Job Discussion Forums

[squangela]

Malaga live and work situation????

[squangela]

My husband and i are going to Malaga in September to look for work. Have any of you Dave's fans been there in a work sense. hablamos espanol so that is a plus but I don't know if there is any demand for teachers. What about substutuing at International schools?
gracias.
-A

[Harry Swindells]

Without a passport from an EU country it is VERY difficult to find work in Spain and almost inmpossible to find legal work. It is most unlikely that you would be taken on as a substitute teacher by an international school as they would have to do all the paperwork for a visa just to allow you to step into the classroom. It's not worth them doing that for a person who is only substituting, they'll hire people with an EU passport

There is EFL work in Spain. I have several very good friends out there at the moment. But they are all qualified (BA plus CELTA or qualified school teachers), speak Spanish/Catalan, have several years experience in Spain, know the market well and they are having a difficulty finding work right now. If you are coming out and know nothing and nobody it would be VERY difficult. Add a lack of EU passport and the picture gets worse.

If you don't have an EU passport then it is possible to legally arrange work at international schools, especially the American schools. But that is almost always done from outside Spain (you need to have the work permit done in the USA). And those schools can afford to be very picky about who they take, they always have plenty of applicants.

Harry

[squangela]

Thanks for all the SUPER informative information...

Maybe as a fall back we will try some winery work.

So, Harry, do you know anything about grape picking or are you just an authority on everything else in Europe? What about teaching EFL at a winery?

thx

[Harry Swindells]

You don't seem to get the picture do you? If you don't have an EU passport then it is VERY difficult to get a work permit. If you can't get a work permit then you can not get jobs. Whether that is teaching English in a school or a winery, substituting at an international school or picking grapes.

I think that you don't understand the realities of working illegally. To an employer your labour is equally valuable to people from Morocco, Algeria, Belarus, Romania etc etc. You will receive the same pay as people from those countries. People from those countries have much lower expectations that citizens of the USA do. They are quite happy to live on wages that you would laugh at. Let me put it this way: would you like to go and work with the illegal immigrants in Southern California on the farms there? No? Then you shouldn't consider doing it in Spain.

It is not necessary to be any kind of an expert to know these facts. All you need to do is read up a tiny bit about Europe. Things have changed just a little bit since the glorious days of Hemmingway when everybody went and picked grapes. You seem to be quite happy to react badly towards my presenting the facts of life to you. Fine. Have it your way. Learn the hard way. I've been in teaching in Europe for more than 10 years. I've worked with and without an EU passport. Ignore what I have to say if you want to. Just don't come back here and whine about how unfortunate you are when you blow all your money and end up working as illegal farm labour for $5 a day.

Harry

[squangela]

Wait a minute harry. I thought this forum was to help people. Not unload a bunch of arrogant quips in an effort to discourage people who still have a thread of optimism about their future.
If you know anything about what working in Spain great. What do you know? If you don't... quit clogging up this post.
I am not interested in hearing all the permit stuff.
I know that.. I have lived there and all over the Americas.

My question is ....Do you know the work situation in Malaga???

[Deborah]

Squang, I think Harry was very patient and I don't read his reply as condescending or overly negative in any way. The EU thing is honestly a very difficult to impossible hurdle - not impossible in every case, but worth serious consideration.
I"m speaking as someone who has personally experienced the difficulties - albeit not in Spain.
I can offer a small piece of advice that might be actually helpful: check out the Spanish Embassy (Washington, DC) website. It should offer details regarding employment possibilities for US citizens in Spain.

[reality]

Harry is absoutely right. I have been looking for work in the Malaga area for two months. I found that their are just too many Teachers, and not enough students.

Its amazing that you get immediate Job offerings, which offer better pay and conditions than in Spain. Yet, no one is looking for Teachers during the months of March to June ( Several Schools told me this fact). Some schools are closed during the Summer Months!.

Do not gamble on finding work in this area. Expatriate salaries are already the lowest in the EEC. Renting a place is expensive because
landlords charge Tourist rates.

Non-EU passport holders can be hired, due to some loophole in the local employment Laws. Yet, they earn even less than expatriates here. So, don�t come, unless you have savings, and want to play roulette looking for a job.

[reality]

Regarding Malaga. Rather you than me. I just want to ask one question, Why do so many thitry-something English Women like Spain?.

[fatgirl]

Work for Non-europeans is available if you are prepared to put up with a lot of hassle. It sounds like you�re going to come anyway so here�s some info.
Some of the more shadey schools will employ you. Normally you will be paid in cash. As you speak Spanish you can also give private classes at $10-15 hour and you need to put an ad in "el anuciador" which is a newpaper you can buy anywhere. Put your ad in early September.

Some American people I met last year were earning as little as $600 30hours pw including Saturdays.

If you have some money behind you you�ll probably live at lot better, it�s a great place but it�s a b**ch when you�re poor.

As for why lots of 30+ year old women want to work in Malaga have you never seen Shirley Valentine?