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Information about working in Europe

EU Schengen Visa is NOT a work permit

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There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what the Schengen visa really is.

The Schengen Visa was created by members of the European Union to enable visitors to travel freely between the member states. It has made traveling between its 25 member countries (22 European Union states and 3 non-EU members) a lot easier and contains a lot less red tape. Gone are the days that you had to get a visa for all EU countries you wanted to visit.

When you travel on a Schengen Visa you can travel to any (or all) member countries using one single visa. The Schengen visa is a “visitor visa”. It is issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe. A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a 6 month period.

However, the Schengen visa is NOT a work permit. You can travel on a Schengen visa to go on holiday or on a business trip. It does not allow you to work in the Schengen countries. In order to work in the EU you need a work permit issued by the individual member state.

You can only get a work permit if you qualify based on the criteria defined by the individual member state. The company who wants to employ you needs to apply for the work permit and indicate why they can not find anyone in Europe to fill that position. Only then will a work permit be issued. The chances a company will obtain a work permit are very small as unemployment levels in Europe are very high and countries are trying to ‘protect’ their work force. (Read: protect the votes they would get in an election.)

Once you are lucky enough to obtain a work permit, you are stuck with the company that hired you. If you want to leave the company in order to join another company for a job anywhere in the EU, the whole process starts all over again. Your new employer will need to prove to their government why you deserve a work permit. If they fail to obtain it, you’re on the next plane home.

Some Schengen countries such as Norway, which is not a member of the EU, issue Skilled Jobseeker Residence Permits which allow you to live in Norway for 6 months and search for jobs & interview with employers. As with all work permits, this is limited to a certain period of time and once the period is up you are expected to leave the country again. Note that this is not a Schengen visa.

If you want to qualify you will need a Vocational training/Craft course/University Degree or a higher Special qualification from a Recognised University that meets Norwegian standards and is relevant to the job you are nominated for.

You must also have sufficient funds and medical insurance worth at least €30,000 to live in Norway for the duration of your intended stay. The funds required currently correspond to 107,450 Norwegian Crowns for a period of six months, which is approximately 17,000 US Dollars or 950,000 Indian Rupees.

 

Yahoo boss stumbles over CV

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If you thought “dressing up” a CV was only done by unscrupulous people trying to blag their way into a job, think again.

Scott Thomson, the Yahoo CEO, who only got the top job in January this year, had to resign over the weekend after it emerged that he claimed to have earned a computer sciences degree that only started being awarded four years after he had graduated from university. CEO’s are meant to have foresight in order to steer companies, but this seems to have been a little too much foresight.

It shows that you will at some point be caught out when you start claiming things on your CV that are not true. In this internet age, where everything and anything is connected, fibs can be exposed pretty quickly by typing in a few keywords in a search engine.

It really shows that you not only need to create an honest CV, but also that you need to manage your on-line presence. Someone will have probably found out from Scott Thomson’s old university’s website that the degree didn’t exist until four years after he graduated. So check your facts and make sure your dates stack up on your CV.

Recruiters often have a sixth sense when it comes to unearthing lies on CVs. They see so many CVs and interview that many candidates that they will have developed a nose for things that might be not completely the truth and will hone in that during an interview.

Why blow your chances of getting a great new job by adding things that are irrelevant to your achievements? Scott Thomson would most likely have earned the top job at Yahoo anyway without a computer sciences degree, based on his achievements in business until then. Recruiters probably approached him for the Yahoo job based on what he had achieved so far, so a computer sciences degree was probably not that relevant.

So, moral of the story: Don’t lie!

 

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on Eurosclerosis

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Jimmy Wales, the guy who dreamt up Wikipedia, describes the differences between the US and EU economies. In his view Europe is hampered by loads of red tape.

He has a point. The USA is already coming out of the financial crisis, whereas Europe is still diving deeper into the chaos. There is no end in sight to the economic problems we’re in. Not only are politicians squabbling as if Europe has got loads of time to get out of the crisis, the administrative hurdles would be entrepreneurs have to take to set up a new business are so high, many people just give up. That’s not conducive to reviving the European economy….

