I've been offered a job in amazon

bahamut88

Hello all,

I'm italian, 30 years old. I've been offered a job in amazon in the customer service department. I'm deciding wether to leave Italy or not (80% yes) because I've a full time job here and a house which is my property. It's a though decision but things in Italy are terrible so I'm planning to move there.

I was just wondering if anyone has more informations about this job? Is it any good? It there any work progression? I've read they give you 2 days off per week but you hardly have them consecutively.

How is the work environment? Collegues? Management? Training paid? Overtime?
I'm coming from a company here in Italy which treat employers like...(you know), so I doubt it would be worse!

bahamut88

Guys, any feedback?
Please, it's important. It's a big decision for me! Even if you hadn't worked there, you must have heard something!

Zuzi

bahamut88 wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm italian, 30 years old. I've been offered a job in amazon in the customer service department. I'm deciding wether to leave Italy or not (80% yes) because I've a full time job here and a house which is my property. It's a though decision but things in Italy are terrible so I'm planning to move there.

I was just wondering if anyone has more informations about this job? Is it any good? It there any work progression? I've read they give you 2 days off per week but you hardly have them consecutively.

How is the work environment? Collegues? Management? Training paid? Overtime?
I'm coming from a company here in Italy which treat employers like...(you know), so I doubt it would be worse!

Hi...
I am Italian as well, 33 years old...living in cork and working for Amazon since 3 years.
Amazon is not a bad company, for sure you need to work hard, and be ready to work on shift, work during WE either Saturday or Sunday usually you get off one of the 2.
The training is paid, overtime as well.
I had possibility to grow here, in three years I've got some interim roles, and then I applied and become team leader,
About management and work environment I think lots depends on which team you are.
If you want write me in private we can have a quick chat ;-)
By the way, leave Italy, especially with a property house and perm job I can understand is not easy...but yes we all knew how is the situation in Italy.
From my side I won't come back at the moment...intact I've bought an house here ;-)

bahamut88

Wow! Thank you for your reply, zuzi!
I've sent you a PM, thanks.
Of course, if someone has anything to say and would share any other experience it would be appreciated.

Faith

There's a forum called Work and Jobs under the Biz category where you can search for previous threads about working at amazon. You might get more useful information there.

Nonoperational

It's very hard to advice you because it's such a big decision and such a personal decision. I'd imagine the way of life and the weather etc are very different in Cork to what your used to.

bahamut88

It's very difficult indeed. Thanks for your sincere reply and understanding. I will also have the "problem" of having then to deal with a long distance relationship.
I don't think weather is going to be much of a problem, I'm not a meteoropathic person, luckily. Thing is, in Italy the economy is really bad, I don’t think you guys abroad realize how bad things are, so I would be willing to do some efforts in order to have a better future.

who_me

I don't work in Amazon (or a call-centre), but have a few friends who do and generally find them somewhere between "bad" and "ok". The pay is relatively low (for Ireland), and the hours are tightly monitored. Lots of people I know who work in call-centres here in Cork seem to be constantly on the move. Find a job in any one, stay for a few months, move to a better one, move again after a few months etc. From what I've heard Apple is among the best in terms of pay & conditions, I'd expect Amazon to be up among the best too.

Edit - I should point out, when I say "bad" I mean by Irish standards. Probably average to good by Italian standards, from what I've heard, sadly.

bahamut88

Indeed, my actual monthly wage it's 1100 euro (LOL), employed on the same company from 7 years, no progression whatsoever (not my fault, nobody made any step forward) and I looked at the prices there in Ireland and I didn't find a big difference so, 25000 euro per annun (I yet have to understand if they are after taxes or not) seem pretty good to me!

EDIT,
about the high rotation, I've heard that too, but I've also heard of some people who grow inside the company so I guess it's a matter of choice or different situations.

who_me

bahamut88 wrote: »

Indeed, my actual monthly wage it's 1100 euro (LOL), employed on the same company from 7 years, no progression whatsoever (not my fault, nobody made any step forward) and I looked at the prices there in Ireland and I didn't find a big difference so, 25000 euro per annun (I yet have to understand if they are after taxes or not) seem pretty good to me!

EDIT,
about the high rotation, I've heard that too, but I've also heard of some people who grow inside the company so I guess it's a matter of choice or different situations.

Yeah, I'd guess call centres here are similar, in that one person from a group will be made team lead and love the place, for the rest there's no career progression. Hence, you have so many people leaving to join the next call centre with better - promotion is by joining another company!

€25K is probably before taxes, I don't know any company that would quote salaries after tax as it would just make the number seem smaller!

On the plus side, most of these companies seem to have a fairly cool vibe as you've a very international staff, most of whom are new(ish) to the place so are keen to get out and meet new people.

imitation

It might be a good opportunity to get started here and then maybe move to another sector, if you have the qualifications or can get them there tend to be opportunitys here that are good, in things like finance, IT, pharmacuticals. Ireland is still having a recession of its own though, so it can still be hard to find positions in things construction related.

