Job Discussion Forums

[cgage]

I'm not new to Daves, but I am to the Spanish job forum. I didn't come here before because I thought that it was ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE for a non EU to get a teaching job in Spain. I have a masters degree in ESL, several years of experience, and I have a knowledge of basic Spanish (I study it every day). So Americans can work in Spain?

[spiral78]

Sorry - your qualifications won't matter. It's impossible to get a legal job in Spain, unless you get into an international school, onto a NATO base, or marry an EU member citizen.

I am speaking from significant personal experience: I am from the US, have an MA TESL/TEFL + 10 years of experience. I am also married to an EU citizen (Czech) but I STILL can't work legally in Spain, because citizens of new EU member countries aren't yet accepted.

If you were some starry-eyed newbie who could afford to work under the table for a fun year or two, fine.
But, by definition, your future employers will KNOW that if you worked in Spain, you worked illegally.
Not so cool on your CV.

[cgage]

I guessed as much. Guess I'll stick to mis ninos mexicanos in the US.
BTW I was thinking of coming to San Seb. the second week of July but I hear its a holiday and hard to get accomodations. I dont want to get stuck without a hotel. What do you think?
Thanks for your reply.

[spiral78]

I'm not in Spain, since I can't work there legally! It wouldn't look good on my CV.

So, I don't know about the holiday time.

I can say that all of August is holiday time in Europe generally.

I am trying to think of some alternative that I know of, but it's all going to be crazy in July and August. Frankly, I'll be hunkered down here in my little town in the Czech Rep. and will wait until September to emerge.

Good luck finding a holiday venue!

[CharlesTESOL]

First of all, let me say that I'm not trying to be argumentative or give false hope, but just trying to clarify things. It is not impossible for American's to get legal work in Spain. Very rare, perhaps, but not impossible. I am an American English teacher and I have a work and resident permit that I obtained with the help of the school I came to Spain to work for, which wasn't an International School. (In case you're wondering if you could find work with the same school, it is no longer in business.) I did not obtain my permit through one of the periodic amnesties that Spain seems to have for the many people who work here without permits. While I know several Americans who have obtained work/residency permits through amnesties, I also have met a very few over the years who have received permits through the usual channels. That is to say, an employer petioned for them and it was approved. In my case, my employer said a North American accent was needed for the position. Of course, just making that a requirement is not a guarantee as I have met Americans who have had employers petition based on similar needs and the petition was disapproved. So, while I would say, yes, it is very rare, it is not impossible. But I agree with Spiral that the most likely scenario for legal work for you would be an International School (the US Embassy maintains a good list) and I would add that someone with your training might also try universities. I remember when I first moved here I met an American who was teaching English at a university in Barcelona. I can't recall whether it was a masters he had or a doctorate. Which reminds me of other people I have known who came here to get advanced degrees and were allowed to work 20 hours a week on their student permits. Of course, when the student permit expired, so would your right to work here, but who knows what could happen during that time.

Regarding a hotel in San Sebastian, have you tried booking a hotel on-line? I've used this web site and found good deals: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187457-San_Sebastian_Donostia_Basque-Hotels.html

[mdk]

[CharlesTESOL]

I forgot to mention that another way for US and American citizens to work legally in Spain for one academic year is through the North American Language and Culture Assistant Program. This program is run by The Ministry of Education and Science of Spain. It's only 12 hours of work a week, with a small stipend and health benefits. It is too late for the 2007-2008 school year, but interested parties should contact the following for information about the possibilities for 2008-2009:

Language and Culture Assistant Program
Embassy of Spain - Education Office
2375 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
Tel: (202) 728-2335
Fax: (202) 728-2313
[email protected]

[mdk]

Do you know how many slots they usually have in a given year?

Also I am an RN and thinking of teaching English for Special Purposes with an emphasis on medical terminology. Do you think they might be looking for something along those lines?

Thanks for the info. I will follow it up anyway.

[CharlesTESOL]

I think this year they had 1,000 positions. The positions are as assistants to the schools' regular English teachers, who are usually not native English speakers. The work is in public schools, so for that reason I doubt that being an RN would give you any special advantage. I could be wrong, though and it certainly couldn't hurt.

Suerte,

[jwatts83]

Hi Charles,

I was wondering if you know anyone that's been in the North American Language and Culture program in Spain? Since I'm going to participate in it this Fall, so I'd like to hear from people who have completed their year as a Language Assistant. Also, when I applied the representative from MEC said that they usually have more places than applicants each year, despite the fact that it seems to be a rapidly growing program.

For the other person who wanted to apply: the one requirement that MEC did emphasize was that your Bachelors or Masters degree cannot have been granted to you before 1993. And that you are an American citizen with a valid passport.

[rfx24]

To Spiral, you said that new EU citizens aren't accepted to work in the EU (older EU). The CZ became EU in 2004 so shouldn't it be okay to work elsewhere now? I believe it was a two year waiting period. Do you have to wait for the CZ to become Schengen?

[spiral78]

I don't think I said that citizens of new EU member countries 'aren't accepted to work in the older EU.' I think I said it's on a country-by-country basis. As a Czech citizen, I think at the moment there are ten countries within the old EU where I can legally work. I'd have to check on a country-by-country basis to be sure, and the laws change sometimes as well. But it's not a blanket 'OK' to come work.

And, anyway, you have to be a citizen of the Czech Rep - I don't think this will help you in any way, unless you're considering marraige in Prague