This article was originally a talk given in Italian at DevDreams. The original recording is on YouTube: watch here.

Introduction

Working remotely from Italy for a foreign company is the dream of many. Higher salaries, an international environment, and often interesting projects. Unfortunately, not all that glitters is gold, and while the market is full of opportunities, it's still important to understand the risks and the tradeoffs.

In this post we'll focus on developers. Some of what follows applies regardless of your role, while other parts are specific to engineering.

Where to find companies hiring full-remote developers

Have you tried Google? Jokes aside, there are dozens of platforms that aggregate job postings. A few I'd recommend (far from exhaustive — listing them all would need its own article):

talent.io
remote.io
offerzen.com
arc.dev
LinkedIn (just set the right geography filter)

Most "Careers" pages now also state whether a role is full-remote, hybrid, or on-site. If you have a list of target companies, start by checking their websites directly — you might find something interesting.

The language barrier

Language is often a barrier, especially if your English isn't great and you've never had the chance to practice it widely (welcome to the club). There are plenty of resources to help, but the single most useful thing you can do is start speaking sessions.

In some cases the required language may be something other than English, or two languages may be needed. Knowing a second language can be a solid competitive advantage.

What level of English do I actually need to land a role?

It depends on many factors: your role, the type of company, and internal policies. Typically, if you're a developer who doesn't interact directly with customers, being able to understand and make yourself understood clearly is enough. That applies to both written and spoken English.

Preparing for interviews

Screening and technical interviews

Interview processes vary a lot by company. A startup usually runs a different process than a big-tech company or a more structured organization.

A good starting point is the Tech Interview Handbook.

The competition

When you job hunt close to home, the amount of competition depends on where you live. A company in a small town will struggle to find candidates who match 100% of the JD, so the competition is low.

In a big city it's higher — precisely because more companies attract more developers.

When a company opens a fully remote position, competition gets very high: the pool expands to every developer in the country. To get hired you already need to show the skills that convince the company you're the right fit.

For foreign companies, it gets even more intense. You're not just competing with Italian developers, but — in theory — with developers worldwide. In practice the pool shrinks a bit because of timezones. Companies typically enforce a timezone range, either by policy or simply to allow teammates to collaborate in real time.

Even then, competition is high, so you'll need to demonstrate both hard and soft skills.

Employment arrangements

You passed the interview process? Congrats! Now the recruiter will contact you to define the terms of the collaboration on the organizational side. There are generally three common setups.

The company has an Italian entity

In this case you're hired by the Italian branch of the company, you get an Italian contract, and for all practical purposes it's like working for an Italian company.

Working as a freelancer ("Partita IVA")

Here you work as a contractor. You can open a partita IVA under the forfettario regime (simpler, favorable tax treatment) or the ordinario regime. The forfettario regime requires meeting certain thresholds.

The company will usually pay more in this setup, but you'll want to consult your accountant to figure out what's actually best. Every situation is different and should be evaluated with a qualified advisor.

Using an intermediary (umbrella company)

An intermediary (aka "umbrella company") is a company with offices around the world that provides the service of letting someone living in one country be effectively "hired" by a company from another country.

The setup is simple:

The developer is officially hired by the intermediary in their own country.
The intermediary invoices the end company (the one you actually work for day-to-day).

You sign the contract (usually a standard Italian CCNL) directly with the intermediary, which in turn has a contract with the end company.

Some well-known intermediaries:

How does an intermediary make money?

It depends on the business model each intermediary chooses. Their pricing pages (e.g. Remote's) spell out the details.

Using an intermediary, do I earn less than a colleague based in the company's home country?

It depends on the agreement and on company policy. Keep in mind that for the company, using an intermediary is an additional cost, so on average the salary may be slightly lower to offset that overhead. Ask your recruiter to understand your specific situation.

Should I be the one proposing the intermediary?

Usually not. During the contract definition phase the recruiter will propose one. It's likely other colleagues are already working from other countries and the company has a partner intermediary in place.

How are public holidays handled?

With an Italian contract, you get all Italian public holidays, but not the holidays of the company's home country.

If the company is German, say, you may be off while your colleagues work, and vice versa. For convenience, some teams align on a shared calendar, fully or partially — but that's a conversation with your manager.

Once hired through an intermediary, are career opportunities (raises, promotions) the same as other employees, or different?

An intermediary only serves a bureaucratic function. It has no bearing on career opportunities inside the company.

As a junior with no experience, can I still look for this kind of opportunity?

Usually no. Especially for full-remote roles, companies look for people with at least some experience, who can work autonomously on tasks. Junior postings with zero experience are rarer in this space.

If the foreign company offers benefits that my national contract doesn't cover, how does Deel handle it? Does it give me a local contract that includes the foreign company's benefits?

It depends on the type of benefit. Things like a training budget, gym access, or e-learning platforms usually aren't reported directly in the contract.

For stocks or stock options, it depends on many factors and has to be evaluated case by case.

Broadly speaking, a person hired through an intermediary has all the same rights and benefits as one hired directly. The how of making a given benefit effective depends on the company. Asking your recruiter for more information during the process is always a good idea.

Conclusion

Finding remote work as a developer is definitely not impossible, but it does require dedication and a bit of courage — especially for the first interviews in a second language if you're not used to them.

If you want to pursue this path, you can apply for the beta of the DevDreams growth program.