See what Jimmy Wales has to say. (And no he’s not related to William Wales, the helicopter pilot)

We can speak from experience. When we tried years ago to get a merchant account (in order to take payments online) through a bank in the UK, and we were asked to come up with business plans, how much we were going to take on a monthly basis, etc. When you’re starting out you don’t have a clue, especially when you’re doing something that hasn’t been done before. (In 1995 a job site was a rather strange kind of business, and it still is according to the banks….)

So, stalemate. We didn’t want to waste time writing business plans that were destined for the bin, so we ended up creating an account with PayPal in less than five minutes. The profit they make on our transactions now benefits the US economy, not the EU.

Over the years we have tried to get a proper merchant account, but we still had to jump through hoops and be very subservient to the banks in the hope of securing one. When you realise that they put you through all this just to handle your own money and that you don’t want to have a credit line with them, you just think ‘What’s the point?’ We also wanted to move away from PayPal as their fraud detection service is pants. We spend more time detecting fraudulent payments than technologically is necessary.

So in the end we have decided to give up on the red tape and make the site pay for itself in a different way that does not involve the nightmare of a merchant account. When in future we might need one we will be forced to move outside the EU and set one up there. Great for the EU economy! Not……

Nearly 25 million people unemployed in EU

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Eurostat, the statistics boffins in Brussels, have released their latest figures (or estimates).

They estimate that 10,2% of the workforce is unemployed. When you read their report this is presented rather clinically. What impact does the rise from 9.9% to 10.2% have on your own situation?

And then you realise that they estimate that 24.772 million people are unemployed in the European Union. Nearly 25 million people! That is nearly the whole population of the Netherlands and Belgium put together. Imagine towns or even provinces where no one has a job! Truly scary.

In the USA the situation seems slightly less worrying. The last reported unemployment rate was at 8.2 percent in March 2012, however this has been rapidly decreasing from a peak of 9.8% at the end of 2010.

United States Unemployment Rate

From 1948 until 2010 the United States’ unemployment rate averaged 5.70 percent reaching an historical high of 10.80 percent in November of 1982 and a record low of 2.50 percent in May of 1953.

Europe on the other hand never had such low levels of unemployment.

Historical Data Chart

Experts struggle to explain why unemployment levels are so consistently high compared to the USA. They quote new technology, foreign competition and ‘Eurosclerosis’ as reasons, but these do not provide convincing reasons why unemployment should have risen so dramatically, though all of them may have had some part to play. They can not come up with one single reason why so many Europeans fail to find jobs, and many of the more widely touted proposals for reform are either likely to be ineffective or politically difficult to introduce.

Having lived in several countries in Europe I can only speak from my own  experience, but I bet it is all to do with the mentality in Europe. Europeans as a whole (and especially politicians) these days are risk averse. The culture does not allow failure. Failing is seen as a loss of face and must be avoided at all costs.

In the USA on the other hand, if you fail you have learned how not to do it. It is seen as a valuable experience and not a reason to stop trying. Most successful entrepreneurs (in the EU and the USA) have failed many times before they hit the big time. One that springs to mind is (now Lord) Dyson. He begged and borrowed money from everybody he knew and fought failure for 20 odd years in order to get his cyclone vacuum cleaner to work. And he did….

Europe needs to change its attitude and let its people try things without stigmatising them as failures. The EU has started to facilitate this by opening up borders so people can work anywhere in Europe, but the massive amount of red tape, incompatible financial markets and systems, incompatible tax, employment and other laws make life extremely difficult for people to get up and do something.

Europe needs to reward people who try to change the world and not penalise them through the tax system. Business won’t grow from fat banker bonuses, but will from big awards for entrepreneurs. Bankers recycle money, entrepreneurs create it.

Just look at Germany. They still make things and the world is gagging for their products. Combine that with an efficient government, incentives for entrepreneurs and a newspaper industry with a positive attitude towards entrepreneurs and you have a recipe for success.

The rest of Europe still have a lot to learn……

www.hypersmash.com

Unemployment level Germany drops further

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The German Federal Statistics Office announced today that the number of unemployed in Germany decreased in March, in comparision with 2011, by 418,000 people. Compared to February there were 177,000 fewer unemployed.

Percentage-wise this means that only 5.6% of the working population in Germany is without a job. But it still means that 2.3 million people are not bringing the beans back home.

