[Cappa]

Hello All,

I posted on these forums about a year ago that I wanted to move to Spain, as of this time I have not but am still highly desiring it. The biggest thing holding me back is my fear of not being able to find work. To give a quick run down of my situation of what I feel are positives to moving towards Spain and negatives.

- I was born and raised in the USA but I have Spanish citizenship thanks to my parents, so I have a DNI, a Spanish passport and a Spanish bank account as well.

- I speak and write fluently in Spanish.

- I have family and many friends already in Spain, I'm young 25, don't have a girlfriend, kids or anything.

- I would not need to worry about housing or rent.

- I am 100 and 10% positive I want to move to Spain, I've always felt like I should have been raised there and would not have second thoughts about leaving the USA.

- I've applied to various jobs(infojobs.net) with no luck so if I do go to live it'd be likely without having a job but on the other hand I feel as if the reason why I do not get alot of responses for jobs is because they see that I live in America and despite me being a Spanish citizen may not take me seriously.

- I do not want to go to Madrid or Barcelona, I'd want to go to my home province of Galicia where I know full well they are much worse off than many other provinces but it is where I have my family and friends.

- I have a fairly stable and great job now that pays fairly well if I leave to Spain and it does not work out and I would need to come back who's to say I would find something again?

- I never finished my college degree but I do have what I believe invaluable job experience in my field which is in Transportation Logistics(Importing/Exporting), but I do not know what's more important in Spain? Job experience or educational degree?


So basically, with more or less what I posted does anyone know what's stopping me? I just want some kind of push as to what should I do? I'm really scared about not finding a job but like I stated above unless I live in the country I doubt anyone would hire me..

I don't mind taking on some kind of job like waiter, store clerk, or whatever until I find a better job in my field. I would want to move to Vigo, Spain(which has a fairly large port) and I think would be helpful in finding something in my field of logisitics(I currently work in a very large port here in America).

How much money should I save up before going, if I do go? Is 800 euros a month(taking into account not having to pay for rent) more than enough or not enough?

I am sorry for the rambling lol, I won't make this any longer but I hope to hear answers from someone soon.

 

[donz]

I am not going to say whether you should stay or come here but I would recommend a years back up money to cover everything.

ANY job is not easy to find here and you mention your area is hit particularly badly.

Is it worth you asking your company if you can take a sabbatical?

 

[xabiaxica]

I am not going to say whether you should stay or come here but I would recommend a years back up money to cover everything.

ANY job is not easy to find here and you mention your area is hit particularly badly.

Is it worth you asking your company if you can take a sabbatical?

my thoughts exactly

if you can come over & know you have a job to go back to, then why not give it a go?

or even if you feel that you'd get another job easily if you did go back - you haven't much to lose

if you think it would be hard to get a job if you had to return - then think again

 

[Brangus]

What specific degree were you pursuing and how long would it take to finish it?

I never finished my college degree but I do have what I believe invaluable job experience in my field which is in Transportation Logistics(Importing/Exporting), but I do not know what's more important in Spain? Job experience or educational degree?

 

[Pesky Wesky]

my thoughts exactly

if you can come over & know you have a job to go back to, then why not give it a go?

or even if you feel that you'd get another job easily if you did go back - you haven't much to lose

if you think it would be hard to get a job if you had to return - then think again

I'd say the same, with the addition of start looking for work now. When you send an application saying that you'll be arriving in Spain shortly and will be available for an interview or tell them that you'll be available for a skype interview. Alternatively send your cv to companies saying that you'd like to set up an interview for XXX when you'll be in Spain.
However, in all honesty it'll probably be very difficult and you might find that you'll be more successful using the contacts that your family has in the area

 

[Cappa]

Thanks everyone for the answers I'm going to just answer everyone in one post.

I was studying International Buisness I've completed what we call in the US an Associate's Degree which is essentially two years of University which doesn't mean much over here, so technically I have two years of school left but I'd more than likely be going "part-time" so two years could very well be 4 or 5.

In all applications and cover letters I've sent I've stated something to the degree of "I have housing in Spain and am looking to relocate. My availability is of the immediate nature as I am simply waiting on finding a job before I relocate" I also make sure to mention that I am a Spanish-EU citizen. Out of perhaps 10-15 applications I've sent I've gotten maybe one response and a Skype interview with a "headhunter" for various companies. She said I was very qualified especially for my age but she said that honestly it'd be very hard for a company to give me work being in another country despite my immediate availability to move.

As for having work when I come back, well currently I work at my mother's job. She helped me get into here(previous to that I had been working in NYC for a fairly large Import/Export company). So while it would not be "guaranteed" I would have something if I ever had to come back I've been lucky enough to make plenty of connections here with my job experience so I wouldn't be to hard hit.

As for those stating to "bring a year's worth of savings" what would be a year's worth of savings in a region like Galicia in terms of Euros?

 

[Solwriter]

Thanks everyone for the answers I'm going to just answer everyone in one post.

I was studying International Buisness I've completed what we call in the US an Associate's Degree which is essentially two years of University which doesn't mean much over here, so technically I have two years of school left but I'd more than likely be going "part-time" so two years could very well be 4 or 5.

