The skinny
I want to move to Europe for at least a year or two to live and work. Since I'm an IT specialist (web developer, project manager, etc.) I may be able to use that avenue, or perhaps teach english... but I'd be a waiter or streetsweeper if needed.
I'm not a citizen of an EU or Commonwealth nation, so it's going to be more difficult than say, Adam. That lucky bastard could probably move to Paris or Amsterdam tomorrow.
First, I'll collect some urls with resources to the permits and paperwork required:
http://www.workpermit.com/index.html -- lots of good info and they offer free consultations to IT workers
http://www.dwiglobal.com/assessment.html -- another place with information and a free assessment offering
http://www.expatica.com/main.asp?pad=32,33,&item_id=24574 -- recent changes in Dutch labor law and lots of more good content in the right nav
Then, I'll try to find some actual jobs:
http://international.monster.com -- best source of leads for IT jobs I've found so far.
http://www.netherlandsembassy.sk/consulate/c_aupair.htm -- I've never heard of an au pair before but it looks like a good way to get into a foriegn country. However it would probably be better if I was single... Ooops, you can't be over 25 to be an au pair. But for others this looks like a really cool way to visit a foreign country.
It's very early in my research, but I'm already discouraged by how hard it would be to get a work permit via a sponsoring company. The other alternative is self-employment... my two best options are building up my hosting/consulting biz cascadehosting.com to the point where I can live off it, and FreelanceWriting, which a friend of mine is helping me explore.