Hello everyone. This is my first post on this site, which is quite awesome (the site that is). Much like other visitors to this particular thread, my friends and I have been looking for temporary jobs in Spain, Madrid in particular. We have come up to many roadblocks though. However, with one company in particular, Verno Art, we have been given jobs. While I am quite thankful to have found a position, I am concrned that this my be almost too good to be true. Do any of you know much about this company? Any help is appreciated.

Further, we may need a place to stay when we first get into the city, does nayone know of good hostels, or apartments for short-term rental? Thank you.

For acommodation, try looking in the lodging thread, you'll see plenty of ideas/places!

As far as the company... did you try looking it up on the web? What is the company? Are they processing visas for you and your friends? What is your job supposed to be? A little more information may help.

Espe,
Thank you for the reply. I have looked at the other thread and it looks like it will give us some god leads.

What sounds "too good to be true" is that this company is claiming to give us: a car for the week (when we will go out and sell this artwork around spain), lodging throughout the week while we are gone, and an apartment in Mardrid where we can stay on the weekends, and they will give it to us for about $30 per person/week. Plus, we will be paid on top of it. To me, it sounds just a little sketchy. I am hoping someone may have heard of the company, or they know more about the job offer. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

Be prepared, if that's all that there is... sounds like you're going to be there illegally. Why they're hiring someone from abroad to go over there and sell artwork I don't understand. You still haven't provided much information... how long is it supposed to be for?!

And they have no website!?!?!? Hmmm, I'm thinking you should go with your first instincts!

This company wants to hire you and your friends illegally.

If they were going to hire you, they would ask you for some personal data to issue your visa. I know because my company recently hired a Mexican guy.

Be careful!!!

Espe and Carmen, thank you once again for the help.

There is a website for this company, it is www.verno.com . The website does give me some hope about the job, as it is a global company with high quality products.

My uneasiness comes with the immediate response to an email inquiry by the manager in Madrid and the subsequent open-ended job offer.

I was under the impression that U.S. citizens are allowed to work in Spain for 90 days, and if they then continue to work, it will be illegal. Is this true? We plan to stay in Madrid for 90 days or less, and our contact with the company knows our intentions as well.

We are bringing experience to the table. Each of us has a degree in marketing, with experience in sales. We have all lived in Europe, and can all speak Spanish well, but not fluently.

But, I am trying to stay very cautious, and try to leave other doors open.... So, anybody hiring?

thanks for the help.

Zag, it may be a global company, but they're still trying to hire you under the table! I tried looking up the website and there was nothing. If you have experience in Marketing you should also realize that because the internet goes EVERYWHERE, many companies trying to be clever market themselves as global just because they're on the internet. It doesn't mean that they're really that big, they could be, but you're never going to know if it is or if its just 2 people working from a closet. There are other things about this place that set off red flags, but first let me clarify the Visa issue for you.

The 90 day thing- no US citizens only have what is considered a Tourist Visa. This is a complementary time period (3 months/90 days) that you can be in Spain for non-lucritive purposes. Although its called a Tourist Visa, its not necessary to do any paperwork for these 90 days, you only need your passport. It allows you to be a Tourist! That's it! You could even take a language course, but if you go over those 90 days without the proper visa- in which now the tourist visa is no longer valid after this time, you need a student visa (in the case of a language program for example that would last longer than those 90 days) or a work visa- Student Visas are fairly easy to get, Work Visas however, take a long time and are a nightmare.

The fact that your Spanish is ok, but not fluent, and that you're supposed to be selling this artwork to people makes it even more suspicious- since you wouldn't meet the requirement for the company to apply for a work visa for you as you have nothing extra that an ordinary Spanish or EU citizen wouldn't have (meaning even if you have marketing/sales experience, people there do too, you need to have skills or knowledge above and beyond what a person there may have.) Also as you said, his quick response... that never happens!

So do what you're going to do. Sounds like you're going to do it anyway, legal or not, so good luck and I hope you get your money!

Thanks once again for the post. The website should have worked, i got to it from the link in my last message, and I know that google.com pulls it up under the search of "verno art".

I see where you are coming from with your points, and they are well taken. My friends and I are trying to put together backup plans a-z, so this thing with the art company is by no means set in stone. We merely hope to have a great time in Spain, and from what it sounds like, there should be no proble doing so. Thanks again.

ZAG_4_Life,

The web page works now. If you click on http://www.verno.com/contact.asp , you get all their offices. I´m afraid there is no office in Madrid. The only office in Spain is located in Barcelona.

BTW, I don´t doubt this company exists, I doubt they would want to hire you legally.

If I were you, and being interested as you are, I would call the office in the USA, and try to find out more info. Even if it is a multinational company, the Spanish branch might be hiring people this way (I´m certain it´s something illegal), and if it´s not you, it will be someone else who gets hired. Maybe the other offices don´t know about this practise.

Or... you can ask the guy hiring you in Verno Spain to send you a letter explaining under which conditions you will be hired. It´s very normal in Spain (if the company is a serious one) to write a letter to you that you sign, saying that both parts commit themselves to a future contract, before the actual contract is ready to be signed and you start working. Since you are coming from abroad, they should do this, just to start the relationship on the proper way. But I sincerely doubt they do it. That would be the proof that they want to do something illegal.