Moving to Spain
#1
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2
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
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
#2
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Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Valencia
Posts: 1,164
Re: Moving to Spain
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
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
#3
Re: 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
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
#4
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,749
Re: Moving to Spain
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
#5
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!
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!
#6
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.
#7
Re: 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
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
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.
In Barcelona the biggest (maybe the only) one is 'Metropolitan'.
Last edited by johnnycakes; Aug 10th 2009 at 1:33 pm.
#8
Re: Moving to Spain
Is this for private lessons? From what I know companies here are slashing their training budgets.
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.
#9
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2
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
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