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Moving to Spain

Moving to Spain

Old Aug 10th 2009, 12:19 pm
  #1  
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Default Moving to Spain

Hi all

My girlfriend and I are moving to Spain at the end of the month. We haven't decided yet where we plan to live but are flying into Barcelona and will go where the work is. My question is about work available there at the moment. I'm sure its bad there as everywhere, however we do have some experience in teaching English and were thinking this was our best bet. Is is difficult to get a teaching job in September? I'm aware that is the time of year schools start hiring, however is it very competitive? Also, I have seen quite a few sales jobs for native English speakers in Barcelona in particular but a lot of these jobs on site such as xpatjobs.com and infojobs.net have been there for quite a while, would these jobs be genuine? Are there sales jobs available for English speakers with no Spanish?

Thanks for your help

Mal
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 12:31 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

Originally Posted by mal500
Hi all



Also, I have seen quite a few sales jobs for native English speakers in Barcelona in particular but a lot of these jobs on site such as xpatjobs.com and infojobs.net have been there for quite a while, would these jobs be genuine? Are there sales jobs available for English speakers with no Spanish?
l
AFAIK a law was passed recently in Catalonia stating that all sales people have to speak in Catalan to the customers.
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 12:35 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

Originally Posted by mal500
Hi all

My girlfriend and I are moving to Spain at the end of the month. We haven't decided yet where we plan to live but are flying into Barcelona and will go where the work is. My question is about work available there at the moment. I'm sure its bad there as everywhere, however we do have some experience in teaching English and were thinking this was our best bet. Is is difficult to get a teaching job in September? I'm aware that is the time of year schools start hiring, however is it very competitive? Also, I have seen quite a few sales jobs for native English speakers in Barcelona in particular but a lot of these jobs on site such as xpatjobs.com and infojobs.net have been there for quite a while, would these jobs be genuine? Are there sales jobs available for English speakers with no Spanish?

Thanks for your help

Mal
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 12:41 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

Originally Posted by whitelinen
AFAIK a law was passed recently in Catalonia stating that all sales people have to speak in Catalan to the customers.
I thought the law was "all customer facing" people, so you can only get a job in a shop, bar, hotel etc if you speak Catalan.

Any English speaking sales jobs in Catalunya will be call centres aimed at the UK and US. They are the type of jobs the foreign students get who go to the private English speaking university. Not much of a life though, the difference between an English call centre in Barcelona and Swindon arent so great
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 12:49 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

If you've got experience already in teaching English, I reckon it'll only take you a week or two in Madrid to find work - September/October is normally the best time to find teaching work, although Jan/Feb can be surprisingly good. Talking to an old colleague of mine earlier this year it seems like everyone is keeping their English classes going despite the recession (or even because of the recession - no-one wants to lose marketable skills).
Since you're heading to Barcelona first there's no harm in checking that city first - but my impression is it's harder there as there are so many more expats looking for work. For some reason Brits like the combination of sea and architecture.
Some useful advice here:
http://www.madridinsider.com/?q=node/122
Wherever you end up you'll have to budget carefully. You may get a good hourly rate (especially for private and business classes) but unless your contract is good you'll find a lot of work (and thus wages) disappears with the holidays and their associated puente (bridge) days eg if Thursday is a holiday, many folk will also go missing on the Friday and cancel the lesson.
Good luck!
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 12:52 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

One more thing - in both Madrid and Barcelona you get free expat newspapers/magazines in English that have good jobs listings. You can normally pick these up at language schools/English book shops/Irish pubs. Good for looking up accommodation adverts too.
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 1:26 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

Originally Posted by mal500
Hi all

My girlfriend and I are moving to Spain at the end of the month. We haven't decided yet where we plan to live but are flying into Barcelona and will go where the work is. My question is about work available there at the moment. I'm sure its bad there as everywhere, however we do have some experience in teaching English and were thinking this was our best bet. Is is difficult to get a teaching job in September? I'm aware that is the time of year schools start hiring, however is it very competitive? Also, I have seen quite a few sales jobs for native English speakers in Barcelona in particular but a lot of these jobs on site such as xpatjobs.com and infojobs.net have been there for quite a while, would these jobs be genuine? Are there sales jobs available for English speakers with no Spanish?

Thanks for your help

Mal
For language schools that focus on businesses, probably very difficult. With the current economy companies are slashing training budgets. Language schools focused on private lessons might be different.

Originally Posted by whitelinen
AFAIK a law was passed recently in Catalonia stating that all sales people have to speak in Catalan to the customers.
What? Do you have any sources? A salesperson speaking to international customers would have to speak to them in...Catalan?

I came up with this after a quick search. It echoes what I had heard about: the legislation requires the workers not to speak, but to be able to understand Catalan. They also mention in the article that it probably won't be enforced with fines or anything.

edit: came up with another link mentioning the 'Llei de Comerç' and the fact that the requirement is to at least understand Catalan. The name of the law implies it applies only to shops, bars, etc.

Originally Posted by cricketman
I thought the law was "all customer facing" people, so you can only get a job in a shop, bar, hotel etc if you speak Catalan.
There is certainly a push for Catalan to be more ubiquitous in shops and bars, quite a few Catalans have been up in arms about not being able to order food and buy clothes in Catalan.

Originally Posted by steviedeluxe
Talking to an old colleague of mine earlier this year it seems like everyone is keeping their English classes going despite the recession (or even because of the recession - no-one wants to lose marketable skills).
Is this for private lessons? From what I know companies here are slashing their training budgets.

Originally Posted by steviedeluxe
One more thing - in both Madrid and Barcelona you get free expat newspapers/magazines in English that have good jobs listings. You can normally pick these up at language schools/English book shops/Irish pubs. Good for looking up accommodation adverts too.
In Barcelona the biggest (maybe the only) one is 'Metropolitan'.

Last edited by johnnycakes; Aug 10th 2009 at 1:33 pm.
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 1:47 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

Is this for private lessons? From what I know companies here are slashing their training budgets.
The guy who told me does both. In Madrid there are loads of head offices for multi-nationals, and even the Spanish firms often have overseas presence (eg BBVA, Santander banks).
So far as I'm aware the teaching English budget is a bit of a tax avoidance thing with some companies. I don't have a link to this, but I've heard this from many sources.
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Old Aug 10th 2009, 3:54 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Spain

Thanks all for your input, that helps a lot.

Just one more quick question - Money!!..How much roughly does an individual need to get by modestly in a month aside from rent in Barcelona or Madrid??

Cheers
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