The unemployment level in Germany has been falling rapidly over the last few years and has never been so low since the reunification with East Germany in 1990. The German economy has really bounced when you realise that the unemployment level in 2005 was still above 10%

It might perhaps be wise for politicians in Europe to have a closer look as to why Germany is so successful and why their own economies are so sluggish. Germany has no oil or gas, only has one big port and a huge number of immigrants within its borders. Enough reason to put your hands up as a politician and moan about your misfortune.

The reason why Germany is so successful is fairly simple; they invest in infrastructure, education, R&D and value small and medium sized businesses. They still call BMW a medium sized, family business. Many other European countries think that big is beautiful. When you look at the number of jobs big business creates it often is no more than 20% of the total in a country.

It is time for European politicians to get rid of red tape that severely hampers smaller businesses and let entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs. It works in Germany, so why not let this happen in the rest of Europe?

NGO Recruitment on Eurojobs

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The NGO sector is often neglected in the online recruitment world, which makes it difficult for organizations to find the right people. In response to this, Eurojobs.com and NGOJobsonline have partnered to increase the visibility of non governmental organisation jobs.

NGOJobsonline is able to post their jobs onto Eurojobs.com in order to achieve a much wider audience and hence draw in more candidates for positions all over the globe.

NGOJobsonline is based in South Africa.

 

For more information, please contact: ngojobsonline.com -
+27 11 0839985 – info@ngojobsonline.com

Inefficient European governments

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European governments often still reside in the pre-internet age. They simply can’t get their heads around the fact that a lot of services can now be done on-line, including collecting taxes, fines, etc.

I encountered some striking examples of this earlier this week. Last summer my daughter, who is a violinist, attended a music festival in Casalmaggiore, near Parma in Italy. We flew to Miland and hired a car to get there. While my daughter was studying and performing with her violin professor, we went to explore the surrounding area and ended up in Parma.

Being not familiar with the situation in Parma I must have drifted into a bus lane and got photographed. As government wheels run slowly I only got the fine 8 months later. I know, they need to work out I hired a care, get my details from the rental company and send me a letter. A lot of work that takes time…..

The big surprise to me was that I could pay the fine through a rather basic looking site.

The whole process was outsourced and was flawless. Fine paid in no time. The only thing that would need addressing are the funny translations on the site. They could have used some decent translators, but I worked it out anyway.

Now, look at the United Kingdom. The country where we are based is meant to be a leader when it comes to the internet. As an internet company handling a lot of personal data Eurojobs.com falls under the Data Protection Act. As this is another reason for the government to levy some tax, we need to pay a small amount each year. No problem.

The real “problem” is that the Information Commissioner, who rules the roost over loads of internet and other companies, sends out a letter via Royal Mail notifying us that we need to pay. OK, not the most advanced way of doing this, but at least it arrives, just like the letter from Parma.

When it comes to paying, the Information Commission is equally ancient. There are two ways we can pay this is, either via a cheque (This is piece of paper onto which you write the amount you want to pay to someone, which they can then take to bank to cash it. That’s how they did it in centuries gone by.) or via direct debit, which is a slightly more modern way.

“Information Commissioner”. “Controls data on the internet”. “Pay by cheque”. Have they never actually looked at what can be done via the internet? Don’t they know you can pay over the internet? It would save them a lot of money if they would do so. But I guess that’s where the problem lies. They employ to many people shuffling bits and pieces of paper. Doing it in a more efficient way would undermine their red tape business model.

Oh well. I stuck the only cheque I write out each year in an envelope and put it in the post. They’ll probably receive it in a week’s time and it’ll probably not leave our bank account for another 2 weeks. Great for our bank balance! Not so great for theirs…..

European economy disintegrating?

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The United Kingdom today declared to be in recession again. The Dutch are facing losing their triple A status. Francois Hollande threatens to renegotiate the EU fiscal pact. German makes noises about not changing pacts again. The EU is in turmoil again……

Is this the beginning of the end of the Euro?

European politicians seem to be unable to keep their finances in check or bring order in their financial chaos. They were very good at promising heaven in order to be voted into power, but not the chickens have come home to roost, they’re unable to face reality.

