Lisacor

Hi,

My name is Lisa, I am looking for work in Spain and i noticed that there are few sites to look through. I was wondering if anyone knew of any sites that I could look through. My husband and I are currently looking to move to spain. We have no date as of yet, however it has always been an idea. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Thanks,

pete_l

Lisa,
you'll find many threads here and on other expat forums about working in Spain. I'd suggest you have a look through them. The summary is that providing you can speak spanish quite well, then finding a job will only be very difficult. If you don't speak spanish then it's considerably harder. The best places to find jobs are in the big cities: Madrid, Barcelona etc.
If you want to live on the coast, then most work will be

• seasonal - only available during the tourist season
• unskilled - serving drinks, waitering/waitressing, picking vegetables etc.
• low paid - there is a great deal of supply (people wantingthese jobs) and very little demand (not many of them), so there's no reason for employers to pay high wages
• casual - you could get fired tomorrow, or worse: the business goes bust (or the owner does a runner) and you don't get paid at all

none of which would support a life of sun, sea and sangria to which you might aspire.
It's very expensive to employ staff in Spain. The equivalent of National Insurance contributions is about €3000 per employee per year, before you start giving them wages. Plus, in Spain a lot of jobs never get advertised - they go to family members, friends, contacts or someone who knows someone. So if you're hoping to find a website that will advertise lots of jobs, which you'll be qualified for you'll probably be disappointed. Spain is different fromt he UK - and of course, all the application forms and interviews will be conducted in spanish.

Madridboy

As gloomy as that sounds it pretty much does sum things up over here. There is one othe option though, becaome self employed and spend a fortune trying to make a living and end up just scraping by if you´re lucky.

fionamw

I'm sure you will also see other posts saying there's always work to be found or business to be made/had if you are determined, and no doubt for some that's proved to be true. Just one point the others hadn't said earlier is that if you decide to come, make sure you either keep hold of your income stream in the UK, or have a mega buffer in the bank (two years worth of your current UK outgoings at least).
And rent first, don't buy.
But good luck. Let's hope you have a success story to tell in a couple of years.

Michael74

I think I would echo the advice of others in saying be very careful about thnking of coming to Spain and making a viable living. The "recession" has hit Spain very severly and there is a very high rate of unemployment and that is for presumably those who speak fluent Spanish. I wouldn't know what percentage of unemployed are English. However one has only to look around at the unfinished and unsold properties here to realise that Spain is no longer the haven in the sun.

My wife and I have between us good pensions but we have found that we are now getting far less euros to the pound than we did two years ago, hence our cost of living has risen. Also (I stand to be corrected on this) that supermarket prices are the equivalent of or more than the UK.

Sorry to be killjoy, but there are many cases of Brits going back to the UK because they are now unable to make a living doing casual labour. You only have to look in the local papers to see ads for Bob the builder, Joe the plumber and Fred the electrician all looking for work.

Have'nt mentioned the health care you would be entitled to which is a very serious consideration for you depending on your age.

cricketman

infojobs.es is the big jobs website in Spain.

Of course you will need to speak fluent Spanish for almost all of these. If you don't, then I know people who network a lot through the expat bars and things.

What are your skills? If you can do casual manual work you're looking at maybe 50 euros a day if you can find people to do the work for.

manamama

There is a fair chance if you speak Spanish fluently....

My opinion is that Madrid offers the best opportunities in Spain. There is work for those with a TEFL who can teach English or work in one of the multi-nationals mainly in IT.

Going to the costas and competing with other Brits for scraps of work, will fail.

It seems that there are Brits here because

1) they have a web-based income
2) husband works in the UK and commutes
3) they work in Gibraltar and cross the border from Spain every day (IT or accountancy or call-centre work in other european languages).
4) they teach English in Madrid or Barcelona
5) they work in a multi-national and have been re-located
6) they speak perfect Spanish and English



If you can do one of the above, you'll have better odds.

onlineamiga

Ive managed to be very lucky and have fit into number 3 on that list.

I work in Gibraltar and cross the border every day. Doing IT Support work. Ive got a lot of friends that do that too. My salary has taken a dip due to the £ to € rate. But I regard myself as very very lucky that I'm able to stay around. Theres so many had to go back, and I think I got here in 2007 just in time.

In a way it sucks having to work in Gibraltar. I dont feel like I'm living in Spain anymore. No siestas here, and seem to spend weeks at a time under a levante cloud. Byt the time ive commuted back to spain. Its 7pm and im pretty tired. The lifestyle im leading now, is very close to what I was in the UK. Queues of traffic trying to get out of the border, long commutes 9 - 5 office life.

Still Im happy as larry and couldnt go back to the UK now. Things are great!

Madridboy

I fall into number 7 in that list and it took me a year to find work.

ShinyAndy

I'm a 7 and certainly not fighting for scraps and haven't failed

3 is definitely true though, I get offered a support role everytime I go to Gibraltar.. I just couldn't handle the commute, I came here to get away from all that!

lynnxa

I can't see a number 7

Madridboy

lol, there never was one......just other categories we fall into.

lynnxa

I thought I was going doolally there for a minute

Jur

I´m in 6 (+ Dutch and German) and have had 4 different jobs (selling advertising space, excursions sales, bartender & taxidriver) in the last year, About to go self-employed again.... (leap of faith)