Job Discussion Forums

[Wolfbluez]

Nubie here....if I'm an American citizen is really as difficult as I've read to find a job teaching English in Spain just because I'm not part of the EU?? If so where is my best option in a Spanish speaking country?

[Moore]

It�s not that hard, but apparently the authorities are cracking down a bit now. It�s not a great time to come though, as there�s only April, May, June and July if you�re very lucky left before the massive summer holidays. In terms of other places, can�t you lot get work in Puerto Rico?- heard they have a visa agreement with the U.S.

[F Johnson]

I�m American and luckily I haven�t had problems finding work in Madrid. Of course there are schools that have an EU only policy but I know from my roommates that they pay lower than the schools I work for who do accept EU and non EU. I guess it all depends on you and how you present yourself at the job interviews. There will be more jobs for the EU�s that�s for sure but again from what I�m told and from what I have first hand experience of, Americans are working in Madrid. As for where you can work outside of the EU, my best bet would be Latin America, they�re not that strict over there, check out Buenos Aires, Santiago, go for the bigger Latin American cities, they normally pay better and have more jobs.

I worked in Santiago then Buenos Aires before I decided to get trained!(yeah, I taught then decided I didn�t have any idea of what I was saying!) I did get trained in Madrid, I am working here but I would not discount going back to Buenos Aires or Santiago and teaching , this time with more confidence. When I look back I feel sorry for the Chilean and Argentinian students I had, an untrained teacher isn�t a good sight! I know! I was one for that brief stint I taught over there.

So get certifed, if you prefer to teach in Spanish speaking cities get certifed and get your first jobs in those cities, later you can move on. That�s my plan, teach in Madrid maybe till Dec of this year, try Latin America again and maybe Japan or China as my last EFL stops before heading back to the US for that stable, secure but maybe boring 9-5 job. Good luck.

[spiral78]

Please note that the American 'success' stories invovle teaching illegally!
Yeah, it's commonly done and not really considered to be a big negative by many.

Drawbacks include not having a regular contract, so if business slows down you'll be the first to go. It's generally less stable in terms of pay to work illegally - you may make plenty, but you may not always...

You should also consider health insurance - you won' t have it thru your employer and if you carry traveler's health insurance from North America and have the bad luck to need it, they may be able to refuse to pay if you are living/working illegally.

If you choose to go this route, be sure you have reasonable financial backing in case of bad luck. A couple of thousands U.S. that you don't touch unless in emergency is a real must, in my opinion. Also, remember that you will need to leave with enough funds in addition to your emergency money to fund your expenses for two to three months before you start receiving a paycheck.

Ok, is it impossible to get a legal work permit in Spain/Italy/France? Not quite, but darn close. Read other posts in this forum..........

[b harmon]

Just to join in the discussion about work in Spain.... who ever mentioned the word working legally? Like many EU citizens, ie: Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South Africa, etc, etc., Americans work as English teachers in Madrid for 6 months, 1 year, 1 year and a half without the work visa or permit. If you want to stay permanently in Spain, then of course you need to consider how to legalize your stay.

So as far as the success stories, it really is all relative. I want to stay in Spain for a year and teaching English as I have found has been paying for what I want to do in Europe. See Europe, on a budget, but still see Europe, learn Spanish, have fun and experience life outside of the US of A! So for my objectives, yes, I have been successfully meeting them. So to all of you future EFL teachers, teaching in Madrid, Spain, as a whole isn�t that bad, more jobs and higher salaries in Madrid. Need more info, email me. Enjoy Madrid!

A non EFL question, you think Madrid will win the 2012 Olympics bid? A lot of the Madrile�os I know hope so.


Enjoy!

[b harmon]

Like many EU citizens, ie: Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South Africa, etc, etc., Americans work as English teachers ....


( sorry, my mistake!! ), I meant NON-EU citizens. hasta pronto!

[spiral78]

As I said, it's commonly done, and not considered to be a big negative. Working illegally, I mean.
But there are a couple of issues you should consider before doing so.