# Advice Please



## SAFC (Dec 29, 2012)

Hi, I'm currently a Support Worker in the UK for people with learning disabilities. I was thinking about maybe trying to get a job in Benidorm. I've been told that there's a massive need for English speaking care workers for ex pats over there.

I'm 21 years old and single so I don't need to look after anyone but myself. Basically I just want to know is where to even start? 

Thanks in advance for your help


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

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SAFC said:


> Hi, I'm currently a Support Worker in the UK for people with learning disabilities. I was thinking about maybe trying to get a job in Benidorm. I've been told that there's a massive need for English speaking care workers for ex pats over there.
> 
> I'm 21 years old and single so I don't need to look after anyone but myself. Basically I just want to know is where to even start?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help


:welcome:

if there's a ''massive need for English speaking care workers for ex pats ''over here it's the first I've heard of it - where did you hear it - I'm genuinely interested 

also, your qualifications might not be recognised here

however.....you're young, free & single - if you can afford to come over for a few months & see what you can find then why not - nothing ventured nothing gained & you might be lucky if you're willing to try anything - if not then you can always go back - maybe see if you can get extended leave from your job 'just in case'

better still - google private English speaking healthcare facilities & approach them directly before coming - you'll get an idea at least & maybe get lucky before coming

you do need to bear in mind though that unemployment for your age group is at over 50% here in Spain atm, & there's no state support for newcomers (pretty much none for citizens, either) & if you're here more than 90 days you have to register as resident & for that you have to prove to the govt that you can financially support yourself - so you'd need a contracted job by then (or be able to show a healthy bank balance or regular income from elsewhere)


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

SAFC said:


> Hi, I'm currently a Support Worker in the UK for people with learning disabilities. I was thinking about maybe trying to get a job in Benidorm. I've been told that there's a massive need for English speaking care workers for ex pats over there.
> 
> I'm 21 years old and single so I don't need to look after anyone but myself. Basically I just want to know is where to even start?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help


I would assess the job situation before anything else. You could try looking here
Search Health, Nursing, Social Services Jobs : Health jobs UK (United Kingdom) (United Kingdom), job in health, health job search, nursing jobs, social services jobs, nurse jobs UK (United Kingdom) (United Kingdom), nursing job search medical jobs, m

Jobs in Spain job vacancies Spain work opportunities Spain employment Spain

and there's some useful info here
Work and Jobs in Spain for English Speakers in 2013


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

You are 21 years old, heard that employment was easy to source for your partner in Benidorm and you are looking for work also.

Please dont get offended; this appears to be a post from the most gullible person in Christendom, sorry the universe.

Unemployment is running at 35% on the Costas and likely to get much worse. Furthermore, the Spanish tend to employ their "own" people before even considering people from other countries. Wait for people who will tell you different on here. Perhaps they are just as gullible as you.

Stay in the UK and use Spain for holidays


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Leper said:


> You are 21 years old, heard that employment was easy to source for your partner in Benidorm and you are looking for work also.
> 
> Please dont get offended; this appears to be a post from the most gullible person in Christendom, sorry the universe.
> 
> ...



s/he doesn't have a partner & is looking for work for her/himself - at no point is a partner mentioned :confused2:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Leper said:


> You are 21 years old, heard that employment was easy to source for your partner in Benidorm and you are looking for work also.
> 
> Please dont get offended; this appears to be a post from the most gullible person in Christendom, sorry the universe.
> 
> ...


Excellent advice ...around here unemployment is around 40%.

I thought that the idea that Spain was a sunshine holiday destination where you could pick up a job as easily as a glass of sangria had faded a few years back...

Only yesterday the Daily Maul had a piece about how dire things were in Spain and stated that there may be no real improvement for over a decade. As this rag is widely read in the UK you'd think that the message might -just might - have got home...

Usually, for a young single person, I too would say 'Go for it' but only under certain conditions: either that you have a skill in short supply or you have no skills at all and are willing to do what's called 'menial' work. You also need imo at least a year's supply of 'safety money'.

But the kind of work the OP wants to bring to Spain isn't well-paid, is not really that skilled and I doubt there's much of a clientele around the Benidorm area who could afford to pay a decent wage for that kind of service. Many older people are not that well-off, having retired on meagre pensions at a time when the favourable £ /euro exchange rate made that less important in planning their move.
The cost of living in Spain has risen, inflation and QE has eroded the value of savings and many older people are trapped in property they cannot sell, as we who live here know only too well.

So the advice given by Leper is sound. Stay in the UK where you have a job, where the welfare state will look after you if you lose your job and where if you do lose your job you have more chance of finding another.

Spain is for holidays...


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Certainly go over and have a look around, but *DONT BURN YOUR UK BRIDGES!* If you have work in the UK then dont give it up! 

