Not really. I'm just pointing out that those of us on here for a while see an awful lot of broken dreams, and a few success stories. We would be reckless if we said to everyone with a dream 'Come on in, the water's lovely'.

Instead we say, 'Be damn sure you know what you are doing.'

When jobs are scarce those who have drive, ability and luck will go far and will get work where so many will not.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I wrote a post on how I got my work but here's the basics.

1) I walked in academies and schools face to face. 5 days of e-mailing people got almost nothing, 1 day of walking into places got me my first job after an on the stop interview.

2) I was polite to everyone, tried to make friends everywhere, I spoke whatever Spanish I could, and I pursed everything no matter how slim. The second job I actually got, for a business school which pays a much better rate than the academy, was through a semi-referal from an interview I had with another school but didn't get the job for (It was teaching kids and I didn't have sufficient Spanish for it). Just mentioning that the business school had been recommended to me by one of their former employees was enough to scrape an interview, and then since I was already working at an academy and was handling it I think this helped overcome the lack of experience issue.

3) I dressed extremely smart at all times. My best suit and tie and looking 100% clean cut. In Spain you stand out a thousand miles dressed like this because it's quite rare, but it shows you are making the effort.

4) I emphasised my coaching experience and pride in the English from my work as a journalist and degree in Philosophy.

As it turns out - I could have done with some more experience and actually wish I'd taken a few hours here and there in the U.K giving some free lessons to Spanish uni-students or something because the initial 2 weeks were a massive challenge - as documented on the blog.

Re: financial challenges. I saved up a lot of money before I came, and actually I've only had to cut into about 2k of it, mainly to matriculate my car. But my income/lifestyle it looks like I'm sustainable now. Without that "safty net" things could have been a lot more stressful.

So, you played a blinder, maximising every asset you had, and you got a job.

You sure as hell deserved it, but then I would add that there's a lot of people out there that also deserve a job but either don't have your drive or your luck.

You said it , you have to really want it, people dont have this guys drive, I think alot of people just want a easy life, or a easier life at least when they move out to Spain. And if you dont enjoy what you do then it just becomes another hurdle.
I have always said the english crave disapointment,

Those 5 million unemployed spanish would be inspired reading these posts

Can you tell me how many million are in work please, give me a figure please,

"The number of registered unemployed in Spain rose for the second consecutive month and topped 4m in September as the tourist season drew to a close, the labour ministry said on Monday.

Spanish unemployment, at 20 per cent of the workforce, is already double the eurozone average."

http://news.kyero.com/2010/10/06/spa...top-4-million/

If 4m is 20% of the workforce then 16m is the other 80% ????

But that 4m is only the legal unemployed.

it might be an indication of the legal employed though?


it's a bit of a 'piece of string' point really!

A degree in philosophy will help you in any situation on life, although a degree in economy might make you richer.

Whatever degree you have, the situation in Spain is grim, much grimmer than the graduates in the UK who can’t find a job.

A recession turns things upside down, degrees become worthless or even a hindrance, plumbers are more qualified to survive in hard times, and thinkers are sidelined to thinking about what might have been, or should have been, while struggling on the dole.

I know that a thinker in Andalucia is a rare animal, but with unemployment at silly levels they’re going to become extinct.

Good for you saying that. At 26 and 27 the OPs are hardly kids to be reined in, are they? I finally "settled down" at the age of 33 having travelled, worked, taught and volunteered my way around many parts of the world. Now I am happy to be a homebody at last. If people feel the need, they should do it. And I'm sure my parents deep down wished I was more "normal" but secretly they are proud to tell their friends all about their "adventurous" daughter. Everyone always talks about how difficult it is but then supposedly there are no jobs in the UK either, right? If I've judged them right, people like the OPs make their own work, I know that for a fact. They don't get a job, they make themselves one.

Who used the word pioneer?

Settling down in an ex-pat enclave certainly isnt being adventurous, but tbh neither is backpacking around the world these days. Most backpackers go to the same locations as everyone else and only interact with other tourists and see what the tourist guides want them to see.

Moving to a new country is pioneering when you give up everything you've known and start again with a new set of rules whether that be in Spain, France, the US, China or central Africa.

Now that's an interesting take on it. There's nothing wrong with wanting an easy life, it comes to most of us in the end. You realise that you are never going to change anything, and people don't want to know anyway.

So you say, 'Scew 'em, I shall simply tend my own garden.'

As for the last line, that is very, very true. The English always seem to relish negativity (methinks it is due to the weather) we have heros who fail (look at Captain Scott) and even when we have a real hero like Canute or Alfred the great, we only remember them by failure, ie burning cakes, or up to his knees in the surf.

My point exactly when I asked if anyone had used the word pioneer in this thread. It's difficult to be a pioneer in this modern, everything's-been-discovered world! I certainly agree about the whole backpacking thing. The best way to really travel is to work, volunteer, go to unusual places, do what the locals do, even if it involves being out of your "comfort zone". But not everyone is that brave, so each person's trip can be considered their own personal adventure.