Job Discussion Forums

[Iam]

Hi all,

I`m heading to Spain hoping to support myself through TEFL ... I`ve a UK passport, & a Celta, not too much confidence, no experience, no degree, but (thanks to a triumph of dumb luck over ignorance i.e my flat & the UK housing market) enough money to keep me for several months. Speak a bit of Spanish, too.

From what I`ve read on the forums, 14 euros/hr seems the norm, & I understand 25 hrs/wk to be the general working week, once you can get those hours.

That gives a monthly wage of 1600 approx, before taxes at least, & during term time. Outside term time I imagine I`d have to find some other work.

Rents in Barcelona are about the 600/month mark, without sharing.

If taxes are about 30 percent, then approx half my prospective income would go on a flat .... which is much as it was when I was living in the UK, paying a mortgage & council tax etc.

My questions are these :

How naive/seriously wrong are my figures?

What are average wages doing Tefl in Spain? (Not been able to find this searching the forums)

Is accomodation much cheaper/easier to find in Madrid than in Barcelona?

Is it very much easier to find work in Madrid than Barca? I would prefer Barcelona to Madrid, for the proximity to the sea, but suspect it might be more sensible to go to Madrid first for Tefl experience.

I arrive in Spain on Wednesday, so any replies are appreciated. It`s good to plan ahead

Iam.

[Moore]

You're hourly wage isn't far off the mark, but the hours are a bit: basically you've got to factor in cancellations - there'll be a lot, often running at about 10 to 20 percent: some are paid, others not. Eventually if you get yourself up to about thirty hours a week, then you'll end up with twenty five (the problem being that sometimes they'll all want lessons so you're kn*ckered, and others not many at all). When you arrive and for the first couple of months you should count on getting about fifteen hours a week average until you get settled in and work out where to get the best cash and in the most convenient places: don't forget that travelling is very often involved, so for a two hour class you'll often be on public transport for a good hour, sometimes more. The people I know who do a twenty five hour week actually put in long days of "split-shift" hours - two in the morning, then two at lunch, then two in the evening, all with travel and all with lumpy inconvenient gaps laying around which are too small to bother going home but too long to spend hanging around, especially in winter. But all in all, it's not unrealistic to eventually expect 25 hours a week after some slogging around to find it. Also, as you mentioned, there are indeed long gaps between the end of June and the end of September when things pick up again: you may well have to spend that time in the UK teaching summer camp until you find something you can do over here.

In terms of accomodation, I'd personally recommend a flat-share for your first bit: that way you don't have to put down a vast deposit, you're not committed to living in an area you don't really know and have to choose without much knowledge of the city, and hopefully if the people you're living with aren't too wierd then you'll make some valuable contacts too. And also it's cheaper, around 350 for something central.

Personally I live in Madrid and have never lived in Barcelona: I do get the distinct impression that the world and his dog want to go and live in Barcelona making it a bit harder to get work, but they all probably want to live there as it's much more culturally switched on than Madrid and a great deal prettier. But in Madrid people speak Castellano rather than Catallan so that's a bit more useful language wise. There's definitely a load of work here in Madrid, it is a very sociable sort of place, the weather's cold but dry in winter, it is central for travelling to the rest of Spain and Portugal, but it is a bit bricky and dull looking in winter.

I had the same dilemma as you when I arrived, went to Madrid first and settled and have been here over two years and don't regret my decision, and there's always the option of moving now I know the national language.

[Iam]

Thanks Moore,

I�m pleasantly suprised I�m not too far out on my expectations. I arrived in barca yesterday, place looks good, but think I�ll travel about Spain for the remaining two weeks of the old rail pass, stating with Madrid, before making a final decision.

Iam.