# What do you do?



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

I know this has been done before, but not recently and I just wanted an update.
The thing is, the employment situation *is* bad in Spain, much worse than the UK, but many of us are managing to hold down jobs or even start new ones. People ask me a lot about work in Spain and I don't really know what jobs are available to people from the UK, especially for those who don't speak fluent Spanish and / or those without quaifications.
As far as I know there are limited opportunities for temporary work in the hotel trade. Long, Spanish hours and low pay. Enough to live on??
There is teaching English which falls into different categories, the first of which is qualified or unqualified. I'd also say there are other categories of teaching kids or adults, in an academy or self employed, undeclared or declared income... and personally I think that few of them are going to make you enough to keep a single person going long term let alone a family.
There is teaching in an international school. Again limited places, but a better salary I would imagine??
Call gentres??
Gaming industry in Gib, but what kind of work I have no idea.

So, as most of you know, I'm a self employed English teacher, teaching in companies in and around Madrid. This year has been different to the last few as a couple of the companies I had been going to for years went under so I was out on the job market again. I had a lot of interviews for some interesting work in universities, publishers, in company etc and some of it was very well paid, but the work offers seem to get pushed back later and later every year and it's difficult to piece together a timetable before October.

So what about you? 
I know there are few "old gits" out there lounging around not doing much of anything (!!),but if you're working, what are you doing and how's it going??


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

like PeskyWesky I'm a self-employed private tutor, though mostly I teach Spanish to adults now - that's where I found a gap in the market here & over the past 7 or 8 years I've moved from teaching mostly English to Spanish people & helping a few English people with Spanish alongside homework help for English kids attending Spanish schools, to almost exclusively teaching Spanish!

at the moment I'm in the enviable position of having a waiting list for one-to-one classes, although I also do written translation work to supplement my income


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

I guess I'm one of the  "old gits" out there lounging around not doing much of anything (!!) (but only 55).

The crisis put paid to our original plans of having property to renovate and rent out. We are still looking for work but it's very hard.

My wife works part time as a volunteer in a charity shop and we both offer our services (free) at our children's school where we help with conversational English. She takes five-year old children whilst I take 4th ESO (15 ish) and 1st Bachi (16 ish).


... we actually keep quite busy with the above, school runs and maintaining the house and gardens.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

I'm also an 'old git' -  - at 57.

I was recently offered valuable employment as Santa in a children's store in Gibraltar which I considered but decided to turn it down because of the border queue situation. Also I can't stand kids. I also had a suspicion it might be temporary.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I'm also an English teacher, and I have contracted work at a language academy. I teach all ages, from 3 year olds up to retired people, but the bulk of the students are kids between 7-17. I think I work _a lot_ - 24 hours a week of class, 2-4 hours a week of meetings and/or teacher training, plus class prep and correction for another 10-15 hours a week. There's no time for any extra outside work. The hours stink, it's all afternoon and evening work, so I can only spend time with my family at the weekends. My salary has always been supplemental in our house and it would not be enought to support a family although it seems to be enough for the single teachers at the school. It all sounds horrible but I love my work!

Years ago I tried to get work as an English teacher at a private school but no place was interested. My US university degree is not recognized here, it was going to be very expensive and time consuming to have it validated, and so I gave up.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sandra and I do voluntary work but we have both been offered jobs, me as a teacher and she as a receptionist/greeter in a Marbella beauty salon.

So if we needed work that is what we would be doing.mm,as it is we're both old gits...


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## elisa31bcn (Jan 23, 2013)

I am a professional musician, pianist. The move to Barcelona was difficult the first year, making contacts, etc, but now I am quite comfortable. I make a nice living, between clubs, private functions, concerts, and teaching. I give private classes in my home, and work at a Conservatory one day a week. My husband is an automotive engineer, and works outside Barcelona, but I rent my own apt/studio downtown for classes, rehearsals, and practice.
I don't have the income that I had in the States, but I also don't have the expenses, mainly car-related. And what I have gained in quality of life can't be measured in monetary terms.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I certainly qualify as an old git and the plan when we moved here was to have quality time with our son and then lounge by the pool with brandies and G&Ts. We do have the quality time with the boy but during our first year we met an English teacher who needed support so I offered to help. Since then I have been teaching English, mostly these days to Spanish teachers who wish to learn or improve their spoken English. I also teach maths to students at international schools where the tuition is dire. My wife loves gardening so we now have three villas where we look after and landscape the gardens. In June, July and August it is very tough work because of the heat. We also look after another four apartments for holiday rentals. My wife also cleans our parents houses once a week each. I have a government pension so I would have to say that although we don't earn anything like as much as we did in UK, our lifestyle is considerably better and healthier (apart from the brandy) than it ever was in England. After all our costs are considered we save quite a bit each month, something we were never really able to do in UK...


