Job Discussion Forums

[JRJohn]

I was looking at stuff online about Spain, and these young Americans were going on in a video about how lucky they were that their CELTA course in Madrid included a one year student visa. Is that even possible? I am not sure. It seems like a scam. I do know that there are programmes like MEDDEAS and BEDA which place teachers in Spanish schools as language assistants. They are genuine, and

not scams, but there are some issues with them. The good news for Americans is that these programmes will give you a student visa for a year, and you will have enough free time to add in private classes with students, and this without any private academy acting as middlemen (you'll need the extra money). I would recommend that people Americans go to www.tefl.com and search for teaching assistant jobs in state schools as a way of getting their foot in the door. It's almost the only way to get a visa.

When I was in the Far East, one of my friends got an offer online. An organization would arrange her visa and a job if she would pay a fee. They needed more money to hire a lawyer to process the visa. I told her that this was obviously a scam.

Lastly, I want to warn people against being starry-eyed about Spain. If I had an okay job with sensible hours, I could really love that country. But the hours and salary might not be okay. Recently I watched a documentary about Gibraltar's fight to remain British. Gibraltar is a British enclave on the southern tip of Spain. When Franco was in power, some Spanish people working in Gibraltar had the right to remain there, if they chose. But even though they were living in squalid conditions they said it was not too high a price to pay for becoming British. In fact there are many Spanish people who live in Spain but Gibraltar is the only place they can find work, and so they work there.. The Gibraltarians are determined to remain British, even now, and refuse to be ruled by Spain.

This brings me to my point. Yes, it is possible to have lots of fun in Spain, but the country has major problems, and Spanish employers have a history of exploiting their staff.