dougyzf

My partner and i are coming out to view properties just outside malaga this weekend with the intention of living in this area. I need some help on finding her a suitable job either as a staff nurse or a secretarial job that pays resonable,can anyone suggest anything any help would be much appreciated????

Mitzyboy

Usual question I'm afraid .... does she speak Spanish?

I remember reading somewhere that it is almost impossible for a foreigner to become a nurse in Spain

dougyzf

no she doesnt speak spanish,but thanks for your positive answer???????????

Mitzyboy

Well ..... sorry I only asked if she spoke Spanish and told you what I read

If you like then I'll be positive. She'll have no problem at all getting a job as a nurse .... What she'll do when asked to carry out a procedure I dont quite know though, do you?

If required I have a long list of job agencies, but I can only pm them

Hillybilly

To work as a public sector nurse here you have to take (and pass of course) the oposiciones (exams in Spanish), you will need to have all your qualifications, nursing degree etc translated and validated (can take a year or more). And then register with the bolsas de trabajo at hospitals and...wait for a vacancy. There is a glut of nurses here, which is why many look overseas (eg the UK!) for nursing work.
You may be able to find short term work somewhere in the private sector.
Best of luck, but Mitzyboy is only being realistic with his comments.
Reasonably paid secretarial work? Not sure if that exists here! Maybe, as long as you speak Spanish and so can offer yourself as a bilingual employee.

SueG

I get paid a reasonable salary for secretarial work BUT no where near the amount I earned in England.

ScotinSpain

Hi dougyzf, I had a major operation when I first arrived out here just over 5 years ago. I was in a private hospital near Malaga and the Ward Sister was from Edinburgh and had trained in Scotland. Her partner/husband was also a nurse out here in the private sector. I think you would have more problems in the public sector and you will have to speak Spanish obviously, to work in any Spanish hospital.

At that time there were a fair number of foreign nurses out here as the Spanish nurses were moving to UK because of the higher salaries. I am sure there are still openings here, getting your qualifications translated into Spanish is not difficult, but will take some time to 'process' here (everything does!)

My message is you could probably find work on the Costa del Sol, but you will have to learn reasonable Spanish first, it's not as difficult as it sounds

The very best of luck in your venture, don't be put off by the gloom and doom merchants, but you will need to prepare.

Jock

Mitzyboy

Hey Jock, hold on a moment ... I wasn't expressing doom and gloom there, I go out of my way on this forum to give a balanced view. But I think its fairly reasonable to assume that unless you can speak Spanish well, you aren't going to be employed in a Spanish hospital. Theres too much risk.

Sorry if thats interpreted as doom and gloom, I was just being realistic.

ScotinSpain

Ops sorry Mitzy, I was not referring to you, but to the ever increasing 'gloom and doom' members of the 'expat forums' here in Spain.

You offer sound advice, and always have done, and I meant no critism whatsoever, although my post may have come across that way as I re-read it

Of course you are quite correct, and the prime requirement for employment in Spain is an ability to speak the lingo, unless it's bar work or the like in the touristy bits.

Forgive me for my indescretion!

Jock

Fredbargate

Try Gibraltar, the language is supposed to be English.
There are many expats working in Gibraltar and also a fair few Spanish nurses.