live life fully

by: Leslie A. Strazzuolo

Sold!

And just like that, the other designer shoe dropped, and I found myself out of work.

The gossip in the office break room shifted overnight from scrutinizing the visiting Americans to discussing imminent layoffs and buonuscite (severance packages). At first, many of my colleagues dismissed the sale of our telecoms division as business as usual. The last M&A deal led to a brief period of unemployment, after which almost all employees were rehired. But to the skeptics in the office, this time seemed different. For them, Pirelli clearly wanted out of the telecoms business.

The American company that acquired our division kept only a handful of technical experts, which meant everyone else would be heading home to start that dreaded job search. Obviously, I had it easy, being American and all. I could go back to the States, where jobs grow on trees, and with a wave of my hand, find new work just like that. Problem solved! My colleagues didn’t understand that job searches in the USA are challenging too, especially when you are on the other side of the ocean. 

Regardless of their romantic notions of the USA, I didn’t want to return home, not like this, not yet. Excluding my rocky beginning — admission to the skilled work quota and six months of jumping through hoops to become a legal resident of Milan — I had no intention of returning home, but what if I couldn’t find another employer to sponsor my permesso di soggiorno (work permit)? 

One Year Left

With only one year left on my work permit, I panicked. The Italian job market has long been considered sluggish and less robust than in other developed countries. Being unemployed also felt like a curse. There is a stigma attached to being disoccupato (unemployed) in Italy. What did you do to lose your job? You must have done something. 

Furthermore, at that time, Italians were not accustomed to widespread layoffs or redundancy. If you were unlucky enough to be part of a layoff, your future seemed doomed. That’s where the American in me came to the rescue. I stayed focused and did my best to tune out the chatter around me.

Network Like Hell 

New Year’s resolution: get a job! My philosophy has always been that if you want something, you’ll work to make it happen. Italy has always been, and still is, a “who you know” job market. The sooner you accept this, the better. I came to terms with the fact that a daily dose of humility and stepping outside my comfort zone would be essential to my success. I had a wish list of companies, monitored open job postings, networked like hell, sometimes with professionals from abroad, and kept moving forward. I treated every interview as if it were my only one. No matter how hard I worked, rejection sometimes got the best of me, so I decided to come up with a plan B. When companies canceled interviews due to hiring freezes, or when I received a number of those automated rejection emails, I expanded my search into Europe.

When One Door Closes, Go to a Greek Island

Heading into summer, I’d had a number of phone interviews and had seen some decent traction, but many opportunities fell through when it mattered most, not because of me but because of market conditions. With a job opportunity at Honeywell, an American multinational, my networking actually started in the Midwest; the position, which allowed me to leverage my telecoms experience, could have been based in several European hub cities, including Milan. My CV traveled from a business school alum in Chicago to multiple Honeywell offices on the East Coast, and eventually to an EMEA hub in Bracknell, UK, where the hiring manager was based. But again, there was a hiring freeze, and yes, I received one of those automated rejection letters, which really hurt because the job seemed written for me.

As the clock ticked on, I conducted interviews in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. A tech company in the Netherlands flew me to Amsterdam for a series of in-person interviews and offered me a job. After receiving so many rejections, the Dutch offer, with a salary almost double that of equivalent jobs in Italy, lifted my spirits.

The catch? I would have to give up my Italian work permit and lose the five years I had invested in Italy. Scrambling, I came up with an alternative work arrangement and proposed doing the job from Italy, even though remote and hybrid work were not yet common.

The Dutch company had offices in Northern Italy, and my market included Europe’s automotive industry, so it all made sense, except to the parent company. We went back and forth, and ultimately our talks stalled permanently. While my plan had many merits, such as being close to my customers, the corporate office wasn’t accustomed to this kind of work arrangement, even though employees frequently traveled between the UK and the Netherlands. No one seemed to be commuting from other European countries. Did I want to be the first? Probably not.

Moving into August, everything had come to a halt. Needing some R&R, I traveled to Rhodes with my boyfriend and a group of friends. While boarding the plane, the hiring manager from the Dutch company called to reopen negotiations. We agreed to speak when I returned.

After an amazing two weeks in Greece, I returned rested and ready to negotiate with the Dutch company. Again, we went back and forth. The talks were tough, and I wondered whether all this effort was worth it. Just when it felt like the negotiations took a turn for the worse, again, Honeywell re-entered the picture. The hiring manager informed me that the company wanted to restart the interview process. I conducted a series of interviews and got the job based in Milan. 

Italy Wanted Me Too

I did it. I got the job I wanted, the company sponsored my work permit, and I went on to achieve many professional milestones at Honeywell. I eventually obtained dual citizenship as well.

Passing up the Dutch salary wasn’t easy. However, Italy held special meaning for me as the place of my family’s roots. I think it is this tie, along with the people, culture, and history, that keep me here. And maybe one other reason. Soon after I received the job offer from Honeywell, with a start date a month later, I had a medical emergency, which required the removal of my spleen. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had left Italy. Would I have ruptured my spleen? Thankfully, I’ll never know. 

Despite all the challenges, I never gave up. I wanted Italy, and maybe Italy wanted me too. By staying committed, I gained a cosmopolitan city, a better work-life balance, a lower cost of living, universal healthcare, a European passport, great weather, and rich life experiences, which certainly outweighed the cost of that higher salary.

Lastly, I proved to myself I could overcome this challenge and stay in the place I loved.