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

kalohi said:


> I'm also an English teacher, and I have contracted work at a language academy. I teach all ages, from 3 year olds up to retired people, but the bulk of the students are kids between 7-17. I think I work _a lot_ - 24 hours a week of class, 2-4 hours a week of meetings and/or teacher training, plus class prep and correction for another 10-15 hours a week. There's no time for any extra outside work. The hours stink, it's all afternoon and evening work, so I can only spend time with my family at the weekends. My salary has always been supplemental in our house and it would not be enought to support a family although it seems to be enough for the single teachers at the school. It all sounds horrible but I love my work!
> 
> Years ago I tried to get work as an English teacher at a private school but no place was interested. My US university degree is not recognized here, it was going to be very expensive and time consuming to have it validated, and so I gave up.



I'm in a similar situation. I'm "self-employed" but work with an organization. I work with students of all ages. Right now I am subbing for a colleague and I leave home at 9 am and don't get back until 10 pm. It's a lot of work but I'm the main breadwinner and we have a new house, new cars, and no children. Someone has to pull in the money! On top of that, I do online freelance writing so... I have no life. (I'm also under 30, so, well, it's that time in my life.) When I'm not subbing, two days a week it's leave at 9, get back at 10, and three days I only work afternoon-night. 

My Canadian degree is recognized/validated here and I have a teaching certificate (Máster en Formación del Profesorado) which allows me to work in a private or public school. At this point in my life and having worked in both private and public schools, I prefer the "self-employed" work that I'm doing, despite the insane hours.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

We are retired, but get frequent requests to teach conversational English, which we decline to do. 

Yes I too am an old git.


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## goingtobcn (Sep 9, 2012)

Another English teacher here 

After getting my English teaching qualificiation, I worked at a language school in London for a couple of years before moving here, so decided to set myself up as self-employed when we arrived. I now have a full timetable of private students, but of course it took time to build it up. I couldn't have done it without hubby's stable income (and his help making my website :lol and obviously there is no holiday/sick pay. I love my job and students though, and being my own boss is pretty cool  At the moment the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. As others have said, I work fairly long hours: generally start teaching late morning and finish in the evening, plus planning and travel time. I am registered as autónomo and so my lessons are more expensive than many others I've seen advertised, but as I said, I've built it up and for me there was never any question of not doing things "properly".

My students are all now adults (I did teach a couple of kids last academic year): the youngest is almost 18 and the oldest is over 70, but most are around 30. I have all levels from elementary to proficiency and do some Business and Exam Prep as welll.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

At 72, I am probably the senior old-git or Meldrew as I have been called in the past.

I am a "support worker, dog walker, laundryman, occasional cook, etc."

SWMBO (54) is on contract (24 hours p.w.) to teach at a local private academy (4-17 y.o.) but occasionally with adult groups. She also has a few private students (kids who don't do well in classroom environments - ADHD, etc.) plus does translations and interpreting jobs, especially medical which is one of her areas of expertise plus she does the secretarial work of an ophthalmologist in UK. My support role in this is checking letters, creating visual aids, copying, scriptwriting, scenery making and props for the kids' end-of-year plays at the academy, and anything else I can't get out of.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Ok, so a few self confessed "old gits" and English teachers...
Where are the IT crowd, people who have set up shops, B&Bs, bars, tattoo parlours, market stalls - all enquiries that we've had on the forum.
Also people interested in setting ice cream or other food vans, driving instructors, even a policeman once.
People involved in the care of others, nurses...
Are there any of these professions represented here on the forum?
If so, how are you getting on?
Affected or not by the economics of Spain??


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

kalohi said:


> I'm also an English teacher, and I have contracted work at a language academy. I teach all ages, from 3 year olds up to retired people, but the bulk of the students are kids between 7-17. I think I work _a lot_ - 24 hours a week of class, 2-4 hours a week of meetings and/or teacher training, plus class prep and correction for another 10-15 hours a week. There's no time for any extra outside work. The hours stink, it's all afternoon and evening work, so I can only spend time with my family at the weekends. My salary has always been supplemental in our house and it would not be enought to support a family although it seems to be enough for the single teachers at the school. It all sounds horrible but I love my work!
> 
> Years ago I tried to get work as an English teacher at a private school but no place was interested. My US university degree is not recognized here, it was going to be very expensive and time consuming to have it validated, and so I gave up.


Interesting to read as it's what I've always thought about academy work in Spain. Evening hours, lots of work, little time for the family and not well paid.
On the plus side variety of classes and probably a good variety of people to come in contact with.


