warrior3

Hi, my name is Guy.

Myself and my girlfriend are thinking of a possible move to Spain in a year or twos time. We are taking Spanish lessons at present so we can get to grips with the language. I have a couple of questions and would be grateful for some advice and guidance. We visit a place called Alcalali regularly, which is approximately 1 hr north of Alicante. Our holidays there have made us fall in love with the Spanish way of living - although we appreciate that village life will be totally different to a bustling city!

Firstly, can anyone recommend areas in or around Alicante we could visit next year in order to get a good feel of the place generally, with a view to live and work. Probably not too far out from Alicante as we suspect there will be more work opportunites in the main town.

Seondly, apart from seasonal work, can anyone give advice on what job opportunities or career paths are best to take in order to gain employment in the Alicante area.

Can anyone help us out please?

Regards

Guy

steviedeluxe

It may help to do a search of this forum first. There was a poster (Spainboy?) last week stating he couldn't get anyone to help him in Benidorm! On the other hand it's difficult to find work outside of the IT area and teaching English. Alicante may not be the best place to find this type of work, but others here may be able to confirm or refute this...

JLFS

Hi Guy,

Instead of trying something new, wouldnt it be better to look for work in the job you already have? It may be easier to start from that point of view.

Good luck,

JLFS

pete_l

The single biggest thing you can do to make yourself employable is to speak and write very good spanish. The next best thing, once you are well practiced in spanish is to live somewhere that has a lot of people (ie a city). People means job opportunities - which you won't find in the countryside. The bigger the city, the greater the possibility that someone will need your skills.
Just like in Britain, there's very little work to be had in the countryside - think Dartmoor or Cumbria: not much call for office skills there

jojojojojojojojojojojojo

There are very few jobs anywhere in Spain, you'll be up against 17% unemployment and all the nationals who are even more desperate than you'll be!! But you should come over and do a fact finding trip, try really hard to remove the "holiday" side of Spain when you do, cos living here is nothing at all like that holiday feeling.

Jo xxx

warren d

Wasn't that a job in entertainment?

Fred James

Unless you speak Spanish like a native and have a very desirable qualification (Brain Surgeon perhaps) then there is almost no chance of a job.

Spain has the highest unemployment rate (approaching 20%) in the EU and it is getting worse by the day.

Even if you do find work the pay is abysmal by UK standards - if you earn more than €1000 a month you are considered to be way above average.

The minimum wage is one of the lowest in the EU - assuming you are lucky enough to actually get a contract of employment.

Sorry if that seems negative but it is the true situation in Spain today.

JLFS

I even tried to help him out by putting my missus forward for the job.

I thought it was to be on a spinning wheel having sharp objects thrown at her whilst the thrower was blindfolded.

She has never done anything like this before, but she is a quick learner and is very flexible.......

Get in touch Spainboy

warren d

HBG

It always makes me smile when I see an advertisement in the Personal section of the local newspaper where girls from Eastern Europe advertise their services.

Their address is: Punta Prima roundabout.

And I know it’s the right address, I’ve seen them there.

steviedeluxe

If you look at a website like infojobs.net and put in search word "English" or "Ingles" you should be able to see what types of jobs are available. You'll be up against strong competition in most cases, but you can at least see where there are vacancies you can apply for.

Makingthemove

http://ec.europa.eu/eures/main.jsp?a...490&parentId=0

The EU funds advisors in lots of Spanish cities specifically to help people to work in different EU countries. This is a link to their website.

I have not been in touch with them yet, but we are planning a factfinding trip to the Valencia region next June, and will be aiming to fit in a meeting with a EURES advisor.

Good luck

mikelincs

It actually says, Punta Prima roundabout, main road to the beach, and AFAIK, there are several apartments there that seem to be 'open house'. We did live not far from there....