Job Discussion Forums

broonie30 · Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 14

Rob, thanks for your input and sharing some good advice. This thread is giving me more information on the teaching situation in Valencia than I have been able to find anywhere else on the internet. So thanks everyone!

I should have said that my fiance and I are probably looking to teach kids. We teach students from 5 -13 years old at the moment in Korea and have really enjoyed it on the whole. I know a lot of people are keen to avoid kids in Spain, is there a specific reason for this? Is their behaviour that bad, or do people just want to teach business as no control is needed in the classroom?

It's good to know that you think there would be enough work there for us Rob, I will PM you for schools to avoid if you don't mind! If we managed to get 15-20 hours a week each, what kind of lifestyle could we expect to have? Would we find it touch to make ends meet or would we be able to eat out and travel a bit?

Any advice is good advice and I'm really grateful to everyone here sharing their experiences and thoughts. Cheers

pr455 · Joined: 08 May 2011 Posts: 135 Location: MADRID, SPAIN

broonie30 · Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 14

My fiance and I are looking into apartments in Valencia at the moment and have found a lot of decent apartments for around 500euro per month. This sounds good to us but we are totally unsure of whether to arrive early (August) to try and secure a good apartment before the students come back, or to wait until we have a job. Any thoughts on what you think the best move would be?

Sorry if this sounds totally naive, but if we rent an apartment from an advert we find on idealista.com or loquo.com, how long is the lease typically for? Is it a month to month arrangement normally or do we have to sign and rent for longer? None of the adverts mention the length of the lease which has made me wonder.

Again, thanks everyone for your help!

pr455 · Joined: 08 May 2011 Posts: 135 Location: MADRID, SPAIN

jonniboy · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:29 am Post subject:

You can get reasonable flats for 450 euro a month as well. Most of them will be for a year but it's a renters market now due to the crisis so you have a fair bit of bargaining power. I signed a lease for the studio I'm renting for 6 months with the option to continue thereafter on a month by month basis.

I'd say that you should work out how long you'll be here for (remembering the lack of work in Summer) and make an offer on that basis. You should be able to find someone who will rent to you for 9/10 months.

broonie30 · Joined: 07 Jan 2012 Posts: 14

Thanks for the replies. I did wonder what people would do for the 3 months or so that they were not working over the summer. It definitely doesn't sound appealing to pay for a place that either I'm not going to use, or I will be sitting in while not working for 3 months. I will have to brush up on my limited Spanish to try and negotiate a deal for 9 or 10 months.

Jonniboy (or anyone else with an idea); any thought on the chicken or the egg scenario.. ie would you wait until you had work first before getting an apartment or would you get an apartment sorted early on so as to get an address in place for NIE application etc, and also a better pick before the students arrive back?

Cheers everyone! Think I'm due a few of you a beer or 2!!

Mrguay84 · Joined: 03 Dec 2009 Posts: 125

To be on the safe side you could always get a double room in a flatshare without a contract whilst you are looking for jobs. There are always loads of those knocking around.

As for the bills, okay when it's warmer it's true that you don't need to spend any money on heating (but depending on your flat and the weather, you might have to have a fan running - maybe even air-con?), BUT be warned in the winter months it can be bloody freezing inside the flats (often it's colder inside the flats than out - or at least the same). So you could end up running expensive fan heaters if you're not prepared to wrap yourself in blankets (Spanish style). Also, as someone else pointed out internet is expensive here (40e a month is the standard) - also running a mobile phone here seems to be quite expensive too - and water is metered so to keep those bills down you have to be an 'eco warrior' (don't wash-up and/or brush your teeth with the tap running etc.) Razz

Seriously just get to Spain - you can always leave if things don't turn out as planned. Good luck!

jonniboy · Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 9:48 am Post subject:

That's mostly sound advice though one thing I would maybe disagree with is the double room thing. I was looking for the same last year and it was a lot harder to find that. Lots of flats and single rooms around but less doubles. February was the only time when I needed to run the electric heater and it was expensive, adding 60 euro on to the normal bill.

