There is no single best place to find work in Portugal. The strongest search combines the public employment service, several commercial job boards, recruitment and temporary-work agencies, direct applications, company career pages and personal/local networks. Different channels are much stronger in different sectors, so do not search only LinkedIn and conclude there are no jobs.

1. Start with IEFP: Portugal’s public employment service

IEFPonline is the national public employment portal. You can search vacancies, submit a CV and also find internships and training. IEFP also operates physical employment centres (centros de emprego), provides job-search support and links to employment incentives, EURES and opportunities for non-residents. The government’s official job-search service page explains how to apply through IEFPonline or a centre.

Registering with IEFP can be useful even when you also search privately: a local centre can help with vacancies, training and employability programmes. Search the live database rather than relying on screenshots or old lists because vacancies change constantly.

2. Search several Portuguese job boards

  • Net-Empregos — a long-running general Portuguese vacancy board.
  • SAPO Emprego — general vacancies and employment content.
  • Indeed Portugal — broad search and employer listings.
  • LinkedIn Jobs — particularly useful for professional, international, technology, sales and corporate roles.
  • OLX Emprego — a real and substantial Portuguese jobs section, particularly useful for locally recruited work such as hospitality, construction, transport/logistics, repairs, retail, cleaning, health/beauty and other services.

Use Portuguese search terms as well as English ones: emprego, oferta de emprego, vaga, the Portuguese job title and the municipality/district. In smaller places, searching the nearest larger town can reveal jobs that still cover your area.

3. Use recruitment agencies

Recruiters can be valuable because some employers outsource candidate sourcing instead of advertising every vacancy themselves. Large operators with Portuguese recruitment activity include Randstad Portugal, Adecco Portugal, ManpowerGroup Portugal, Hays Portugal and Michael Page Portugal. Specialist recruiters may be stronger for a particular profession, language or seniority.

Do not send one application and wait. Register with several relevant agencies, upload an up-to-date CV, apply to suitable vacancies and respond quickly when a recruiter calls. A legitimate recruiter normally earns its fee from the hiring employer; be very cautious if someone demands money from you merely to obtain a normal job interview.

4. Temporary-work agencies can get you working quickly

An Empresa de Trabalho Temporário (ETT) recruits and employs workers who are temporarily assigned to client companies. This is different from a recruiter that merely introduces you to a permanent employer. ETT work can be especially relevant for logistics, factories, hospitality, retail, call centres, agriculture, seasonal peaks and short-notice cover.

Temporary-work companies are licensed and supervised through IEFP. Before relying on an unfamiliar agency, check the live IEFP National Register of Temporary-Work Companies. Guide #47 goes much deeper into recruitment and temporary-work agencies.

5. Public-sector jobs: use BEP

If you want to work for a Câmara, university, government body or other public entity, search the official Bolsa de Emprego Público (BEP). It publishes public-sector recruitment procedures and lets you filter vacancies by region, municipality, career, qualification and other criteria. Public recruitment often follows formal application rules and deadlines, so read the notice rather than sending a generic CV.

6. Go directly to employers

Make a list of employers in your target area and visit their careers pages. Supermarkets, hotel groups, factories, logistics companies, banks, technology companies, hospitals and large retailers often recruit through their own systems. If there is no advertised vacancy, a concise speculative application (candidatura espontânea) can still be worthwhile where the employer accepts one.

For smaller local businesses, the process can be much less formal. Restaurants, cafés, hotels, shops, workshops, farms and construction businesses may advertise in a window, on Facebook, through OLX, or simply ask existing workers whether they know somebody. In these sectors, politely visiting with a short CV can still work, especially outside the largest cities.

7. Network: many jobs never reach a major board

Tell people clearly what work you are looking for. Ask former colleagues, neighbours, Portuguese-language classmates, local associations and professional contacts. Join relevant local and professional Facebook/LinkedIn groups, but treat social-media adverts as leads to verify, not proof that an employer is genuine.

8. Search by sector, not just by job title

Tourism and hospitality employers may recruit heavily before busy periods; agriculture can be seasonal; international customer-service centres often recruit by language; technology employers may advertise in English; construction and trades can recruit through agencies and local networks; universities and research organisations frequently use their own vacancy pages. Identify the hiring rhythm and normal recruitment channel for your sector.

9. If you do not speak much Portuguese

Search for roles using your other languages as an asset: customer support, shared-service centres, tourism, sales, technology and international companies can have positions where English or another language is central. But do not assume Portugal is an English-language labour market. For many customer-facing, administrative, healthcare, education, trades and local-business jobs, Portuguese substantially expands your options.

10. Job-search scams: never pay to be hired

  • Be suspicious of an employer or recruiter demanding an upfront payment for a normal vacancy, interview, work permit or equipment.
  • Verify the company independently and check that email domains and telephone numbers make sense.
  • Do not send passport scans, bank credentials or extensive identity documents to an unverified social-media/OLX contact merely because they promise a job.
  • Do not let someone use your bank account to receive or forward money.
  • Ask for the employer’s identity, job location, duties, hours, gross pay and contract type.
  • If using an ETT, verify it in the IEFP register.
  • If the offer involves immigration promises, separately verify your right-to-work/residence position with the competent Portuguese authorities.

A practical weekly search routine

  1. Search IEFPonline and save relevant vacancies.
  2. Search Net-Empregos, SAPO Emprego, Indeed, LinkedIn and OLX Emprego using several Portuguese job-title variants.
  3. Check the career pages of 10–20 target employers.
  4. Check BEP if public-sector work is relevant.
  5. Register with several appropriate recruitment/temporary-work agencies.
  6. Send a few well-targeted applications rather than dozens of identical ones.
  7. Follow up where appropriate and keep a simple application tracker.
  8. Spend part of the week networking or approaching local employers directly.
  9. Review what produces interviews and change your search terms/CV accordingly.

Useful links

Last verified: 2 October 2026. Vacancy volumes and individual job adverts change continuously; use the linked live portals for current opportunities.

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