The first thing you need to do is find a place to stay (hotel, hostel...), book a flight and then see what work is available - as pointed out by the other posters, probably none and regardless of whether you work with expats, you'll need to have a good knowledge of Spanish and the spanish social care system. If you're lucky enough to find something, you'll then need an NIE number, an employment contract and a ss number, which can be obtained from the local police office. Then is the time to look for an apartment, or somewhere to live. but dont do any of that until you have a job and a contract - if you do get that far, then is the time to resign from your UK job - when you have a contract and not before!!

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojo said:


> Certainly go over and have a look around, but *DONT BURN YOUR UK BRIDGES!* If you have work in the UK then dont give it up!
> 
> The first thing you need to do is find a place to stay (hotel, hostel...), book a flight and then see what work is available - as pointed out by the other posters, probably none and regardless of whether you work with expats, you'll need to have a good knowledge of Spanish and the spanish social care system. If you're lucky enough to find something, you'll then need an NIE number, an employment contract and a ss number, which can be obtained from the local police office. Then is the time to look for an apartment, or somewhere to live. but dont do any of that until you have a job and a contract - if you do get that far, then is the time to resign from your UK job - when you have a contract and not before!!
> 
> Jo xxx


Very sound advice, as usual from Jo..

In any case, as you need to prove income of around 6000 euros a year minimum to gain your NIE etc. you must have a contract already signed and sealed.

6000 euros a year is not enough to live on though....


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> *But the kind of work the OP wants to bring to Spain isn't well-paid, is not really that skilled and I doubt there's much of a clientele around the Benidorm area who could afford to pay a decent wage for that kind of service. * .


Just to make a point though, what the OP is talking about is *very *skilled in the UK, and very underpaid. My daughter has been involved in that industry for a few years and has all sorts of qualifications and certification. Yet she gets paid a pittance

So ... as a bit of advice to the OP, Universities in the UK are presently taking places for degrees in Occupational Therapy. In Coventry there are still places, as well as Northampton. Its a good route to take maybe rather than risking a new country at this stage?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> Very sound advice, as usual from Jo..
> 
> In any case, as you need to prove income of around 6000 euros a year minimum to gain your NIE etc. you must have a contract already signed and sealed.
> 
> 6000 euros a year is not enough to live on though....


Mr Pedant here again ....


No, they don't! 

NIE's require NOTHING. It's the residencia that requires proof of earnings etc.


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## jules 123 (Apr 26, 2011)

Stravinsky said:


> Just to make a point though, what the OP is talking about is *very *skilled in the UK, and very underpaid. My daughter has been involved in that industry for a few years and has all sorts of qualifications and certification. Yet she gets paid a pittance
> 
> So ... as a bit of advice to the OP, Universities in the UK are presently taking places for degrees in Occupational Therapy. In Coventry there are still places, as well as Northampton. Its a good route to take maybe rather than risking a new country at this stage?


The Occupational Therapy courses are also funded by the NHS and many students are eligible for a bursary. An absolute gift for anyone interested in working in the health or care industry at a qualified rate.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> Just to make a point though, what the OP is talking about is *very *skilled in the UK, and very underpaid. My daughter has been involved in that industry for a few years and has all sorts of qualifications and certification. Yet she gets paid a pittance
> 
> So ... as a bit of advice to the OP, Universities in the UK are presently taking places for degrees in Occupational Therapy. In Coventry there are still places, as well as Northampton. Its a good route to take maybe rather than risking a new country at this stage?


Apologies...although 'support worker' is a term used a lot these days and in education is often applied to someone who may have no skills, training or qualifications whatsoever.

I think yours is an excellent suggestion. There's bound to be a lot of demand for professionals in that field in the future.


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## SAFC (Dec 29, 2012)

Thanks for your advice! Will try to take it all in!

It's something I've been thinking about for a while. It's not something I'm just gonna jump in too. I knew the current employment was bad in Spain, but didn't think it was to the degree that some of you guys say. 

It's an ambition that may take me a year or two, but I'm willing to give anything a go. I'd rather go for it and fail than not go for it and regret it for the rest of my life.


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## rangitoto (Apr 25, 2011)

mrypg9 
You do not know what you are talking about, looking after Individuals with a Learning Disability is a very skilled Profession, having to know about medications, behaviours, how it affects health, being able to support with personal Care, Communicate and understand Individuals, Unless of course you do everything for them and communicate for them


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

rangitoto said:


> mrypg9
> You do not know what you are talking about, looking after Individuals with a Learning Disability is a very skilled Profession, having to know about medications, behaviours, how it affects health, being able to support with personal Care, Communicate and understand Individuals, Unless of course you do everything for them and communicate for them


I think you'll find she already apologised....


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