Gaspare Marulli, Industrial mechanic

My story

When Gaspare Marulli arrived in Hamburg in 2012, Germany was not a foreign country to him. “My wife is German and she lived here, so I already knew Germany from visiting,” explains the Italian. Because it would have been difficult for his wife to find work in Italy, and due to the deteriorating economic situation in his home country, the couple decided to move their lives to Germany—and Gaspare Marulli took the risk of making a fresh start here.

Having completed the three-month integration course and with his German having improved as a result, the 36 year-old wasn't searching for work for long. “I applied and immediately found a position as an industrial mechanic. I am actually still working with this company. Here we produce netted casings, spice casings and spice foils for the food processing industry”. He is employed in production and, for example, maintains the machines. “I was lucky that my employer at the time put greater emphasis on my ability than on my language skills,” explains the Italian.

The occupation of “industrial mechanic” is not regulated in Germany. The decision to employ a worker on equal terms without the official recognition rests, as is appropriate, with the employer. However, in order to be able to present an official qualification to any future employer Gaspare Marulli nevertheless made an application for recognition. “Despite this, I definitely wanted the recognition to give me security. In Italy, the training is not as specialised as it is in Germany. Fortunately, however the vocational experience is also taken into account in the recognition procedure —this meant I didn't have to participate in any further measures and immediately received full recognition as an industrial mechanic,” explains Gaspare Marulli, who had already been working in his profession for more than 10 years at home in Italy.

The Italian received expert support and advice from the Hamburg Deaconry—the central recognition contact point [Zentrale Anlaufstelle Anerkennung (ZAA)]—and from the recognition counselling service at the Hamburg Chamber of Crafts and Trades: “Even though they were not at all the right places for making the application,” laughs Marulli. When the actual competent authority was identified, the IHK FOSA, it was then all about getting together the documents: “I had to ask for all the documents from Italy and have them translated. It was a bit tricky.” Following successful recognition Gaspare Marulli was promoted to foreman. “My boss was very satisfied with my work. The recognition means that I am now officially appointed on equal terms with everyone else.”

The conversation with Gaspare Marulli took place in January 2014.

My procedure in brief