Hello all,
I am planning to move from Belgium to Florianópolis in a few months to live there with my girlfriend (who is Brazilian).

I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips to find a job there. I have a bachelor's degree in IT and I have several years of experience as a waiter/bartender. For the last 3.5 years I have been working at an IT helpdesk for several Belgian government agencies and a large company. I also followed a course in web design recently, but I have no professional experience in this field yet.

Apart from Dutch as mother tongue, I speak French and English. My Portuguese is still quite basic, but I am learning.

Which jobs would I be able to find there? Would teaching English be an option? I am not a native English peaker, but I have worked in an environment for several years where English was the main language and at home I usually speak English with my girlfriend. Teaching Dutch would obviously be perfect, but I doubt there is much demand for it in Floripa?

I am also considering starting as an independent web designer. Can anyone give me some tips about how to start this? As I said, I have no professional experience as a web designer yet. Are there preparations I can take before I leave? Is there any other way I can make my IT knowledge and other experience productive?

I read that Brazil is getting more and more protective over its own people on the job market (which I understand completely). What can I expect in this regard?

I would welcome every piece of information, as I feel a bit lost at this moment.
Thanks in advance!

Thank you for your reply.

I guess I should have mentioned that we are planning to get married ASAP when I arrive there, after which I will apply for a permanent visa. So permanent residency and working permit won't be a problem.

Esso/Exxon is in Paraná and often needs IT (and other) professionals who have Dutch.  You might want to do a search on their site to see if there are any positions available and if there's anything interesting, you might want to talk to the GF about where you might live.

Originally posted by 3casas you might want to talk to the GF about where you might live

My girlfriend is from Floripa, so the location is pretty much fixed. :-)

@Gringo.Floripa: I'll be sure to check out the other thread. As a matter of fact I used to work giving IT support to Royal Dutch Shell. :-) I don't think they had an office in Floripa, though, but it's indeed worth looking into.

Muito obrigado a todos!

Originally posted by ptic What are work opportunities engineering wise in Floripa, chemical or environmental?

For chemical engineering, I believe you'd find more opportunities in Joinville (which is quite near the coast, not in the interior).

As for environmental, perhaps these links will be of interest....

http://www.ambratec.com.br

http://www.akosconsultoria.com.br

http://www.supremeambiental.com.br/joomla/index.php



Edited by Gringo.Floripa - 18 March 2012 at 19:09