. However, remember that on LinkedIn you most likely won’t be approached by employers. You should create your profile with the same information you have on your CV and use the platform to approach employers and companies, and check the jobs available.

You can also post on platforms such as Porta Portese, although you should know that you might have to pay a small fee to advertise in there.

If working from home is on the table for you, there are also plenty of platforms where you can have your work exposed to potential clients, such as Fiverr and UpWork, which enable you to work as a freelancer without going through job interviews and other formal recruitment processes.

No matter how hard it may seem, don’t allow yourself to feel demotivated! As you can see, there are many things you can do to find work in Rome. Besides, living la dolce vita is totally worth the initiative, so get your CV ready and go for it!