I'm one of the many newly unemployed in the U.S. Europe has always been a favorite destination. And now I'm thinking that since the job market is bad over here, maybe it's a good opportunity to be bold and try to relocate to Europe for a few years and try a new lifetstyle. Since I am not accomplished at any other languages, I would need to limit my search to English speaking countries. Any suggestions for a college educated person with a finance background?

If you do not have a passport from one of the EEA countries (EU + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), your main problem will be to get a work and residence permit. You need to be sponsored by a company and they are reluctant to do that in most cases. (they will have to prove that no EEA citizen could do the job that you want to do) Only if you have very special qualifications / experience, you will have a chance.

Are there recruiters who specialize in dealing with non-residents searching for work in Europe? My preferences would be for a position in the UK or Ireland.

Sorry to hear about your unemployment, but it is worse in Europe than here. It will take some luck as well as a lot of work to obtain employment there.

Try some of the contractors that the government uses ex: SAIC, Littleton, RAytheon, Choctaw industries. You can then come over and work for the dept of defense and get some of the same benefits the military gets, housing , cheap gas, you would also be tax exempt as a us citizen living abroad. As for just coming over and hoping for the best, when you get deported you have 24 hours to get out and it is at your own expense. Any european country you fly into has customs and your passport will be scrutinized and they will ask you many questions such as why are you here, where do you plan on living, etc. You can come over for 90 days but you then have to leave the country for at least 30 days and provide proof that you went some where else before reentering the EU. Also, you will find it difficult to work over here if you are not bilingual. And the general cost of living is much higher and most countries have horrendous tax laws that you will be subject to. Your best best is to find a company in the us and get them to sponsor you and move you over here and back when you are ready. People have this idea that I will just move to europe, unfortunately it isn't that simple and it costs a lot of money to do it. If you a really seriouos about doing this, start reading the international herald and checking out the state departments website for the laws about moving to europe and also check out the country you plan on living in to see what their resident alien policy is ...Good Luck, I live in europe but came over here with the dept of defense and have the best of both worlds...

MH ...where is 'here' ? <BR><BR>Bi-lingual? What absolute drivel.

I live in Germany. I had started to explore other opportunities in europe and the first and only question I was asked is "what other languages do you speak?" english and thats it. Well good luck but you really need to be bilingual. It is always interesting to have people comment on this site, so my question to you is where in europe do you live? my guess is that you came over here once or twice visiting touristy areas where english is common, but in the real business world english is not the main language.The original poster was inquiring about the job market in europe, and I live in europe and have for the last four years. So I contributed my experience living here. What was your contribution? other than to be nasty and ignorant!!!

Here are some overseas jobs sites you can look at:<BR>http://www.escapeartist.com/jobs13/europe.htm<BR>http://www.overseasjobs.com<BR>Hope this helps.

Unemployed - email me and I will send you TONS AND TONS of info.<BR><BR>but do it quickly, as I leave for Scotland/London for about 3 weeks, tomorrow...<BR><BR<BR><BR>Beth

um, MH, Tony lives in Scotland. You can get by very well in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales speaking English. The natives have done so for quite some time.

Thank you for the information. I'll be checking out the websites. Question - how do I find out about working for the US Govt. in Europe?

The UK is not considered europe because it is not on the european continent. And of course they speak english so Tony would not need to be bilingual. But for working in France, or Germany or some other country. It would greatly behove the employee to be able to converse with his co workers and his customers. As the original poster wants to live in an english speaking country, the UK would be ideal but unfortunately they have some of the highest unemployment rates, and costs of living.

Here is the website for US Government Jobs: http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/<BR>Go to the Job Openings then to State Job List then click yes or no under employment category. You will be taken to a list of states and the link for Europe is at the bottom of the page.

If the UK is not considered Europe, what is it considered as?

Although my husband and I are both Americans, we both have had job offers in Europe (where we now live). My husband's job offer came in 1999, where the demand for highly skill senior IT professionals was very high. That has changed dramatically and it's very unusual for U.S.-based IT professionals to get jobs in Europe at the moment. Many of the contract IT positions in nonUK Europe are held by Brits and those contracts are being cut short. <BR>In my case, I have a background related to the pharmaceutical industry, one of the few areas that's still hiring and willing to go through the work permit process. And I speak, read and write French well enough to work in the language if necessary. The healthcare industry does have demand for native English speakers, especially those who also have another language ability. I have had offers from companies in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, even though I don't have an EEA passport. But I'm already living here--those companies would have been less interested if I were still in the U.S.<BR>Help, one of the first things to do is check if you qualify for residency visa/work permits in any European country due to family history...do you have a grandparent from Ireland? You don't have a parent from the UK or another European country? If not, you have to make yourself seriously appealing to an employer to make them go through the work permit hoops for you. Learn another language ASAP. Take whatever job you can get in the U.S., save every dime for a while, then come to Europe for as long as you can *legally* and start making the rounds of recruiters, companies, etc. Start read European business publications to see which industries are doing well and which companies in those industries are hiring. Get your resume online (i.e., hotjobs, Monster, and specialty groups). In the pharmaceutical field, go to www.inpharm.com for tons of UK/Europe job opportunities--there may even be finance-oriented opportunities if you recast your CV just right.<BR>Good luck! And finally, remember that living in Europe isn't heaven. There are plenty of the usual real-world headaches, hassles, etc., here too. We have days--not many but some--when we wish we were back in the U.S. For every American looking to move to Europe, there's at least one European wishing they could move to the U.S.--it goes both ways.

Hi BT, you seem to have a very informed view of the job market in Europe. I'm planning on moving to Spain after I finish my MBA (probably at the end of 2002) and change my career orientation to Marketing. Luckily I have the EU passport and also speak 4 languages.Here's one question for you: How do you view Spain at the moment? I've been told that Madrid is not especially a good place for foreigners since the local people tend to be hostile towards inmigrants and that Barcelona was a much better choice. I would have chosen another country but my future husband only speaks spanish and a bit of english.<BR>Thanks !! Gracie

I work for one of the companies mentioned above as a Government contractor. First of all, they do not pay relocation expense to Europe unless you are in management, so be prepared to pay yourself. Secondly if you have never had a Govt security clearance, your chances are slim as it takes six months to get a clearance, and that was before Sept 11.

Hi Gracie,<BR>I'm very sorry, I know nothing about Spain. I've never been there (and to be completely honest, I don't have a burning desire to go there either, nothing against Spain, it just doesn't interest me). I don't want to pretend to know something I don't, so hopefully someone who knows the Spanish scene will respond to your questions...

I just came across an interesting site:<BR><BR>http://www.expatinfocenter.com/<BR><BR>maybe that can help. They index several expat boards from assorted countries.

Hey Gary sorry about the crummy contractor you work for, Mine moved me over here (germany) provides me with a cost of living allowance and pays my rent. It is all in the contract I negiotated with their headquarters in DC. As I work in a large military hospital most of the other contractors I work with get the same benefits if not better ones. I guess I am management as I have a masters degree. So my experience is that most will move you over and pay your expenses if you know the art of a good deal. I do not possess a clearance as it is not needed for my job. So for the original poster it depends on what company you work for and what you will be doing for them.