Cost of living can be high for certain things, an average 3 bedroom house is about. €950 a month in cork, you can get places for less at the risk of them being cold or other issues. I think food is a bit more than italy based on a trip to the North. Food is generally nice, but expect to pay a bit more for the good stuff.!

The weather will take adjusting, I know you are not the outdoors type, but anybody would find the short winter days tough to cope with, although if you are on shift it might be a bit better. Expect to be stuck inside days at a time looking at the rain, or having to cancel a bbq a few times!

noodler

Check out taxcalc.eu to see how much you would get net per month in Ireland after taxes on a salary of 25,000 per annum.

You would get 1,769 per month.

Rent in Cork is cheaper than Dublin but if you tried living alone I would say you'd be paying 700e a month roughly in rent (thats a basic apartment rather than a house) although a local could back me up on that (daft.ie if you want to check yourself).

bahamut88

Thanks you very much guys, your help is greatly appreciated.
As for the houses I was having a look at sharing (not flats with 10000000000 people but small houses with 2-4 people total) so I though I could spent around 450 max. I think I could manage to survive with the rest (providing I'm able to rent the house where I live now in Italy and for which I'm paying the mortgage), I just need to pay the bills, eat, buying a sim for the phone, having some beers and subscribe to the gym.

Like you say, it could be a start. As I'm not going anywhere here in Italy, I could try.
The problem with Cork it's that there are not direct flights to Italy (apart from a Seasonal flight to Bergamo) which it's really a problem. Every time I must come to visit my gf I would have to go to Dublin by train and then Rome, or go to London and then Rome.

fairchild

hiya,

there are coaches to dublin airport every hour (3.5 h drive ) & ca. 6 flights to Stanstead and Gatwick a day
it's a bit of a drag getting up to Dublin but it should not be a deal-breaker really

bahamut88

fairchild wrote: »

hiya,

there are coaches to dublin airport every hour (3.5 h drive ) & ca. 6 flights to Stanstead and Gatwick a day
it's a bit of a drag getting up to Dublin but it should not be a deal-breaker really

Thanks!
Yes, I've seen coaches and train. I live in Pescara (200 km east of Rome) and there aren't much flights there. Infact, there is a 4 days per week flight from Stanstead and you'have to get lucky with the times.
A typical journey would be:

Cork > Dublin 3.5 h
Dublin > Rome 3 h
Rome > Pescara 2.5 h

:eek:

Paz-CCFC

bahamut88 wrote: »

Thanks!
Yes, I've seen coaches and train. I live in Pescara (200 km east of Rome) and there aren't much flights there. Infact, there is a 4 days per week flight from Stanstead and you'have to get lucky with the times.
A typical journey would be:

Cork > Dublin 3.5 h
Dublin > Rome 3 h
Rome > Pescara 2.5 h

:eek:

If you're flying to Pescara, I think you're much better off going through Stansted if you can. You might have to take a day or two off work to suit the flight times, but you'd have to do that anyway to account for the long trips by bus. I went to Pescara last August through Dublin and Rome. I left Cork at 1am and got into Pescara at about 14:00 or 15:00. Though, I got the bus through Tiburtina, not realising that you could go straight from Ciampino. Still, it'd be long.

Cork-Stansted-Pescara is probably cheaper, too, if you book at the right times. You could get return flights to Stansted for €30-€40 and then onto Pescara for about €80. Dublin-Rome is closer to €120-€130 at a good price, and then another €50 for the buses between Cork and Dublin and Rome and Pescara.

Cork Bergamo flights will be back in June, as well, so you could go that route. They only operate twice a week, though - Mondays and Thursdays.

By the way, if you're a football fan - Forza Pescara Calcio!

bahamut88

Yeah, that's what I thought too! Maybe the first flight won't be convenient because I'll carry too much bags but for the others, it will definitively be the way to go!
I hope you enjoyed your visit of Pescara and Abruzzo.
I'm not a huge football fan, but I did see some matches of Pescara Calcio :DD

Paz-CCFC

bahamut88 wrote: »

Yeah, that's what I thought too! Maybe the first flight won't be convenient because I'll carry too much bags but for the others, it will definitively be the way to go!

Yeah, that's true. Ryanair charge €30 for one checked bag and €20 for a second, I think, so you could be paying an extra €50 by going through Stansted, more or less cancelling out what's saved on the buses.

When going back to Italy to visit, you can just bring 10kg or less carry on luggage and you won't have to pay any extra baggage charge.

I hope you enjoyed your visit of Pescara and Abruzzo.

Si, certo! Esso stata molte benissimo!

I'm not a huge football fan, but I did see some matches of Pescara Calcio :DD

I went to lo Stadio di Adriatico when I was there. It's a fantastic stadium and the Pescara fans are amazing. Hopefully they'll do well in Serie B this season and get promoted!