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OUR STORY

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CV&Coffee is a career advice, training and recruitment agency established in 2012 to assist Italian speaking professional candidates and British companies; we help Italian speaking candidates find job opportunities in London and in the UK and British companies select Italian speaking qualified personnel.

We assist Italian professionals dealing with the challenges posed by the UK job market, providing an in-depth knowledge and a pathway to success. Through the writing of a CV and cover letter, the preparation of a job interview and much more, we teach our clients how to highlight their skills and achievements in order to be competitive and successful in finding the job they desire. We meet our clients in informal and friendly environments, such as coffee shops, where we hold customised one-to-one meetings.

We have assisted, through individual and group consultations, thousands of students, new graduates and professional Italians. With our help, they have learnt how to recognise their value and talent, finally obtaining their desired and deserved job.

Starting from our vast database of candidates, and as a natural evolution of the CV&Coffee project, in 2015, we have launched our recruitment agency in order to offer UK companies qualified and talented personnel. Our agency is the only one in the UK specialising in the selection of Italian speaking candidates. We cover multiple industries and offer our recruitment services for temporary and permanent positions.

Who we work with:

  • Junior, middle management and executive job seekers wishing to maximise their chance of finding a job
  • Italian training/educational institutions (public or private) for the purposes of workshops, seminars and learning activities aimed to students and researchers
  • Associations, organisations and universities working in the area of European programmes
  • UK companies looking for Italian speaking qualified personnel

Our values:

  • Commitment: We work with the maximum dedication and commitment towards everysingle client, by making sure that each of you receives the highest level of attention to achieve your objectives. Whether you are an individual looking for work or a company looking to fill a vacancy, our commitment and enthusiasm ensure we can assist you in meeting your objectives.
  • Quality and Excellence: Our experienced career advisors have many years of experience in the HR, career advice and recruitment fields.
  • Honesty and Integrity: These values are constantly confirmed and recognised by our clients. Teresa Pastena, Founder of the company, has worked for many years in the non-for-profit industry and her values of transparency, honesty and accountability are reflected in the entire CV&Coffee project and its staff.
  • Passion: Our work is first of all a true passion and this is key to our success.
  • Excellent customer service: A new client represents an opportunity to show what we are good at. Offering the maximum support provides us with the chance of gaining referrals: over 60% of our clients base reaches us through word of mouth.

If you wish to send us your feedback or share any ideas, we would very much appreciate your contribution to improve our services. Send an e-mail to info@cvandcoffee.com

Do you want to work in our team? All open vacancies, if available, are published on our website.

The Founder

Hi! I am Teresa Pastena, Founder of CV&Coffee. The idea of setting up a career advice for professional Italians was born from my personal and professional experiences. I would have found it very useful to have received the same career guidance and advice I am able to offer you now, when I moved to the UK many years ago.

I have always been in love with London and since my first school trip in ‘96, I felt I belonged to this city. When I moved to London permanently, I thought it was going to be easy to find a job. I had a first class Master’s Degree, an internship experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some freelance collaborations with Italian universities and other work and study experience abroad. Despite all this, I had to start from scratch with voluntary and internship work and jobs I hadn’t planned to do before my arrival. Most of all, I had to learn to believe in myself and in my skills: London is very competitive, especially when you come from a country where thinking in terms of achievements and expertise is not usually taught. I knew I had the skills, but I didn’t know how to communicate them in a powerful way to impress recruiters and employers. It was only when I finally understood how the job market worked that I became competitive and secured a position I wanted.

In 2010, when I finally got a contract with a large French NGO in London as an Events & Fundraising Manager, I started recruiting interns and volunteers that could help me with the organisation of events. It was then I realised how very little knowledge or information there was available about preparing good CVs and covering letters. I received, on a weekly basis, many CVs from all over Europe, all with a common denominator, the European format (Europass) which is not a recognised format in the UK.

Based on my personal and professional experiences, I decided to set up CV&Coffee, a project in which I am passionate about and whose aim is mainly educational; teaching professional Italian candidates how to sell themselves, show off their skills and compete in the UK market. I know we do have fantastic skills, we just don’t know how to sell ourselves or create a brand identity.

Why the coffee shops? Because I like the idea of offering a friendly and alternative approach yet remaining professional. I am Italian and coffee is one of the Italian symbols and you can’t start your day without drinking an espresso…in the same way, people can’t start their job hunting without first sipping a coffee… it all begins from there!

In 2015, we decided to launch our recruitment agency to offer an additional service to job seekers but also to UK companies. Our objective is to become the recruitment agency in London and the UK for the selection of candidates who speak fluent Italian and possess excellent technical skills. We also want to dispel the myth that recruiters only work towards the achievement of personal financial goals. Our ethical approach and professionalism demonstrated so far, will be continued in this new project.

Welcome to the CV&Coffee website, enjoy!

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” – Colin Powell

© 2015 CV&Coffee Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Company No. 8875188 A website by Warm&Fuzzy