The reality is that a country can not overspend without one day having to pay the bill. We all know that from our personal experience with salaries, bills, etc. Very basic stuff, so why can’t politicians grasp this?

Politicians only look towards the next term, so whatever their actions, they most likely won’t see the effects of their actions. Take the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair. He racked up such a deficit in the country’s finances that the UK went nearly bankrupt. Before the crash occurred he jumped ship and now washes his hands off any responsibility, raking in millions in advisory fees. Unlike most former politicians, he keeps a very low profile. Wonder why?

There will be many other politicians who used their countries finances as a way to fill their own coffers, but wasn’t the EU meant to put a stop to that? Was Brussels not meant to control countries overspending?

The European Union will not survive unless countries such as France and Germany are prevented from flouting the rules they imposed on others. The 3% budget rule was lifted when these two got a bit of headwind and were pushed over the limit. Europe needs to have an independent financial body and legal system that is binding in every country, not a system that can be abused by the big boys.

A federal Europe would be the best solution. European nations will have to swallow their national pride and hand over more control to Brussels. But this will only work if there is true democracy in Brussels. A Greek should be able to vote for a Brit and a Pole should be able to vote for a Portuguese. There should not be any ‘local’ boundaries anymore when it comes to the European parliament. Parliament should then be able to hold the European Commission to account, like in any other normal parliament.

The way Europe is currently set up, parliament will only be a club of squabbling, overpaid minnows, who have nothing to do but …. squabbling. Real, unaccontable power will remain in the hands of the European heads of states, who were elected to run their own countries, not Europe! A real recipe for disaster as is now apparent with the imminent disintegration of Europe.

So, what’s next? Civil war in Europe? Nothing is too far fetched!

 

 

 

Cyprus having a gas

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The recent discovery of natural gas in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Cyprus creates a promising future for the island. Cyprus is suffering from high unemployment levels and this find could create up to 4,000 jobs.

The find has prompted the Cypriot government to promote a series of measures to reinforce growth. They have already started carrying out a study into the employment needs and development of human resources that are connected to the exploitation of natural gas according to a Government spokesperson.

The survey is aimed at spotting the needs in human resources, knowledge and expertise in sectors and professions that are directly or indirectly related to the management of natural gas. It would be carried out in five stages and is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.

The first phase is charting successful practices that are followed in other countries, such as Israel, Norway and Australia. This will help form a methodology, once the relevant consultations have taken place in Cyprus.

The study indicated that around 4,000 people would have to be employed to develop the facilities needed to handle the gas but fewer people would be needed once systems are up and running.

The Cyprus gas might not become a huge player on the world stage, but it might help ease the unemployment levels. The only danger of this find is that a lot of people will be flown in as expertise in extracting the gas will not be available locally. The best thing the Cyprus government can do is to make sure Cypriots are trained properly to take advantage of this opportunity.

Swiss put up borders again

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The Swiss decided last week to re-impose quotas on the number of people from Eastern Europe who are allowed to work in Switzerland.

Switzerland is part of the EU schengen zone, but not a member of the European Union. This means (in theory) that people within the Schengen zone could travel to Switzerland without the need for a visa. European Union members living in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will now need to apply for a visa in order to be able to live and work in Switzerland.

The Swiss decided that they needed to do this in order to limit the growing number of immigrants from those countries. A huge number (7,000 !) since visa free travel was introduced have traveled to Switzerland over the last three years to look for work. (To put it in perspective, a similar sized country such as Holland has seen a much bigger influx.) The European Union wasn’t very happy about this decision, but can’t do much about it as the Swiss used a get out clause to impose this.

The move is rather typical for what is happening all over Europe. Countries are veering to the right and calls to close borders are getting louder. (France/Germany last week) The fact that the number of East European immigrants in Switzerland are rather limited (7,000 out of 65,000) forced the Christian Democrat Peoples Party to admit that it was a symbolic move. It is used for internal political purposes rather than to ‘protect’ the Swiss labour market.

The Swiss Farmers Union has already complained about this as they fear their production costs would sky rocket without the use of East European labourers. They’re now talking about changing the annual permits to shorter term visas so that farmers can still hire farm labourers. It might be a short term exercise anyway as the get out clause expires in 2014.

Politicians huh! They’ll do anything to win votes……..