Being a technical author on Continental Europe: what’s it like: culturally fulfilling, culturally difficult, even lonely or just different?

One could have the view that it is like a Continental breakfast. To the undiscerning palate, the Continental breakfast might be lacking: tasteless, cold, sparse; whereas the English breakfast is gratifying: filling, warm, a ‘home’ meal. In the same way, it is true that jobs here are sparse for English-speaking technical authors simply because there are less English-speaking jobs available in multi-lingual Europe. But that is not to say that there are no jobs at all. And so too is the atmosphere for foreigners more cold and challenging than when one lives in one’s homeland among one’s traditions. But that is not to say that there is not sincere warmth here also.

The UK is on an island, and physically cut off from its own European neighbours. (The UK even works hard to cut its own self off under the guise of nationalism.) And it is for these reasons that Brits need to make that extra effort not only to visit European countries, but to live and work in these countries that freely border one another and whose people move and mix. Living on the Continent is all about expanding horizons. And one thing is sure about my life and my European experience:

If I hadn’t moved outside my home country, I would not have experienced 7/8ths of what I’ve experienced in life. It’s made my mind more open, sensitive and deep. And because of that depth, I actually ‘feel’ more from life. And yes, I certainly believe I’m a better writer because of it too!

But enough about life. What about technical writing in particular? Of course, the most prominent technical writing topics that spring to mind are localisation and translation. And seeing as Continental European writers live everyday ‘sans frontiers’, suffice it to say that we do them better over here. Anyone seriously interested in localisation and translation needs to have lived in more than one country. And why not? It’s culturally broadening!

But what about the rest of you: all you mainstream technical authors, editors, contractors, documentation managers? How can you get over to Continental Europe?
By far the easiest route to the Continent is through permanent employment. The relocation to Continental Europe might even come with the job. But even if it doesn’t, the safety of the employee-cocoon can handle your English-speaking 8AM-6PM work day and even your pre-fab-employee-cocoon-style social life. Through the employee-cocoon, foreign differences are kept at a distance until you can adapt to Continental living. The only mistake which many make is to keep the comfortable, but restricted employee-cocoon as their artificial Continental environment.

So your horizons, and thus your Continental experience are linked to exposure. In fact, exposure is the key to experiencing all of life. Which leads us to looking at the exposed route, the ‘naked’ route for a technical author: contracting, my main line of work, and the route that took me over here.

I can envisage a young author now: 1-2 years of experience, and out of a job or ready to move to that new exciting opportunity. Can you see them too? Maybe you are that person? They troll through JobServe, and are dazzled by the Continental European contracts: Sophie Antipolis, The Hague, Paris, Pisa. A temporary taste of the exotic. It’s so deceivingly easy.

So what’s the reality about contracting on the Continent? The reality goes back to the exposure: stripped bare nudity. You have only yourself to rely on. And often you tackle issues naked, naked of knowing the social context and language. Language, logistics and tax are certainly the biggest issues for Continent-to-be workers, but first let’s talk about agents. This is what happened to me: agents didn’t help me. They gush with promises and so will their websites, but for me, they were a hinder. Whether they take 25% of your contract and insist that they bear huge costs despite never stepping foot on the Continent, or whether they screw up your contract terms and cost you hundreds of euros in legal fees, or whether they simply lose contracts when you’re the favoured candidate by not knowing cross-border EU trading laws, at the end of the day, Continental contracting adds an extra layer of complexity that dumbfounds agents, but you still have to succeed and move forward despite their incompetences. Yes, the truth is that many obstacles have crossed my path over the years, and these aforementioned things I’ve experienced in just the past year! I’d love to turn to a discussion group to talk about this, but technical writing is too small a community. So instead, I turn to my technical writing friends (who’ve had many similar experiences with agents.) My aim is that in mentioning some of these difficulties, the razzle-dazzle about European contracting will be dimmed to proportion. Protect the passion, but dim the dazzle!

And what other practical information can I tell you about Continental contracting:

1. Money can be transferred between European countries without charge for movements of under 12,000 euros.
2. The country where your company exists is where you pay corporate tax.
3. The country where you’re an employee is where you pay income tax and social security. But if you contract outside your country for more than six months, you pay your personal taxes to the country where you work. The exception is if you return home every weekend and are considered a ‘frontier worker’.
4. If you make a mistake in your taxes and make a payment to the wrong country, you can reclaim the money within three years. After three years, the money is lost. It cannot be reclaimed, and you are still liable for the taxation in the rightful country.
5. VAT incurred in foreign countries is reclaimed from the foreign countries.
6. Your company probably needs a licence to trade in a foreign country.
7. Tax inspectors usually can not speak English. Nor are they always friendly.
8. And to answer one of the biggest questions: is there enough English-language work to sustain a contract technical author in a Continental city for any period of time? Not in my experience. Perhaps in a mega city. But you can certainly sustain work if you’re willing to move around Continental Europe, which is what many contract authors do.
9. Continental red tape is meters longer than UK red tape.
10. Apartment prices in medium and large European cities can compare to London big-city prices, especially for leases of less than the standard three years.
11. Continental fresh coriander has no taste compared to UK fresh coriander.

All these tax and legal complexities makes a UK contractor’s IR35 belly-aching look like a child’s whining, don’t they? I submit corporate taxes in three countries, personal taxes in two countries, VAT returns in two countries. And most returns are in foreign languages. In your case, if you contract on Continental Europe for any length of time, these are realities for you too.

All these complex details, and I haven’t even talked about schools, food, quality of life, friends, medical care, loneliness and home-sickness. (But I will say that English language schools are either prohibitively expensive or have mile-long waiting lists. Many families instead place their children in local schools. I don’t know if this is good, bad or just an interesting journey, but it is a serious decision.)

But it’s time to close, and the most important message in this article remains the same at the end as was stated at the beginning:

If I hadn’t moved outside my home country, I would not have experienced 7/8ths of what I’ve experienced in life. It’s made my mind more open, sensitive and deep. And because of that depth, I actually ‘feel’ more from life. And yes, I certainly feel I’m a better writer because of it too!

Take the Continental step, and do it in a prepared way so that the journey is pleasant. Stepping out is what life is all about! Learn to savour the Continental breakfast!