Italian All-in-One For Dummies (43 page)

In Italy, want ads often request information on an applicant's personality. Also, job advertisements don't usually contain mailing addresses. Instead, ads list fax or e-mail addresses. You send your
domanda d'assunzione
(doh-
mahn
-dah dahs-soohn-
tsyoh
-neh) (
job application
) and/or your curriculum vitae or resumé via fax or e-mail.

Here are a few other terms that may be useful when applying or interviewing for a job:

affidabile
(ahf-fee-
dah
-bee-leh) (
dependable
)

annuncio
(ahn-
noohn
-choh) (
advertisement
)

assistente
(ahs-sees-
tehn
-teh) (
assistant
)

colloquio
(kohl-
loh
-kwyoh) (
interview
)

responsabile
(reh-spohn-
sah
-bee-leh) (
responsible
)

Covering compensation and breaks

According to the Constitution of the Italian Republic (Article 36),
lo stipendio
(stee-
pehn
-dyoh) (
salary
) must be proportionate and appropriate to the duration and quality of service performed by the
lavoratore
(lah-voh-rah-
toh
-reh) (
worker
) and sufficient for a reasonably good quality of life.

In Italy, there's no
stipendio minimo
(stee-
pehn
-dyoh
mee
-nee-moh) (
minimum wage
) set by law. Usually, a pay is deemed sufficient if it corresponds to that shown in the
contratto collettivo
(kohn-
traht
-toh kohl-leht-
tee
-voh) (
collective labor agreement
) for the sector.
Il pagamento
(eel pah-gah-
mehn
-toh) (
payment
) of wages is normally
mensile
(mehn-
see
-leh) (
on a monthly basis
).

The Italian Constitution also establishes that all
lavoratori
(lah-voh-rah-
toh
-ree) (
workers
) have the right to
riposo settimanale
(ree-
poh
-soh seht-tee-mah-
nah
-leh) (
weekly rest
) and
ferie annuali
retribuite
(
feh
-ryeh ahn-
nwah
-lee reh-tree-
bwee
-teh) (
paid annual holidays
).

Describing things around the office

For many of us,
l'ufficio
(loohf-
fee
-choh) (
the office
) is the place where we spend most of our day. No matter whether it's a single
stanza
(
stahn
-tsah) (
room
) and a simple
scrivania
(scree-vah-
nee-
ah) (
desk
) between two
pareti
(pah-
reh
-tee) (
walls
), with few
sedie
(
seh
-dyeh) (
chairs
), Italians will furnish it to make it
un ambiente comodo
(oohn ahm-
byehn
-teh
koh
-moh-doh) (
a comfortable environment
) for
gli impiegati
(lyee eem-pyeh-
gah
-tee) (
employees
) and
attraente
(aht-trah-
ehn
-teh) (
attractive
) for
i clienti
(
clyehn
-tee) (
customers
).

Buildings, hangouts, and other key work areas

Open spaces are increasingly prevalent. They require more flexible solutions such as
panche
(
pahn
-keh) (
benches
),
tavoli condivisi
(
tah
-voh-lee kohn-dee-
vee
-see) (
shared desks
), and
zone relax
(
dzoh
-neh reh-
lahx
) (
relaxation areas
).

In times of frenetic activity,
la pausa caffé
(lah
pah
-ooh-sah cahf
-feh
) (
the coffee
break
) is very important. You can relax from
attività ripetitive
(aht-tee-vee-
tah
ree-peh-tee-
tee
-veh) (
repetitive tasks
) and deepen the relations with your
colleghi
(kohl-
leh
-ghee) (
coworkers
). Italians give great importance to the quality of personal relationships between colleagues.

Each business has a specific décor:
L'arredamento
(lahr-reh-dah-
mehn
-toh) (
furniture
) is chosen according to the services provided.
Uno studio medico
(
ooh
-noh
stooh
-dyoh
meh
-dee-koh) (
a doctor's office
), for example, needs a
lettino
(leht-
tee
-noh) (
a cot
) and
attrezzatura professionale
(aht-trehts-tsah-
tooh
-rah proh-fehs-syoh-
nah
-leh) (
professional equipment
).

Office equipment

Even the smallest offices today utilize a wide variety of equipment. Many of these technology words are the same in Italian as they are in English:
computer, fax,
and
e-mail
are used and pronounced as they are in English, and the Italian words for
photocopy
and
photocopier
are fairly intuitive —
fotocopia
(foh-toh-
koh
-pyah) and
fotocopiatrice
(foh-toh-koh-pyah-
tree
-cheh), respectively.

The following sentences can help you develop your Italian office vocabulary to a respectable level.

Posso usare la stampante, per favore?
(
pohs
-soh ooh-
zah
-reh lah stahm-
pahn
-teh, pehr fah-
voh
-reh?) (
May I use the printer, please?
)

Il lavoro non va bene.
(eel lah-
voh
-roh nohn vah
beh
-neh.) (
Work isn't going well.
)

Il fax è arrivato.
(eel
fahks
eh ahr-ree-
vah
-toh.) (
The fax arrived.
)

Quando ha spedito l'e-mail?
(
kwahn
-doh ah speh-
dee
-toh lee-
mail?
) (
When did you send the e-mail?
)

Keep your
cancelleria
(kahn-chel-
leh
-ree-ah) (
stationery
) well organized:
carta
(
kahr
-tah) (
paper
) inside
cassetti
(kahs-
seht
-tee) (
drawers
) and
schedari
(skeh-
dah
-ree) (
file cabinets
),
penne
(
pehn
-neh) (
pens
) and
matite
(mah-
tee
-teh) (
pencils
) in
porta penne
(
pohr
-tah
pehn
-neh) (
pencil holders
), and
forbici
(
fohr
-bee-chee) (
scissors
) and
spillatrice
(speel-lah-
tree
-cheh) (
stapler
)
always handy.

Talkin' the Talk

Mr. Miller, an American businessman, has been trying unsuccessfully to send his Italian associate, il signor Tosi, some important information.