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## webmarcos (Dec 25, 2012)

I'm kind of an old git too, but younger than a couple of the others here it seems.
I run a bookshop in Madrid called Offside - well it's due to open from next week, so I should say "intend to run". Major sticking point at the moment is getting publishers and distributors to accept my money for their books... 
Doing this as back in the UK no work at all (unless you're a young euro-grad working in Pret a Manger or a gastro-bar). The answer I'm afraid is to create your job, no-one is going to hand you one on a plate...
The good news is that I interview someone tomorrow for an assistant's role, so I'm creating at least one extra job here. Plus I'll be hiring help from publicity people, a gestor, decorators etc. so at least it's a bit of money going into the local economy.


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## zenkarma (Feb 15, 2013)

webmarcos said:


> I run a bookshop in Madrid called Offside - well it's due to open from next week, so I should say "intend to run".


Blimey you're brave!

Is there still a market there for paper based books? I assume you're selling paper based books? Are they in English or Spanish?

I've switched over almost entirely to digital ebook's now and won't be buying any more paper based books at all. In fact I've just thrown out 100's of them. I still prefer reading paper based books but given I read on average a book a week, for sheer convenience and economy ebook's and ereader's are hard to beat.

Are the Spanish having a resurgence in conventional books or did they never get into ebooks in the first place?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

zenkarma said:


> Blimey you're brave!
> 
> Is there still a market there for paper based books? I assume you're selling paper based books? Are they in English or Spanish?
> 
> ...


I was reading something the other day that, while to start with e-books were much cheaper, now, they are often the same sort of price. Personally I prefer paper - it is easier for me to read with better contrast, although I have about 4,000+ e-books on the PC which I can read on the screen.


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## webmarcos (Dec 25, 2012)

zenkarma said:


> Blimey you're brave!
> 
> Is there still a market there for paper based books? I assume you're selling paper based books? Are they in English or Spanish?
> 
> ...


Just as television didn't in the end destroy cinema, I still see a future for the printed book. Yes e-readers can be convenient, but if you give a present of a book it tends to be paper based, and many people do prefer the format. Also, who knows whether this year's format of e-reader will still be going in 2 or 3 years time? It wouldn't be the first time that the digital industry makes an old format obsolete.
The intention is to stock new books in English, but second-hand can be Spanish (or other languages). The intention is also to hold a lot of booksignings and "meet the author" events.


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## xgarb (May 6, 2011)

webmarcos said:


> The intention is to stock new books in English, but second-hand can be Spanish (or other languages). The intention is also to hold a lot of booksignings and "meet the author" events.


Local bookshop in Salobrena - https://www.facebook.com/1616Books - seems to be doing ok. He's got a few different ideas.


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## xgarb (May 6, 2011)

Pesky Wesky said:


> if you're working, what are you doing and how's it going??


I'm a website designer - Great webpages cost less at Firemouth - but practically all my clients are outside Spain.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

My husband and I are both avid readers, and we've both switched over to reading ebooks. I prefer reading ebooks because of the space it saves us. We have a tiny house and we were becoming absolutely buried in books. Now I can have thousands of books in one little device. I also really like the dictionary feature. It's so easy to look up a word, something I never did when reading a paper book. Price is not a factor for me, as long as ebook prices are at least similar to paper book prices.

We have Kindles - I can't see Amazon going out of business or changing their format any time soon. 

At any rate, good luck with your venture. I always love good book stores even if I no longer frequent them as much as I used to.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I'm 44 so perhaps I still only count as being a git rather than an old git (but I'm getting there). I've been working in IT in Madrid for 10 years now. Came over with no Spanish and got a job earning €12k pa. I learnt Spanish and managed to quadruple my salary within 4 years. But that was before the crisis. I couldn't do that now. There are still IT jobs out there for skilled people with good English and Spanish, but it would be difficult to come over not being able to speak any Spanish. I know people qualified to teach the UK primary curriculum, and they have no trouble finding work around Madrid in the various international schools. I also know someone who made good money from running an academy, but it takes time to build up the contracts. My work has been affected by the crisis because we sell data to the finance industry, and many of our clients no longer exist, We laid off a few people a couple of years ago, and have only recruited interns since. As with most Spaniards in my situation, I won't risk looking for another job though, crisis or no crisis.


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## XTreme (May 17, 2008)

I'm currently engaged as the Welsh voice over actor of choice......following in the footsteps of Richard Burton and Wynford Vaughan Thomas!

At the moment it's a major promotional drive to generate more Welsh incomers to Spain!

Just a warning that this is a Welsh voice over, geared to hit home to the the Welsh, so there may be a little bit of profanity in order to get the message across!


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## rangitoto (Apr 25, 2011)

i dont know what age you have to be an old git . any way i am not an english teacher ,gardener , cleaner odd job man i get my income as a professional gambler and have been doing this for many a year and dont even go out of the front door thats a plus some seem to frown upon this yes we have days where we dont win


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## GUAPACHICA (Jun 30, 2012)

webmarcos said:


> Just as television didn't in the end destroy cinema, I still see a future for the printed book. Yes e-readers can be convenient, but if you give a present of a book it tends to be paper based, and many people do prefer the format. Also, who knows whether this year's format of e-reader will still be going in 2 or 3 years time? It wouldn't be the first time that the digital industry makes an old format obsolete.
> The intention is to stock new books in English, but second-hand can be Spanish (or other languages). The intention is also to hold a lot of booksignings and "meet the author" events.


