Job Discussion Forums

[MoonMonkey]

Hi all,

Ive been a teacher for a few years in Asia, CELTA qualified, and from the UK.

While I have been to Spain many times in the past on holiday. I would like to go to Spain to live and work.

In the longterm I eventually would like to get an buy an apartment there.

So,

Has anyone got any good recommendations for intial cities/companies to try for? Which schools/companies are likely to offer reliable jobs.

Also, has anyone tried to buy an apartment or get a mortgage there?

Thanks for the advice

[Moore]

To start off I'd recommend Madrid: more jobs, (slightly) better pay, easier to learn Castellano Spanish.

An English mate of mine has bought an appartment here, it's quite a long process but perfectly do-able under normal circumstances, but right now it's almost impossible to get a mortgage from any bank here, though things should have picked up again by the time you've been here long enough to know what's involved and where you want to live. The good news is that prices are dropping very quickly and the end of 2009 should be the best time.






_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin... www.lingobongo.com

...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona or Berlin in one hit with our c.v. sending service... www.lingobongo.com

[MoonMonkey]

Thanks for the tips Moore,

How much are the apartments going for at the moment?


And how much do you think a cheap one would cost by of the end of 2009?


I only know of one site that gives prices

www.rightmove.co.uk

But you can ony get a general idea from looking on this website, probably much better to hear from someone there already.

If anyone know any more sites to buy properties in Spain, pls post it.

Thanks

[Moore]

This are the main ones which more or less everyone uses in Madrid and Barcelona...

renting: Loquo...

http://madrid.loquo.com/ce/housing/rooms-for-rent-shared/302

buying: Idealista...

http://www.idealista.com/pagina/buscar?zona-madrid-pisos=V:V:28-079-07-001-XX-XXX


_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin... www.lingobongo.com

...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona or Berlin in one hit with our c.v. sending service... www.lingobongo.com

[mdk]

I've walked the Camino de Santiago twice. Both the Camino Frances and the Via de la Plata. It's the cheapest and best way to really see Spain. In April the weather should be good.

Don't just listen to a bunch of Madrilenos. How do you know you wouldn't be better off in, say, Gallica or La Rioja?

[Pauleddy]

Madrid is a nice city. It has large areas of greenery and is well laid-out.

However, it is expensive. Mad and Barca are high-priced for condos--even in the recession. If u want a decent size in a "nice area", you are looking at London prices, at least 200,000e for "nice" 2 beds. One friend of mine has a nice company let, 2 smallish beds, at 2000e a month!! Fairly central but not the best zone.

Smaller cities like Valencia are cheaper. Valencia is compact and pretty trendy, and there are jobs. It would be worth doing a lot of research. Spain is a place of many contrasts. Madrid can be searing in summer (with no beach near) and frozen in winter. Barca is fairly "north" and people have the heating on a lot in winter. I lived in Valencia in 1999-2000 and January was cold there, bitter on some days.

P

[jonniboy]

[MoonMonkey]

It's good to hear about other locations in Spain, thanks for the contributions guys!

I have a few follow up questions;

1) Somebody was mentioning about districts in Madrid, are there any votes as to which are the best or worst districts to live in Madrid/Barcelona?

2) For the people not living in the biggest cities, where do you go to find work? Are there any ESL cities for the smaller cities or for Spain as a whole?

3) If somebody was trying to secure a job from outside Spain, like getting a job arranged before arriving, which websites would one go to? The main site I see for this is TEFL.com. But with this being an international site, I am sure the job advertisements must get lots of replies.

Again this boils down to finding the best ESL sites just for Spain, and finding companies which can offer jobs/accomodation before you arrive.

This is the usual procedure with all the jobs I've come across in Asia, but I'm not so sure about Spain/Europe?

Of course its possible to just go there then take your chances finding work, but it can waste time and be costly, and another thing is that once you arrive somewhere you usually stay there until you find your feet, so its really best to find the best place to live before you get there.

Cheers everyone, I'm just trying to get organised and do the homework on this place before going.

[Moore]

1) For places to live in Madrid, the closer to the centre the better so you can get out to any company class with the least hassle (and also wobble home on foot after all the nightlife). The business district is just next to the Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid) stadium next to the metro stop of the same name (about 6 stops north of the centre), so if you're keen on doing business classes then living fairly close to that could be a good idea.

2) For looking for work in other smaller cities use www.loquo.com and select the city and look under the "work" category

3) You're far more likely to find a job once you have arrived and schools/academies can see a local mobile phone number on your cv: they need to be sure you will end up being here before they line you up for classes and you don't change your mind at the last minute and zoom off to Korea instead leaving them in the lurch.

In terms of sites for finding work I could blatantly plug my own website (www.lingobongo.com) to send your cv round all the schools in one go (but the downside is you pay 10 euros for it), or you can simply trawl through the Yellow Pages (Paginas Amarillas) which has just the same effect, but takes longer. The sites the lads suggested before are also very good (madridteacher, loquo).



_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin... www.lingobongo.com

...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona or Berlin in one hit with our c.v. sending service... www.lingobongo.com

[mdk]

Stay away from lavapies in Madrid. Avoid any place you see a lot of non-Spaniards.

How to find work in the boonies. As I walked out of Merida (which is a sizeable place) I saw on a telephone poll an advert for private lessons from a native English speaker. If you don't want to put up with working for the man, then that's the alternative,

You have got to have the self discipline and the ready cash to get started and build up a practice. And you have to go native...

Look for some place with a University in town. I like Leon and Salamanca a lot.

[wildnfree]

Now a voice from the south of spain..

Andalucia is beautiful, but you will struggle to work here as a teacher. There are zillions of people looking for work here which depresses the wages and possibilies. Also, you are more disposable therefore working environments can be rather stifling.I gave up teaching and worked as a waiter (yes, qualified English teaching waiting tables in Spain - but Im kind of proud of it jeje).
Spanish is difficult to learn here because it is a dialect. I'm glad I had the experience, but it would have been better start in Madrid, get to learn Spanish and from there when I knew the country better make an informed choice on where to stay.