In all applications and cover letters I've sent I've stated something to the degree of "I have housing in Spain and am looking to relocate. My availability is of the immediate nature as I am simply waiting on finding a job before I relocate" I also make sure to mention that I am a Spanish-EU citizen. Out of perhaps 10-15 applications I've sent I've gotten maybe one response and a Skype interview with a "headhunter" for various companies. She said I was very qualified especially for my age but she said that honestly it'd be very hard for a company to give me work being in another country despite my immediate availability to move.

As for having work when I come back, well currently I work at my mother's job. She helped me get into here(previous to that I had been working in NYC for a fairly large Import/Export company). So while it would not be "guaranteed" I would have something if I ever had to come back I've been lucky enough to make plenty of connections here with my job experience so I wouldn't be to hard hit.

As for those stating to "bring a year's worth of savings" what would be a year's worth of savings in a region like Galicia in terms of Euros?

You are asking whether it would be possible to live on 800 euros a month. I don't know whether that is a realistic figure for living in Galicia and not needing to rent, but if it is, then multiply that by 12 at least = 960 euros. So rounding up, that would be 10000 euros.
At today's rate 1 Euro = 1.33400 U.S. dollars, so 10000 Euros = 13340.0 U.S. dollars.

As Pesky says, I would give prospective employers a date you will be available to work here, rather than telling them you are waiting for employment to move here. It may bring you more success.

In your first post you say you have 'invaluable job experience in my field which is in Transportation Logistics(Importing/Exporting)' and I'm wondering whether that would work in an online field. For that you would need to know everything possible about importing and exporting regulations in Spain, but if you did, there may be international companies who sell to Spain who would be interested in your skills.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

[Cappa]

thanks for the response the 800 euros was just a ball park figure I saw thrown out on this forum in another thread.. I make 800 euros in roughly a week's worth of salary here even with the exchange rate so I feel I like I can save up a decent amount of chunk of change before heading out there. I also am lucky enough to have some savings account set up in Spain if ever need be.

As for the tip as to giving employers a date I'd be available to work there would perhaps be better. I have heard that the process can take as long as 3-6 months for them to hire someone which I find insane lol

 

[fergie]

Hi,
Have you tried contacting International Removal companies, like Interdean, Crown, Pickfords, and possibly many more if you google them, for a job co-ordinating, I should imagine with your background and 2 fluent languages it is worth trying. Good Luck.

 

[Cappa]

Hi,
Have you tried contacting International Removal companies, like Interdean, Crown, Pickfords, and possibly many more if you google them, for a job co-ordinating, I should imagine with your background and 2 fluent languages it is worth trying. Good Luck.

I have not but thank you very much appreciate the suggestion, I'll research this for sure.

THank you again.

 

[fergie]

Co-ordinating international moves can be a quite interesting job, I have only experienced it from the customer end a few times with different firms, but had to communicate with different people in the offices, at various stages of our moves. ideally the whole thing, whether by air, sea or land runs smoothly, like clockwork.
Hk was an 'eye opener' I never imagined removal firms could be such big business, as there was always somebody moving in and out of that busy expat community to all parts of the world.
Different people, differing needs, so I should imagine the job in the office is never boring, good people/communication skills,patience, logistics background, willingness to learn more-if required
You are young, find out more about what the firms actually require and maybe go for it, if that is the kind of thing you would like.

 

[Cappa]

Co-ordinating international moves can be a quite interesting job, I have only experienced it from the customer end a few times with different firms, but had to communicate with different people in the offices, at various stages of our moves. ideally the whole thing, whether by air, sea or land runs smoothly, like clockwork.
Hk was an 'eye opener' I never imagined removal firms could be such big business, as there was always somebody moving in and out of that busy expat community to all parts of the world.
Different people, differing needs, so I should imagine the job in the office is never boring, good people/communication skills,patience, logistics background, willingness to learn more-if required
You are young, find out more about what the firms actually require and maybe go for it, if that is the kind of thing you would like.

It definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in. I gave the respective websites a look and they do seem to have some locations in Spain like Madrid/Barcelona. I am more looking for work in the Galicia region but am fully aware that may be much harder than doing looking in a bigger "market area" like Madrid or Barcelona.

My parents keep advising me not to go, keep pointing out the unemployment rate, how the people from there are leaving the country and going to like Chile, Germany, etc to find work I am determined to spend the rest of my life there but it's the constant doubt I keep hearing that is truly deterring me...

 

[Stravinsky]

- I never finished my college degree but I do have what I believe invaluable job experience in my field which is in Transportation Logistics(Importing/Exporting), but I do not know what's more important in Spain? Job experience or educational degree?

Well in this area maybe I have more experience than most here, as Transport & Logistics was my career.
Having employed and interviewed many people over the years I'd have to say it's a cross between experience and personality. It depends on what areas of Transport you are looking at, i.e. European Transport or Worldwide Import & Export. If its the former, then I would say keep trying because EU transport is not rocket science. If it's the latter, then without experience you wont get too far unless you start at the very bottom. You have to know about International Insurance, import taxes etc etc, some of which of course you may be learning about in your International Business Course

 

[Leper]

You live in the land of plenty and the land of opportunity USA. You want to move to the land of vast unemployment and virtually non opportunity (Spain). The economy in Spain is about to collapse; nobody knows if the Euro will be around in a year or so; Spain will probably be a federal state of Germany before this year is out.

No disrespect, but you must be stark raving mad.