Hi - well done on taking the plunge! Let us know, once you can post a link, exactly where you are and I'll circualte your info. to my own friends and former students now resident in Madrid! One of them has a thriving company, based slap -bang in the centre, with many contacts, so I'll be pointing them all in your direction. 

My own personal experience in Spain has been that paper books are much more expensive to buy than in the UK. For that reason, my own friends who wish to buy English language books, of whatever genre, choose to browse in Spain, but then order via _Amazon_ or the _Book Depository_, where prices are significantly lower - even with the delivery charges included. 

i've no idea why the mark-up here in Spain is so high - whether the costs for the shops concerned are higher than in UK, or whether the traders are simply hoping to make more of a profit, despite the ongoing economic crisis! 

Certainly, in our local bookshop, in this city centre, the cost of buying an English language paperback would normally be almost double that of the price printed in pounds on the back cover...! 

My good wishes for your new project still stand, of course.

Saludos,
GC


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## webmarcos (Dec 25, 2012)

GUAPACHICA said:


> Hi - well done on taking the plunge! Let us know, once you can post a link, exactly where you are and I'll circualte your info. to my own friends and former students now resident in Madrid! One of them has a thriving company, based slap -bang in the centre, with many contacts, so I'll be pointing them all in your direction.
> 
> My own personal experience in Spain has been that paper books are much more expensive to buy than in the UK. For that reason, my own friends who wish to buy English language books, of whatever genre, choose to browse in Spain, but then order via _Amazon_ or the _Book Depository_, where prices are significantly lower - even with the delivery charges included.
> 
> ...


Hi thanks for your kind offer. I've also received offers of used book donations, although none have actually materialised as yet :violin: Of course there will be store credit for anyone who trades in books
As for the new book side, yes I have noticed that many stores overdo the markup. Part of this is down to shipping costs, but even so double the price is overdoing it. My intention is to stick to a standard 1 - 1.20 exchange rate ie a £10 book to sell at 12 euros.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> At 72, I am probably the senior old-git or Meldrew as I have been called in the past.
> 
> I am a "support worker, dog walker, laundryman, occasional cook, etc."
> 
> SWMBO (54) is on contract (24 hours p.w.) to teach at a local private academy (4-17 y.o.) but occasionally with adult groups. She also has a few private students (kids who don't do well in classroom environments - ADHD, etc.) plus does translations and interpreting jobs, especially medical which is one of her areas of expertise plus she does the secretarial work of an ophthalmologist in UK. My support role in this is checking letters, creating visual aids, copying, scriptwriting, scenery making and props for the kids' end-of-year plays at the academy, and anything else I can't get out of.


If you ever want to expand your non paid "support worker" empire I'd be interested. 
My teaching would be so much better if I had a support worker!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

webmarcos said:


> I'm kind of an old git too, but younger than a couple of the others here it seems.
> I run a bookshop in Madrid called Offside - well it's due to open from next week, so I should say "intend to run". Major sticking point at the moment is getting publishers and distributors to accept my money for their books...
> Doing this as back in the UK no work at all (unless you're a young euro-grad working in Pret a Manger or a gastro-bar). The answer I'm afraid is to create your job, no-one is going to hand you one on a plate...
> The good news is that I interview someone tomorrow for an assistant's role, so I'm creating at least one extra job here. Plus I'll be hiring help from publicity people, a gestor, decorators etc. so at least it's a bit of money going into the local economy.


Hi,
I too wish you luck. I suppose you've looked into the competition (J&J's and Petra's mainly). Let me know when you open (probably by PM or else it'll be advertising) and if you have any more jobs going when you expand! I've always fancied working in a bookshop...


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## leedsutdgem (Jun 3, 2010)

I work for a golf tour operator. My company brings thousands of golfers to the Costa del Sol every year. Been in the same company for 6 years and Im still loving it.


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

I commute to the Norwegian sector of the North Sea for my job. I am a process engineer working a 2 on 4 off schedule. Been doing this for nearly 15 years. We would never have moved here without this income behind us.
My wife has been more adventurous having opened a children's clothes shop in Alhaurin De La Torre in about 2000. This was sold on in about 2002 before it folded. Her subsequent (temporarily very successful) safetey equipment and fire fighting systems company had to close in 2008 due to cash flow problems brought on by the crisis. She is now European Export Sales Manager for a Dutch based company selling personnel protective safety equipment. A good job but she is never here.


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