Hello, everyone! I'm new to this website and think it's awesome. I'm looking for some advice on living and working in Spain. A friend of mine is starting a language program on October 1 for four weeks. She will live with a family in Seville. I want to join her and continue to live in Spain for a year. However, I would need to find a job and a place to stay. I'm giving up a pretty decent job and apartment in Philadelphia, but it's my dream to live in Spain. I have a college degree in Communications, four years post-grad working experience in my field, and 16 years of babysitting experience (I love kids). I prefer to live with a Spanish-speaking family. What are my chances of finding a job? I'm open to anything as long as I make enough to provide the essentials (shelter, food, etc.).

Just to clarify...I want to live and work in Spain legally. I've looked into being an au pair, which under Spanish law, requires me to attend school and obtain a student visa. However, I would like to know what other options are out there. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

To live and work in Spain legally you will have to obtain a visa. Contact the Spanish Consulate/Embassy for your area to find out what you'll need. I was ready to start the process earlier this year, but my mother-in-law became ill and we were told that her daughter moving home would be too much excitement for here to handle.

As far as work goes, I know many Americans who are teaching English there.

Good luck to you.

Take some time and do a SEARCH (you'll find the search feature under Post A Reply on the right hand side of your screen). There is a wealth of info on living in Spain and getting a job. After you have had a chance to go through some of the info you should have a better idea of what you are faced with and some solid questions - we'll all do our best to help answer those. Good luck!

hi everyone, we {my partner} and i are new to this site. we desperately want to move to spain. I am a qualified nurse for people with a learning disability and despite extensive searches on the web cannot find anything appropriate. we would appreciate any advice anyone can offer. thanks

Hello bucks! Welcome to our Spain-loving forum!

While I'm only guessing, I imagine your specific kind of nursing experience would be more difficult to match in Spain. EDIT: I WAS going to offer the website http://www.nursingspain.com because it was mentioned in this forum before but apparently it's now owned by a domain name registration company. Ugh! Good luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi bucks... My wife and I knew a couple a few years back that came here to live in Madrid. He was Spanish. She was from New Jersey. She had a nursing degree and was working steadily in Jersey before they moved. She looked for a nursing position for about 6 months and never found one. The couple returned to the US really frustrated shortly afterwards.

I don't know all of the particulars about 'how' you get a job nursing here in Spain and I'm sorry to post some info that's not positive (that's not my style....), but I think that you probably should know that you might find yourself in a difficult field.

Now.....putting my positive chip back in again... I'm sure, given your immeasurable talents, that you'll have no problem at all. Best of luck!!

Just wanted to give everyone an update...I'm joining my friend in Sevilla for the five-week language program. I leave the U.S. on September 27, just two weeks away! I've spent hours reading threads on this website, particularly those that discuss living and working in Spain. I must say that some of the posts were disheartening - it's obviously very difficult to get a EU work visa.

Surprisingly, many people at my current job have been to Spain and I'm getting lots of free and well-appreciated advice. I'm using every connection and contact I have to help in my job search. I'm not a spontaneous person by any standard, so the fact that I'm hopping on a plane to a foreign country without a job waiting for me is very out of character! But I'll never know what could happen unless I do it, right?

When I have good news, I'll share it here! Best of luck to everyone who is in the same boat!

mercdrag--
Yes, definitely keep us aprised of your happenings as you embark on your great adventure in Sevilla.
I am interested to know what kind of work you find. I too am looking to move to Sevilla to live and work in the near future.
Can you email me and let me know how you are going about your job search? Maybe we could provide each other with connections and contacts. We have similar work experience & years of service. Email me at pepesarah17@cs.com. I tried to send you a private message, but you're not set up that way.

Mucha suerte y felicidades!

Sarita

Bucks

I remember seeing a tv prog here in London a year or 2 ago which looked at the number of Spanish docs and nurses that were coming to the UK. Apparently they have more than enough to go round, while we are just the opposite, so los of them were coming here. I don't know if that's still the situation, but as tonytorero suggests, I think it might be a tough field to find work in. Then again, you are qualified in a specialist area, so that could help I guess.

I don´t mean to be discouraging, but.... I have been living in Madrid for almost 2 yrs now..I first worked for a UK company which was great and gave me a chance to get my Spanish up to speed but about 4 mo ago the co. decided to stop building here and sort of left me hanging. My wife is spanish so that was never a real problem just a real hassle. I am returning to the US next week after beling away for 11 yrs to work and I may be returning to Spain in 6mos depending on how things go. I mean being able to have jamon any time you want is certainly worth the trouble and those fresh cañas..ummmm with the seafood boy I am certainly going to miss a few thing here. But one thing to remember the Spanish like to hire Spanish no matter how good you or you qualifications are. Look for foreign companies especially if you speak spanish, since the spanish do not really speak any languages(kind of like the US and the UK)this would be a real advantage. By the way, make sure you have savings since the "inem" or unemployment is practically non-existant. Good luck and just keep thinking about the jamon!