jenniferlewis

Hi,

I am starting a CELTA course in the next few weeks and would like to move to Madrid to teach English in the new year. I recognise that the job market in Spain is tight and that my lack of experience will be a hindrance to me finding work but I am hoping to secure some interest or (fingers crossed) interviews before I move. My background is in business, particularly sales and telesales so I see that as an ideal route to enter into the TEFL market. If anyone has any experience of securing interviews before you leave I would love to hear about it. Are there any big firms that will consider an overseas candidate? (I have dealt with Vaughan in the past )I was also wondering which, of the many, websites is best to post my details on our search for vacancies.

Many thanks in advance

Jen

dairymaid

www.tefl.com is a good site to look for jobs. Many academies will conduct telephone or skype interviews with overseas candidates. There a limited number of opportunities in January so you should start applying towards the end of this month. Hope this helps.

steviedeluxe

Keep an eye on the following feed - it will display job adverts as they arise. Lot's of other useful articles on that MadridTeacher site too.

http://www.madridteacher.com/pdfs/rss-feeds.htm

Also try looking at this magazine. Click on the mag icon and go to page 14 where you'll find Madrid vacancies, many of them with language schools.

http://www.in-madrid.com/virtual.html

It is true that October is probably the best time to get this type of work. There are vacancies that arise in January/February but they tend to be business classes for experienced teachers. Even so you do find local academies that need some extra classes covering, as local Spanish head back to learning English as part of their NY resolutions.

Can you speak Spanish? I suggest you'd need to spend time on learning their language before being able to teach Business classes. Not because you'll need it in the classroom (although it can help) but because you'll need to sell yourself to prospective clients, get past security to enter company classes, travel around etc etc.

As for being in situ? Yes, you'll need to book (relatively) cheap accommodation for a month, but start sending emails to various schools prior to landing. You can use this month as a way to top up your Spanish language by booking a course with one of the many local language schools. Get yourself a Sim for your phone, so you can be contacted. Who do you think a language school needing a teacher is going to pursue? Someone who is living locally (with a Spanish mobile prefix) and can obviously start straight away, or someone abroad who hasn't bothered to visit Madrid yet, and may not come anyway if their (perceived) preferred option of China or Poland turns up? Try and think of it from the point of view of an employer.

Good luck!

Retired in Euskadi

My sister-in-law (with her Basque colleague) has an English school here in the village.
I help out now & again (ex TEFL in 1970's!) but am retired & prefer other things, such as sheep shearing, allotment.
They'll be needing a native English teacher at some stage this next 12 months.
Do you happen to know of a friend, etc who might like to work here in Euzkadi?
The weather is pretty good, OK not like the costas, but better than UK. The best thing here is the nearness to France, mountains, surf & good beaches, & of course the food & wine, better than in the south, dare I say!!!