Working in Portugal - Recruitment

The recruitment of labour through temporary employment companies is commonplace. The hiring of temporary labour involves a triangular structure marked by the existence of two distinct contractual relationships, leading to a development in the position of the employer, i.e. the temporary employment company takes on, pays and exercises disciplinary authority over workers, while the user company incorporates into its organisation and benefits from work provided by a temporary worker with whom it does not have an employment relationship, although it does exercise management authority.

Private recruitment and selection agencies are also very widely used by companies to recruit personnel, particularly specialists and executives. These agencies may be responsible for the entire recruitment process, from publishing the advertisement to testing and selecting candidates. Companies themselves sometimes publish the advertisement, but the private recruitment and selection agency carries out the candidate recruitment and selection tests.

Enterprises do not yet make great use of job fairs to recruit labour. There has been an increase in a certain number of annual events run by student associations, particularly by placement and career opportunities offices in universities, some of which have Unidades de Inserção na Vida Activa (UNIVAS) [institutions to promote integration into working life], which can help recent graduates to find work.

Graduates are often recruited by means of informal contacts between employers and higher education institutions, a phenomenon that makes it more difficult for foreign students to find work.

Newspaper advertisements are an important resource for jobseekers. The weekly Expresso is the most important newspaper for job advertisements. It is published on Saturdays and mainly contains advertisements for specialist and executive vacancies. Its employment supplement, Expresso Emprego, has around 20 pages of high-quality jobs and can be consulted online.

Of the daily newspapers, Diário de Notícias has the largest number of job vacancies, particularly in the Sunday edition. The most popular paper, however, is Correio da Manhã, which is widely read in the south of the country and which also has job advertisements, particularly for skilled and unskilled service sector personnel. Jornal de Noticias mainly has advertisements for jobs in Oporto and the north of Portugal.

Regional daily newspapers can be used to find vacancies for skilled and unskilled personnel.

It may be useful to read the monthly magazine Exame, which contains information on business and employers.

Unsolicited applications are very common and are often successful. Recent graduates are advised to send unsolicited letters of application to potential employers. It is sufficient to send a covering letter and a CV, and applicants can opt to send a photograph to the employer of their choice. It should be noted that Portuguese employers essentially value professional experience, followed by practical training.

Personal contacts are important for finding work in Portugal. Informal personal information and references are very useful and play an important role in application and selection procedures. It should be borne in mind that personal contacts are an effective method of finding work and that it is difficult to obtain information on employers.

Informal methods of recruitment are common in Portugal, particularly in the case of poorly qualified labour. This generally reflects the dominance of small companies. Foreign nationals may initially find it difficult to establish personal contacts, but it would be of considerable help to do so, and the initiative shown is a recommendation in itself.

It should be borne in mind that graduates in Portugal are expected to have a university degree relevant to the work to be carried out. There is a tradition of accepting a certain type of social sciences subjects for managerial posts, but most employers require graduates with degrees in economics, management and possibly law, or degrees in sciences, engineering or more technical subjects.

Text last edited on: 12/2004

Source: European Union
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