Job Discussion Forums

[eekstr17]

Hey everyone I am looking at a program sponsored by the Spanish government to be a teaching assistant in Madrid. They pay 631 euros a month after taxes. I am only required to work 12 hours per week, Mon-Thurs. I am hoping to try and pick up some extra hours doing private tutoring. Will I be able to live comfortably in Madrid on these wages??



Here is a link to the program if anyone is interested, it seems like a good deal for North Americans cause you don't need an EU passport.
http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml

[Moore]

It depends when those hours are: a teachers best hours are 8-9:30 am, then 1 to 4pm, then 6 to 8pm. This is when most students are more or less free and can take classes. Also it depends where you are doing those hours: if you are required to be in some school all day somewhere, then that will severely restrict your options, only allowing you to teach for yourself on weekends, which will be too tiring to sustain.

If you are able to do part time hours, you should be able to get anything from 15 to 20 euros an hour for private classes, depending on your experience (though obviously it will take some time to build these hours up, and any holidays will not be paid)

631 euros on its own is not enough to live on in Madrid: a small room costs 300 a month, and the golden rule is that your accommodation should never be more than 1/3 of your salary, otherwise you will hit problems.

The good news is that there's a ton of work over here in Madrid, so if you do have time to teach, there will be hours out there for you to do.

[jonniboy]

631 euros is definitely not enough to live on anywhere in Spain nevermind Madrid where costs are higher. As a bare minimum you'd need 1000 a month in Madrid and even that would only allow you a very basic lifestyle. I'd aim for about 1500 a month if I were in Madrid.

Factors you need to bear in mind are that teaching work drops off in the Summer months so you'd need to either have enough money to support yourself during that time, save a quarter of your salary each month for the Summer or fly home each Summer.

I'm not certain whether you'd be able to work at other academies with that. You'd have a NIE (Registration number) which would be a big help.

[Nicmelide]

I�m doing something similar in Galicia, and managing ok on 620euro a month, but thats because life is pretty cheap up here! I pay 150 a month for a shared flat, but from friends I think madrid will be about double that. I have classes in an acadeny 3 nights a week as a bit of extra income, but remember to factor in travel time - commuting takes up a lot of my day, and I wouldn't want to teach much more than the 9 hours I do at night or I'd have no free time (for spanish lessons and practice as well as all the tapas eating etc ). Depends how much free time you want really...
Re your assistants job, if it's similar to mine you wil have min. 12 yours in class, but they might not all be together, it totally depends on your school and how they organise it. mine is great, I only work 4 mornings a week, but I know others are less helpful and could keep you hanging around between classes all day...
Good luck!

[amynick]

Hi there! I am actually in malaga right now doing the same program that you are asking about. With 631 euros I am pretty much scraping by everymonth after rent and food and of course some spending. Luckily what has saved me are the tutoring classes that I give during the week. It great for extra pocket money and for me it�s really fun so it doesn�t even seem like working! But I imagine that the cost of living in malaga is quite cheaper than in madrid. I really recommend your acceptance of the job if you get offered, but I recommend even more to work your booty off during the summer to save up some extra cash. What hit me the hardest were the first 2-3 months- having to pay a deposit for an apt and not getting paid until the end of october was really rough. I have had a really great experience being here and I am actually now getting ready to head back to the US in June. It�s a unique opportunity for Americans and if you can, you should totally give it a try!

[sheikh radlinrol]

It depends how long you intend to exist on such a paltry amount. It's ok for a while but if you intend to do things like buy a house, car or even new shoes or clothes, forget it.

[wildnfree]

How can I find out information on this teaching assistant role?