Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

Unless you can find a job before leaving of course

Then its great! I have a much better quality of life here than in the UK for many, many reasons.

But, that was easier 5 years ago. If I wanted to find a job and move to Spain now I probably wouldnt have even bothered trying

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

you are not allowed to have a go at a Moderator - so I expect it will be my fault for following her lead
:(

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

I cannot understand all the negativity on BE Spain. There are jobs in Spain, some companies are having difficulty filling them. Oracle were having difficulty filling them because the Spanish werent able to speak English !! I have heard of one or two Spanish companies batting in the International field making the same comment.

There appear to be adverts in the Barcelona and Madrid parts of the country, positions varied, but usually requiring English.
However, Andalucia has the worst unemployment levels in the country, because of its reliance on seasonal tourism and seasonal agriculture.
But my local Ford dealer has the only fully operational paint booth for miles and it seems to be in use every day and the workshop always appears to be on overtime.

Yes it is difficult for those who cannot/willnot speak the local language beyond asking for a coffee and toast, but it used to be the same in the UK, people arriving without the basics of English. But some come with degrees and English language - surely the same as here.

So - to support yourself here in Spain you need to have a good income, much the same as the UK or better, one which you can bring with you or waiting for you when you arrive. You will initially need someone to help you in getting all those forms filled in and deposited with the correct authorities.

There are the rich who come here but many are retirees who just want an easy life in the sun. But even they will admit that many parts of Spain are Damned Freezing in the winter and the Winter Fuel Payment comes in handy.

Like moving to anywhere new, you need to do your research, then double and triple check it and don't rely on some of the distorted perceptions that sometimes pop up here on BE. It is your decision, your life, your future - yes we will welcome you with open arms and be sorry if you decide it isnt working, but its the same back in the UK, people come people go, but the world keeps spinning.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

I know Spanish professionals who speak 3 or 4 languages fluently, including English. A few even have MBAs -and with 10 years or more experience who have been made redundant in the past year or two - and are still searching for jobs in Barcelona

Maybe you can give them a tip to where all the jobs are ;)

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

Loads of IT jobs on Monster in Madrid and Barcelona.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

Well, employment law has recently changed for the better, and it's now a bit less expensive and less risky to hire, although there are more employer restrictions that need to be changed or eliminated to encourage further hiring.

Funny, if you look at Germany, with no minimum wage, limited benefits and no guaranteed employment, there sure seem to be a lot of jobs available there - with good salaries. German job market German Salaries

...and all this time I'd been led to believe that the only way to ensure the population remains gainfully employed was to regulate the labour market to death, and force employers to guarantee their employment.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

Sorry, yes I should have qualified that statement. I meant that in terms of the open job market it is no better anywhere else. If someone has already found a job then that is a different situation.
I also agree totally that life in another country can offer so much more than the UK can now.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

I don't think you have to look beyond the unemployment statistics to understand the negativity in terms of the original question. At 24.8% ( June 2012) Spain is way in front of every other country in the EU apart from Greece (22.5). The next on the list is Portugal at 15.4.
What you are saying about particular job opportunities that could be available may well be correct but when looking at the overall situation it isn't a surprise that people are not going to feel positive about the opportunities.
However, I am only answering specifically about the perception of those looking to earn a living i.e. I am not suggesting Spain isn't a very desirable place to live in terms of quality of life.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

The UK has always been a better bet for newcomers than Spain, loads of people from the West Indies and Europe could, and I suppose still can, find jobs as hospital clearners, dish washers, laundry assistants,porters, school cleaners, dinner ladies, home helps.

All these jobs require that you pass the oppositions, providing that the local authorities involved actually have a "convocatoria" for those type of vacancies in the first place.

I knew numerous Spanish women who arrived in England and within weeks had jobs cleaning in hospitals, which would be totally impossible to do in Spain.

So just by exculding those type of jobs for immigrants, surely it makes it harder to find employment in Spain than the UK.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

1. Many jobs on Monster dont actually exist
2. I dont know anyone at a professional or management level who would use Monster for look for a job. This site is more for unskilled or semi-skilled work

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

A good place for IT startup jobs is here - http://dir.betabeers.com/ [there are even job adverts appearing there for Germany, but it's mainly Spanish cities like Madrid and Barcelona]. Not for everyone of course, the target audience appears to be young geeks with Web skills. For example Teambox are looking for DevOps to work in Barcelona http://dir.betabeers.com/post/teambo...a-teambox-449/

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

One difference I have noticed between UK job and Spanish job adverts, is that the Spanish sites hardly ever put in the salary, and even on application will not give that info out, which is actually the most important thing to the applicant.

I have know people who have had to go through various tests and stages in the interview and when finally being told what the salary is, they reject the job, as in a lot of cases the salary is below what they were actually earning.

A waste of time for all concerned, they should advertise the salary along with the job description.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

Oh I have looked at the unemployment statistics - they make for horrendous reading.
But.....I get the feeling that Spain spins a different set of figures to the UK, who have all sorts of different "schemes" for people to enter - after they have been on the Unemployment Register for 6 months. It is only at that stage any "help" kicks in - when in fact it is the first 6m where the person is still willing, eager, ready to kick arse, to go out and get another job. After 6m they have become disillusioned, had too many irrational refusals for jobs they should be an immediate choice.
Then they get put on to "schemes", and are removed from the unemployment figures, that is why Income Support has blossomed and exploded whilst unemployment benefit hasn't. People are sent on Training Schemes with no chance of a job at the end of it - but they do get a certificate...

How can you have 25,000 people laid off but not one comes out on the Unemployment Register??.
The figures are FIXED, FUDGED, whatever you want to call it.

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

The UK second hand car market has prices on the windscreen, in Spain it just says Ocaision, no price.
Its how they do things (or not) in different countries.
With salary, as you say, everyone has wasted their time, especially when a candidate currently pulling €30k is offered another position at €20k, do the managers/owners honestly think they will get him to move for that big a difference - unless he actually isnt working at all ?!?

Re: How to support yourself in Spain?
 

I agree completely that the figures are not accurate. In the 70's I worked for the Department of Employment in the UK just at the time that "Job Centres" were being launched. Part of my job was to help compile the monthly statistics and present them to Management. If they didn't like them I was sent away and asked to come back with new numbers, which of course I did by crunching them differently.

There are number crunchers everywhere who can make things look as good as possible, and I would think that given the present economic problems is Spain they are working overtime to make their's look good. But they still come out worst by a very long way.