Job Discussion Forums

[lennon146]

I was in Madrid for a month this autumn to get a feel for the place and am toying with the idea of coming over to look for work before the end of January. I have a BA, CELTA and four years' experience in ESL. I'm also EU. My only question is what the chances are of me finding enough work if I arrive, say, next week? Have I already missed the boat? I've heard from several people that it's been a tough year generally because of the recession. Is anyone on the ground looking for work right now?

[Moore]

This is definitely the second best time of year to arrive: Spanish companies are just getting back to work after "Reyes" (12th Night, the last bit of Christmas for them, and many schools have been closed until this coming Monday (the 11th). Many company classes run January to December, so they will be needing teachers. Also there are always the teachers who just don't come back after Christmas who need to be replaced too.

With your papers, experience and qualifications you'll be fine (if not somewhat overqualified!).

Do bear in mind though that many classes finish at the end of June and don't resume until late September (unpaid of course), and assuming that Janaury is the time you will be ramping up towars a full schedule, then at best you may only have 5 full months of work (not forgetting Easter and the many public holidays there are here, again, unpaid)

Things are slower here than they were before, but really not that bad: the Spanish definitely need to raise their general level of English and there is still a huge market here.


_________________________________________________________________________
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...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com/cvsender/

[RabbitWho]

Can I ask some more questions?

What is the dress code like in most schools in Spain? At the moment I live in the Czech Republic and there is absolutely no dress code (beyond the limits of decency) and that's pretty much the norm.
For the most part I don't mind wearing what they want me to wear at work, I just worry about the summer, I'm really really bad with hot weather (it's minus five outside where I am now and I'm in my element, this is the perfect temperature for me, you can walk around for ages without feeling too hot)
I'm just worried when the hot weather comes if i have to wear a blouse I will sweat out through it. (sorry for the graphic images!)

Is air conditioning as standard? I taught in a school in Ireland during the summer where only one room had air conditioning and all the teachers fought over it.

If i teach in a school where Spanish lessons are not included for English teachers, how much can I expect to pay for lessons?
Is it possible to save money if one never buys anything but necessities?
I'd like to go to back college the year after next and I need to save money for it.

Can you recommend me good books (or a good support online forum!) for learning Spanish?

I have almost the same qualifications as the original poster except a CELT instead of a CELTA (same hours in course, same modules, same requirements for passing) and 2 years experience instead of 4.

I was in Madrid before and adored it.. but I met the rudest people i'd ever met in my life, of course i didn't speak a word of Spanish so I didn't resent them for being rude to me (coming into their country and expecting them to understand my invented semafore and smatterings of English and German.. except for when I proudly asked for "kellos" when I wanted stamps) .. that was to be expected.. what was not unfair was when a hotel called "HOTEL HI TECH" or something along those lines claimed that both I and the other people in my group had had breakfasts every morning (some people just two mornings, some 3 or 4) that week at 10 euro per breakfast and therefore we each owed them quite a lot of money.. apparently.. When we refused to pay (as only two of us had had any breakfast) they phoned the police who arrived with guns and full riot gear and insisted (insisted is a polite word) that we pay, our plane leaving in an hour and a half and them knowing this, we didn't have much choice.. so yeah.. don't ever stay there.. Anyway our teacher wrote the cheque (did I mention we were a bunch of kids on a school tour? I say "kids" but the youngest of us was 17 and a few of the girls were crying, so that counts for something) which later bounced and I'm not sure if i'll be arrested upon re-entry to the country. We'll see.

Heh so the point of that story was. 1. don't stay in hotel high tech or anything with a similar name and 2. Does speaking Spanish (or trying to) make people treat you a little nicer? I'll settle for anything less than having a gun pointed at me. heh

But anyway I'm really excited about the prospect of going back there, it really is such a beautiful city.

Sorry about all the TTT, looking forward to reading your replies!

[mozzar]

The summer is really, really hot in Madrid. Pretty much you will sweat in anything you wear as you walk to classes is the unfortunate reality. The dress code for women is to look a bit smart but the female teachers in my company wear jeans, compared to the men in shirts and ties.

If you're lucky to get a good timetable you can save money. I'm doing 25 hours per week which is enough to pay for the basics, plus a masters and Spanish lessons. But during summer it will all die down and you'll be back to having very little, if any, work.

You'll most likely be teaching in companies which have air conditioning, but you will have to travel between companies in the day. It's a little bit of hell.

[RabbitWho]

I don't mind the lack of work in the summer as I'd happily just go home and prepare for college.
How hot are we talking? are September/October - May contracts possible?
I was in Spain once in July as a child and I remember being so hot i couldn't move and spending a week and a half lying in bed, unable to do anything, and having 5 cold showers a day. it was like the flu but much worse. No way I could work in that, I am really sensitive to the heat, even Irish summers are too hot for me.

What about Barcelona? Cool breezes from the sea? I heard the demand for teachers is lower... Any big cities on the north coast in need of English Teachers? *just looked this up, June in Madrid... 40 degrees.. I would die. I would actually die. 30 in Barcelona, not too bad, so unless i can get a contract that allows me to go home early then Madrid is out,

How important is it that I'll only have beginners Spanish?
I know in Germany that without German you will not get a job, but I've a good bit of experience preparing students for FCE and even CAE so that might stand to me.

[Moore]

In terms of heat, Barcelona is a bit cooler, but it is also very humid and muggy in summer (and can get rather damp in winter): if you can get down to the sea then you're ok, but your classes are usually away from the beach. Also it's pretty hilly there, so that can add to the effect, epescially if you get to all your classes by bike which is what I did when I lived there.

The heat in Madrid is a dry heat, and so transmits cold or heat less efficiently than the air in Barcelona, so in some ways as long as you wrap up in winter and stick to the shade in summer it can be more pleasant, depending on what you prefer.





_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com

...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com/cvsender/

[RabbitWho]

What I got from that is.. I probably wouldn't survive the heat in either city heh.
Looking around the north coast now.