Job Discussion Forums

[Mrguay84]

Hi all. I was just wondering if there are job centres and employment agencies in Spain (similar to what we have here in England - where people sign on for benefits and look for work etc.). If so, does anyone know the official name and how they operate - like, would I have to register or can I just pop in and browse/apply for vacancies? It would be an idea to do this whilst I'm over there, just to see what is what. Thanks a lot for any help, info.

[jovencito]

The organisation in Spain is called INEM. If you're looking for teaching jobs they are useless. Look in the local English mags. and papers for teaching work.

[jonniboy]

Spain's current unemployment situation makes the UK look like a Mecca for jobhunters!

As for agencies, there are some international ones like Adecco and Manpower but in contrast to Adecco UK I found them to be completely useless. I'd just completed A-level Spanish when I got there but despite that and 3 years experience, they made me fill in a load of pointless forms. Tellingly though, they didn't ask for a copy of my passport which showed me that they weren't serious about employing me and as expected I never heard anything from them afterwards despite a couple of follow up calls. I also noticed a difference in their reaction to me (body language etc) and their more positive and accommodating attitude to Spaniards. This isn't a slam Spain post as to be fair I've seen the same in reverse in the UK when I took my Latvian girlfriend to a job agency there where, despite her being better qualified, there seemed to be a "locals first" attitude.

Also, I spoke to an English recruitment consultant in Hays Accountancy Personnel in Madrid and she said that Spain just doesn't have the same market for short term work as the UK: there are lots of temporary contracts but these are normally longer term gigs. This was in 2003 when the unemployment rate of 10% was about half what it is now.

[Pauleddy]

There is 20% jobless now, and any jobs AT ALL are snapped up by locals whose dole has run out or who are feeding 6 kids on 300 quid a month. People are now doing jobs like berry picking (tenner a day) which used to be left to gypsies and Moroccans.

INEM has never been good for teaching jobs. When I was in Spain, I dragged myself around the language schools with my CV and I soon got a job (in the good days).

Jonni is right about bias. The spanish are quite parochial and a bit xenophobic. If possible, a job will always be given to a "nice Spanish boy" rather than a "guiri" (foreigner). The Spanish always look after eachother.

Eddy

[Moore]

There's not much point in going to Spanish agencies/job centres unless:

a) your Spanish is excellent
b) you can do something that very few locals can do

...there is still a lot of work here in IT and a fair bit in office based work, but crucially they'll only really look at people whose level is Spanish is very high. Basically they want you as a go-between/interpreter/spokesperson as well as your normal functions. It's pretty much always been that way, and in the crisis even more so.

There are a few companies who base themselves over here in order to pay lower wages to northern Europeans: IBM have their European call centre here for example, and they don't always require a good level of Spanish at the start.

Frankly, teaching is the way forward at the moment, and there's plenty of it about if you look for it (you need to look harder now, but it's still there!). Look online before you arrive and at expat magazines/papers when you're here on the ground: 99% of teaching jobs require you to already be here in any case before considering you.



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[Mrguay84]

Hi guys. Thanks for all the feedback.

It would be teaching English jobs that I'd be looking for, though would of course take almost anything (bar, hotel,voluntary work) as a 'stop-gap' whilst being able to stay in Spain and improve my pretty bad Spanish. Incidentally when does the main ESL teaching term/ recruitment drive generally start in Spain? I'm looking into TEFL courses at the moment but ideally don't want one that finishes in June (do I?) meaning I'll probably have to go back to the UK during the 'dry (jobswise) period' in Spain. I've found a course that finishes on September 18th, but will that be too late?

It seems that the job centres in Spain are even more useless than the UK (with the added disadvantage of my Spanish not being of the required level). I'll probably stay well clear.

[Mrguay84]

Actually, how's this for positive thinking.

I do understand that unemployment is higher now than at any time, and that 20% is pretty damned high.

But employment at 80% is pretty damned higher (sure I wouldn't use that grammar in an ESL class ) , in fact 4 times higher than unemployment if my maths is correct. So why shouldn't someone upwardly mobile be thinking that they should be amongst the 80% rather than thinking negatively???