RoisinDubh · Joined: 23 Apr 2011 Posts: 43

Is it possible to get out of a lease early? I want to go to Valencia in September and look for work but I'm worried about being tied for 9 months or whatever if I can't get enough work/don't like the work/have to return for other reasons. An alternative I've been thinking of is to get a double room in a flatshare for the first while, the advantage being it's fairly easy to move out with just a month's notice, the rent is much cheaper and we could live with Spanish people and practise our Spanish, but none of the places I've looked at on Loquo mention renting to couples. Is it generally difficult to get a room as a couple?

Also, what are the taxes like? I've read that the average hourly rate for newcomers is about 12 euro an hour, which doesn't sound too bad (I was working for �11 an hour in London not that long ago) but how much is taken out?

jonniboy · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 7:58 am Post subject:

I was in exactly the same situation last year and looking around for a double room and while they do exist, they're a lot less common and with the economic crisis, competition for them is greater due to people downscaling their living arrangements.

Regarding pay, 12 euro is absolutely the lowest you can get here (well some places will try and fob you off with 11 but tell them where to stick it.) The 12 euro is net, the company should pay taxes on your behalf on top of that.

RoisinDubh · Joined: 23 Apr 2011 Posts: 43

Ahh, that's what I was worried about. Where are the best places to look for double rooms? I've only used Loquo so far. Did you manage to get a double room as a couple, jonniboy?

Is 12 euro an hour is the minimum, what do decent places pay for well qualified teachers? I have the CELTA + 4 years experience and my boyfriend has DELTA + 4 years. Would it be reasonable for both of us to expect 14 or 15 an hour? How many hours could we expect to pick up in September? I'm working on the assumption that we'll be doing a minimum of 20 hours in academies (we're doing over 30 hours a week here in London but no split shifts) and then hopefully privates on the side.

jonniboy · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 1:26 pm Post subject:

I just used Loquo and kept an eye out in the street and in locotorios, a lot of people still advertise the traditional way by sticking handwritten ads up. 14/15 euro is definitely doable though you may find a few places trying to pay you less.

RoisinDubh · Joined: 23 Apr 2011 Posts: 43

My friends in Spain are telling me it's NOT a good idea to attempt to move to Valencia. They reckon there is very little work there and that I should stay in London, even though I have no job security here either. Is this scaremongering? I know things are very bad in Spain, but the TEFL industry is awful in the UK as well. I figured that at least in Spain, I'd have a better quality of life (I'm 1000 times happier when the sun shines due to a severe vitamin D deficiency) and could brush up on my Spanish so I can move into professional translation in the future. I had been hoping to earn at least 1000 euros a month, which works out at 20 hours/week at 14 euro/hour. Unrealistic?

jonniboy · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:38 pm Post subject:

Are they in Valencia? Being here on the ground I can tell you that there still is plenty of work around, at least for the next academic year. 20 hours at 13/14 an hour would be reasonable to expect, yes.

RoisinDubh · Joined: 23 Apr 2011 Posts: 43

A couple are, yes. They're making out that Valencia is overrun with qualified teachers and that I'm a fool to expect to go in as a newbie and get 20 hours. The thing is, I think a lot of them are forgetting that I'm not in this for the long term like they are. I'm only planning to stay 9 months at most, leave for the summer and then return or stay elsewhere, depending on how the job market looks. I'm planning to maintain strong links with London (need a few things done at the local hospital here which I'm told is fine until Spain becomes my permanent residence) and possibly go back to my current job next summer.

One thing I hadn't considered is the new residency rules - apparently you now need to prove your income before you can register as a resident? It seems as if they haven't even decided yet how much you need to earn to be able to live there. That seems a bit of a nuisance. I thought it was a matter of turning up at the town hall and getting a number.

Would it be worth ringing up some schools now and having a chat or is it just a complete waste of time? I understand that like most places, they would prefer to hire at the last minute when they know more about student numbers, but it's a bit nervewracking to go over there having no idea about work.