Job Discussion Forums

[moosetown]

For a newbie (EU citizen + Trinity certificate, but no experience) would it be worth making a trip to either Barcelona or Madrid for two or three weeks to job hunt? Any advice would be gratefully received![/code]

[mozzar]

Depends on when you want to come and your finances.

[moosetown]

Sorry, I did mean to say I'm thinking of going to Spain in Jan! Finances will be tight, but I'm hoping to be able to spend a few weeks out there job hunting.

[jonniboy]

[Pigeon_85]

Hola,

So if I have a Cert. TESOL and am a Native English speaker from the UK would I be able to get some work in January if I'm committed to doing so? I know that there are never any guarantees but roughly speaking do you think its feasible?

Thanks!

[spiral78]

Yes, feasible - no guarantees, but you'd be in a decent time period and have the right passport and presumably a reputable cert.

[Pigeon_85]

Thanks for your reply! So you'd say go for it then?! I have the passport and the certificate so thats sorted. Its just a gamble money-wise I guess.

I'd still be really interested to hear from others who have gone in January to get their advice.

[mozzar]

I'm still being offered a load of hours. One company has even offered me a full load of 20 hours, 9am-2pm Monday to Thursday starting in January. I'm meeting with them tomorrow to talk about a few things, such as wage. But it's tempting enough for me to leave my current 20 hours spread over 8am - 9pm, Monday to Friday job at the moment.

[Chris_Crossley]

[mozzar]

The squashed up teaching hours are an attractive point. It'll be a horrible decision to make come January.

[goiter]

Just wondering guys when the next recruitment phase is after January? I have a place down but can only get in at January. I really don't want to wait till September to get a job.

I emailed a few of the schools and one in Lacunza said that their next recruitment phase after January is in April. Is it like this for many other schools around Spain?

[sevenpowers]

I've been working in Madrid for 3 years now and this season has been the worst so far, last term I was doing 30+ hours between the agency and my private classes, so far I've been stretched to get 20, and my working day has been extended from 8 to 12 hours because now I have to cover classes in the evening as well.
Rumor has it that there will be more work opening up in January but I'd wait and see. There are more teachers who decided to stay on in Madrid after Summer rather than taking off, so there is less work and more people looking for it, I've been lucky because I've been working for the same agency since the day after I got my CELTA and they treat me well when it comes to handing out the corporate jobs. There has been an upturn in the number of private students looking for intensives to beef up their CV's.
The situation in very tough right now, and a newcomer is not going to get much in terms of steady work, you're going to be running all day to get your hours in, and Madrid is a big city, I spend 2-3 hours per day traveling between jobs, and I only work in the city.
It's ok I guess if you're in your 20's and are looking for new experience and a bit of cash to have fun with, but I would really think thrice about considering it as a long term job option, especially if you want to have any kind of financial security and a life outside of teaching.
Oh and btw there are very few students that can handle a class only in English and it would be a wise move to get some Spanish down, you have to do a lot of explaining of Grammar and vocab to the under C1's in Spanish

[gingermarie]

ITA with the previous poster. Right now the job market is really bad unless you want to teach private classes. There are less classes this year. When I had no experience people were calling me all the time (2-3 years ago) Now, I cant find a job.