International student in Italy struggling to break into the tech job market what am I doing wrong?

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student from India currently living and studying in Italy. I’m doing a Master’s in Engineering Management, and before moving to Italy I worked for 3+ years in India at a consulting company in a DevOps/software role.

I came to Italy with the idea of taking a leap in my career. I wanted to move beyond pure technical development and eventually work in roles such as Tech Lead, Business Analyst, IT/Technology Consultant, or similar tech-business roles.

But now that I’m actually in the Italian job market, reality has hit me pretty hard.

I’m not getting interviews. Not for full-time positions, and I’m struggling even to get internship opportunities. I have applied to quite a few positions, but I’m getting very little response.

My Italian is around B1. I can communicate in Italian, although I’m obviously much more comfortable in English. I’m actively trying to improve my Italian, but I really want to enter the tech workforce as soon as possible — even if that means starting again in a more technical position similar to what I did before.

The frustrating part is that I have relevant professional experience, but I’m still finding it difficult to understand what exactly is preventing me from getting interviews.

I’ve even started delaying my graduation because part of me is thinking that I should secure a job first and then graduate, rather than graduate and potentially have an even harder time finding something.

So I wanted to ask people who have experience with the Italian/European job market:

* Am I targeting the wrong positions?

* Is B1 Italian simply not enough for tech/business roles?

* Should I focus on getting back into DevOps/software/IT first rather than trying to transition into Business Analyst/Tech Consulting?

* Is my Engineering Management degree making my profile look too broad?

* How important is networking/referrals compared with simply applying online?

* Are there particular companies, cities, recruitment agencies, or job portals I should be targeting?

* And for other non-EU graduates: how realistic is it to get visa/work sponsorship in Italy or elsewhere in Europe?

I’m also completely open to relocating to another European country if there are significantly better opportunities for someone with my background. But I’m unsure how difficult it is to get sponsorship when applying from Italy as a non-EU citizen.

At this point I’m mainly looking for honest advice from people who have actually gone through this.

What would you do if you were in my position?

I’d really appreciate any advice, criticism of my approach, or suggestions for countries/roles I should target.

Thanks!

Edit: I’m not expecting a senior/managerial position immediately. I’m completely open to taking a junior/mid-level technical or business-technology role if that gets me back into the industry.