Job Discussion Forums

[ezd]

hey,

i am completely new to this field but want to move to spain at some point during this year or at the end of this year to begin teaching. i am either going to get my certification in san francisco or spain. i don't have any teaching experience but some managerial and sales experience and volunteer mentoring experience (which i am continuing). i've searched the forum but haven't found anything about what the semester system is (similar to the detailed info on argentina) and when the best time to come and look for a job is. it seems like you can come at any time to madrid and there will always be jobs. i will have an eu passport (dual citizenship - father born in italy) when i arrive.

my questions are will the eu passport make it easier to find work then my american passport? also when is the best time to look for work? do the sites mentioned on "www.madridteacher.com" -

"The British Language Centre",
"Hyland Language Centre"
"International House Madrid"

really hire people right out of their CELTA programs at the wages mentioned on the site (1000-1200 eu)? finally, will teaching in madrid allow me to finish a screenplay i'm working on, learn spanish, and still be an effective teacher (looking at a two year time window)?

i know that's a lot of questions and any help or reference threads to look up would be greatly appreciated.

thanks, ezd

[Moore]

Well, there�s always a bit of work in Madrid, but the best time to come is in October. Don�t come in July or August as Spanish cities more or less close down and everyone heads for the pool/beach.

The EU passport will make things a lot easier, and also you will also be able to nip off to the UK to do summer camp teaching while the Spanish are all on holiday.

1000-1200 euros is realistic, but that�s in a full month, and there are public holidays every five minutes here, for which you may or may not get paid: no summer pay anywhere. I�ve been teaching for a long time in many countries, and the money and conditions here are atrocious: nice place though.

Experience-wise, lots of people come here without and all seem to do OK.

Save up as much cash as you can before you come, come in October, and you�ll be fine.

[ezd]

hey moore,

thanks for the info. it looks like i'll be arriving in january. from reading the board it seems this is also a good time to arrive. i have to say that a lot of posts here and on other sites make madrid/spain seem like such a difficult place to survive/live. are people always scrambling to find work, a place to live, etc. or do you actually get settled in at some point and begin enjoying the culture and atmosphere?

i'm still not sure where i am going to do the celta/tesol training. there is a good part-time program here in san francisco (transworld schools) but it seems to make more sense to get training in spain and make connections there. i guess i'll have to do some investigating.

thanks again,
ezd