Pause for a thought for the poor ignorant sods who have been hand selected by Esperanza Aguirre and the Community of Madrid to be English intern teachers in Madrid schools this year

28 British teachers have build placed in Madrid schools despite them not speaking a word of Spanish, not having the qualifications required by Spanish law to teach children and despite there being thousands of teachers across Spain who have been made redundant because of the cuts

The other teachers are fuming. They say the British teachers are illegal and aren't even capable of talking to the other teachers to receive instructions or communicating to parents

I'd hate to be in the shoes of those British teachers right now, I wonder if they know what is going on

http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2012/09/...11_869102.html

My friend (spanish) is a qualified English teacher and can't get a job! After 6 years of uni and stays in he UK to improve her English which is perfect, she is now working in Mercadona! Shame on you Spain!!

How many uni graduates are stacking shelves in Tescos?

Shame on you UK

A lot less than in Spain, I can assure you of that

Going to uni should enhance your prospects of getting a decent job, but it's certainly no guarantee, especially in these times. Had she graduated 20 years ago she would have probably walked into a job, today things are very different. She should be thankful she has at least got a job, thousands in Spain haven't, they'd love a job even it was stacking shelves. Daft as it sounds, she's one of the fortunate one's. It's this obsession in most countries nowadays, nearly everyone should go to uni and get a degree, even a Mickey Mouse degree, it's devalued a degree, everyone seems to have one. They then seem surprised when it doesn't automatically lead to a well paid job. Tell her to get on her bike like many thousands of Spanish have and try her luck elsewhere, you have to go where the work is, and that isn't Spain.

No she's not one of the "lucky" ones. That is ridiculous thing to say

But oh well, she should stop complaining, and just up and leave and become an economic migrant. Those ones Britain loves so much. Easy isnt it!

These are real concerns in Spain at the moment and shouldnt be just readily dismissed by someone who was lucky enough to be working when it was easy for educated people to get jobs, mainly because your parents had created space for them by killing each other in the millions

can you prove it ? ?

I personally know quite a few Spanish graduates that are working places such as call centres because they cannot gain relevant work and Spanish graduates who are unemployed.

Rosemary

No, its only anecdotal - well there are a mountain of stats showing that unemployment among educated young people in Spain in much higher than in the UK, but I am not sure about underemployment

I know a lot of people who walked into very good graduate jobs in London after struggling to find anything in Spain

Once you have the experience in Spain, then it is easier to get a good job, well it WAS easier in 2007, things have got a lot worse over the past 5 years

Hello there, If you are serious about teaching then go to Madrid. Madrid is a serious place where you can find real good, as in, professional work and good schools for your child (Spanish or bilingual schools or only English schools). The pay is also good - mind you, a lot of traveller types would argue. But with your QTS you will be in a good position. I am a non-native with an MA in applied linguistics and TESOL so I get offers all the time (more than I can do) and work with the best schools here. It's much better if you are willing to go self-employed - even considering the national insurance payments - because you can deduct a lot of things as costs to reduce your taxes and the hourly pay is much better this way and you can pick and choose the best offers. You get 15-18 euros gross on payroll and 25 and upwards on autonomo. It well pays for your social security. It all depends on you. If you are brave and creative and can organise your own classes with companies, you can have even more. The demand is high for real, serious teachers who don't come here only to party. Madrid is full of the party-type and students and schools know instantly which type of teacher you are.

There is also work in international schools from time to time.

It's a message I've repeated on here many times, to be shouted down, often by certain posters who haven't the slightest idea of the Madrid market.
There is a cloud on the horizon however, as regards business classes. Some firms are now looking to utilise web classes, in an effort to save costs. My contact in Madrid tells me the demand for Business English teachers is starting to fall. The autonomo system works well when you have a decent income, and thus look forward to a generous pension (as compared to the UK) and know your health treatment is covered. But it doesn't seem a good option if your income is not stable.
It's also worth pointing out that if you do Business English classes, you will need to know Spanish to at least conversational level. Apart from anything else you will need to get pass security/reception at a lot of business locations, in order to give your class.

yes, I know someone who has always done very well doing business English classes, directly to companies

this year she is struggling - as you say, because a lot have now either cut the number of hours they give her or cut the classes completely & are either using the internet or doing nothing at all

she's bilingual btw & has been here nearly 20 years

What I said above in my thread was about my own experience in Madrid and was written in good faith. What works for me, may not work for others. Yes, probably you are right about the demand starting to fall - just as everything with the crisis. However, I maintain that good teacher are always in demand, particularly because English is needed for business and science and, let's face it, the quality of the Spanish state language teaching system hasn't yet caught up with the times.

I actually speak Spanish (about upper-int level) but other than a few words, I never really have to use Spanish when I teach ( I exclusively teach in-company classes, 90% of which is Business English). In fact, a good teacher should only use the students' mother tongue the bare minimum, you have to teach English, not talk about it.

As regards the web-classes, you're right again, the demand is growing but I think ever so slowly. (I personally wish it was more popular) Either way, with the rise of its popularity and its quality, the hourly rate will also increase, I have noticed some upward change and have been thinking about doing it myself having qualified as an online tutor. As for security: never a problem if you are representing a language school and only the largest companies use it anyway.

Personally, I don't believe in state pensions, I think I should make my own arrangements. Nevertheless as an autonomo, you can decide how much you want to pay into it. As I am only here for a few years, it doesn't make a difference to me so I will have my own arrangements. I also don't agree with wanting a "stable income" because I've never believed that one could reasonably expect to work for the same company for decades and have a salary rise every year. Long gone those days. Nowadays you have to be flexible and inventive regarding your source of income.

Sorry for the long post. This topic is very close to my heart because teaching English is my profession, not something I do to be able to travel, therefore I take it seriously. Sure I know people here who are qualified native speakers and can't get as much work as I can but the reason is simple, they don't take their work seriously and don't want to go autonomo either. As an autonomo, you get 10+ euros more per hour and pay the same tax as someone on a contract, I've done my math. (and I'm also fully covered by state health care). I also know people who are doing better than me because they organise their own classes/groups/ company classes but I haven't had the courage yet. So I do believe that it really depends on you.

What I object to strongly is people who set themselves up to teach English without having any teacher training whatsoever, the fact that they are English seeming to mean that they can then teach it.

I get approached all of the time to teach English but I refuse, I am not a trained teacher so will not attempt to teach. I do however help them with their pronounciation and volcabulary by giving them the opportunity to practice by meeting with me for conversation. This is done in friendship not to earn any money which is just as well with the employment situation as they would not be able to pay anyway.

Rosemary

This statement is confusing the state of regular, stable employment, with having regular pay rises. Many people, not just in Spain but in the UK too, have taken pay or rate cuts in order to keep their jobs. It's starting to recover now, but many in the IT world, certainly in London, took 30-40% cuts to stay in work.