Job Discussion Forums

[ajnabiyya]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about English teaching jobs in private secondary schools or private universities in Spain, particularly in the Madrid area. (I understand that Spanish public schools are near-impossible for foreigners to teach in, so I won't even go there.) Specifically I am wondering how difficult these positions are to get for non-Spaniards, how well (or poorly) they pay, what the requirements generally are, and what the best way is to find such a position.

I am American but I am married to a Spanish citizen, so I should be able to get work papers before applying to schools. Again, I am _not_ looking for a school to sponsor me or to work illegally; I will get my work permit through my spouse. My qualifications are four years teaching English and Spanish at a public middle school in the US, one year teaching ESL at a public university in the US, a masters in TESOL from a well-regarded American university, and a California teaching credential. Oh, and I am a native speaker of English and fluent in Spanish.

I really appreciate any input anyone has to offer. I have been researching this for awhile but most of what I have found is on the private language institutes, which isn't what I'm looking for at this point in my life. I know that the vast majority of the ESL work for foreigners in Spain is in those institutes, but I'd really like to work in a more traditional classroom setting.

Thank you so much!
- Lauren

[spiral78]

I can't offer much in the way of specific information for you, but I would say that you're highly likely to find a good position once you GET to Spain.

You've got all the right qualifications to get the better positions that do come up - the kicker, though, will be that you need to be there, on the ground, making contacts at the international and private schools, to be considered for the rare openings that come up.

In your case, I'd expect to start out doing whatever jobs are easily available (probably private language schools) while you research and make contacts at the better places.

Best of luck - you'll certainly be fine, I think.

[SirKirby]

Here in Barcelona that would also be the case -- you'd almost certainly finish up working in a language school, hoping that an opening in the sort of school you are looking for would eventually come up: they do, but are very rare.