professional interrailing?

March 29, 2009 1:12 PM

I like my job, but I want to leave, badly. I want to leave the UK for warmer/more interesting climes. Where are good places to find a job in continental Europe, with a media/technical slant, for someone who only really only speaks English?

I'm sick of the north of England and want to move somewhere new. I really want to experience another European (or possibly further afield) major city, but I don't know where to even start.

I currently work in technical support for a company that makes electronic products related to video/media. I would like to continue to be involved in this kind of area (I'm also big on audio too), but I also love the idea of being a bit more creative in my work.

What kinds of sites list opportunities in these kind of areas in European cities? So far, I know of sites like Mandy.com and grapevinejobs, but these are pretty much entirely geared toward London.

I would love to move back to London, but Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, really interest me. Scandinavia and Eastern Europe intrigue me too.

Are there other ways of moving to another country without becoming destitute pretty fast? I like the idea of teaching english, but can't imagine this pays terribly well.

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Most people who live in Scandinavia speak good English so you would have no problem getting by. The weather can be lousy with too little sun and too much snow. I can't tell you how many times during the last weeks I've heard other Swedes cursing the weather and just wanting the hell out (here in Stockholm it was still snowing a week ago). The summers are, however, pretty great. Platsbanken (in Swedish) is the job site that people use in Sweden. IDG in Sweden runs CS Jobb that exclusively focuses on IT jobs. Also, Workey is a search engine for job ads. It indexes Platsbanken, CS Jobb and pretty much every other noteworthy job site.

Personally, I would take a look at major cities in Italy, France or Spain. In your field, you can be pretty sure that people speak English. The weather is, of course, amazing pretty much all the time.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:47 PM on March 29, 2009

Amsterdam. Web and new media development is huge there. Most of the big companies do work for Dutch and English-speaking clients. Unfortunately the name of the big job site has escaped me. But hate to tell you, the weather is worse there than London because the clouds never burn off during the day! Better than the North of the UK, but depends if you want to swap snow for continual drizzle and wind. Didn't bother me personally, you get used to not bothering with an umbrella.

Moving without becoming destitute: I've only moved countries when I've had a job to go to, or lots of savings behind me. It is expensive, but if you can get a job before you go with a company willing to pay some relocation expenses that will help enormously. I can't stress what a help it is to have the first couple of weeks accommodtion sorted and paid for.
posted by wingless_angel at 1:53 PM on March 29, 2009

Amsterdam and environs. Undutchables is the site wingless_angel is thinking of, I'm sure. And yeah, the weather is basically "northern", but I enjoyed the time I spent there.

You might end up working in one of the business parks or somewhere like Hilversum (Nike European HQ), but the hours are sane, the public transport is good, you can usually find somewhere decent to live, and if you want to travel on weekends, Europe's open to you.
posted by holgate at 2:42 PM on March 29, 2009

Amsterdam is definitely interesting, but it's also definitely cold and rainy quite often. But you get used to it. You can live in the NL without speaking Dutch, although it does make some aspects of life harder. But there are plenty of companies here -- large and small -- with an English-speaking work environment.

Some job search web sites: Monsterboard.nl, EURES, Expatica, MeFiJobs. Be aware that most recruitment agencies, like Undutchables, Blue Lynx, and Adams, require you to have your paperwork (work and residence permit type stuff; not sure what an English person would need exactly) in order beforehand.

I also recommend looking at, and applying directly through, the web sites of big corporations that have a presence in the country/countries that you're interested in. For example, in the NL, companies like Philips and Cisco regularly hire non-Dutch people.

I don't actually know how popular LinkedIn is in Europe, but I know that the recruiters at my U.S. parent company use it to scout people. So if you don't have a profile there, you might set one up.
posted by transporter accident amy at 1:26 AM on March 30, 2009

The job situation makes Amsterdam 10 times easier than Barcelona and Berlin. Spain's unemployment has gone through the roof recently, and Berlin's job market has been languishing for years. Unemployment in the Netherlands basically doesn't exist. I came here in 2005 and still don't speak Dutch, you just don't need it.

The only problem is that the weather isn't significally better than in the UK.
posted by dhoe at 5:09 AM on March 30, 2009