# Reply to Job Applications?



## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

Hello Everyone,


I am not sure if this is the right section to post this and I did not find anything on my search. I usually post on another Spain Expat forum but it's been fairly dead of late.

Any how, I was curious to see if anyone knows how long typically it takes a company in Spain to respond to job applicants? Right now, my resume is "En Proceso" but I have received no phone call or e-mail from said company and starting to get a bit disappointed I will not get a return call back. I know normally here in the states jobs take any where from 7-10 days to get back to someone and was just curious to see if it's typically the same deal in Spain.

Thank you and again sorry if I am posting this in the incorrect section.


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## nigele2 (Dec 25, 2009)

Cappa said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> 
> I am not sure if this is the right section to post this and I did not find anything on my search. I usually post on another Spain Expat forum but it's been fairly dead of late.
> ...


Cappa sadly many spanish companies don't even send acknowledgements. They may have some excuse as they are inundated with applications with the extreme unemployment here. But equally things can take time in Spain.

I have spanish family a large number of whom are out of work and three alone in Madrid who have lost jobs in the last 6 months. They send out their CVs and applications like confetti whether or not they see a job advertised.

Indeed they have more time to do it now that the government has accepted the situation and asked them to sign on once each three months instead of weekly  

But hang on in there and who knows. I imagine you are applying for something special if you are in the US so may get better treated.

Good luck


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## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

nigele2 said:


> Cappa sadly many spanish companies don't even send acknowledgements. They may have some excuse as they are inundated with applications with the extreme unemployment here. But equally things can take time in Spain.
> 
> I have spanish family a large number of whom are out of work and three alone in Madrid who have lost jobs in the last 6 months. They send out their CVs and applications like confetti whether or not they see a job advertised.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the reply. I know the situation all to well in Spain and how bad the employment is over there :/ and believe me I also know that in Spain things can take ridiculously long to get done ... I had a slight glimmer of hope that perhaps the job application process was slightly different though lol 

I actually have been applying via the website Infojobs which I guess is similar to the Monster of Spain. They do tell you if a job has recieved your application, if they have discarded it, if they are reviewing it, and if you are a finalist. So far I have been discarded from one job and have been selected as a candidate in another for a fairly large company with a world wide reputation it also seems that they do not have many applicants for this particular position... other jobs I've applied to I've seen anywhere from 200-300 or more applicants this one is way under 50 which has given me some hope. :/ 

I have dual citizenship American obviously being one and I am also a Spanish citizen so I hope that puts me at a slight advantage in the job market. I have always wanted to move to Spain and feel the time is right now(I know perhaps not in the economical sense but being at the point I am in my life I think it's perfect)

Obviously, I don't plan on moving out of the blue with no job etc. I do have a house and all that in Spain already as well as family so I don't have to worry to much about that my only concern right now is finding a job which I know could take months.


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## Caz.I (Mar 21, 2009)

Cappa said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> 
> I am not sure if this is the right section to post this and I did not find anything on my search. I usually post on another Spain Expat forum but it's been fairly dead of late.
> ...


Yes, it is true what Nigele says. The first thing I found different here was the response to job applications. Even when people say they will get back to you, the chances are they won't. Don't take it personally, it is just how people operate here. However, it is definitely more difficult to apply for jobs here when you are in another country. Usually you have to be here and ready to start at a moment's notice, although of course it may be different if you are applying for jobs which are at a professional level.
The other thing I found strange was that I was invited for interview _before _they saw my CV. And the first job I got here, I had an interview on the Friday and was asked to start the following Monday.
And previous to that I just sent off CVs to all the language schools I could find, and then followed them up with a phone call and a visit. It is extremely difficult to find work here at this moment in time, but if you specialise in something which is in demand here and are in the right place at the right time, you may be lucky. 
Good luck.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Cappa said:


> I have dual citizenship American obviously being one and I am also a Spanish citizen so I hope that puts me at a slight advantage in the job market. I have always wanted to move to Spain and feel the time is right now(I know perhaps not in the economical sense but being at the point I am in my life I think it's perfect)
> 
> .


That dual citizenship is a huge advantage. At any other time they'd be lapping you up, but ...! It's probably the worst time in modern Spanish history to be looking for a job. Just keep at it. I think someone somewhere is looking for you 
And please, do just what you are doing - looking for a job before you come. It _*is*_ more difficult, but now is not the time to sling a few things in a back pack and come over to see what's happening. 
You could try chasing up your applications, but how? Emails often go ignored, telephoning is difficult, and most big companies do their recruiting through an agency, so you wouldn't be speaking to the right person anyway...
Let us know if you get lucky!!


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

Cappa said:


> I have dual citizenship American obviously being one and* I am also a Spanish citizen so I hope that puts me at a slight advantage in the job market*. I have always wanted to move to Spain and feel the time is right now(I know perhaps not in the economical sense but being at the point I am in my life I think it's perfect)
> 
> Obviously, I don't plan on moving out of the blue with no job etc. I do have a house and all that in Spain already as well as family so I don't have to worry to much about that my only concern right now is finding a job which I know could take months.


DING DING DING!!!! You, my friend, have the golden ticket! :clap2: You lucky duck you. 

I know it goes without saying, but please be careful with online job offers. 

Good luck!


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

Pesky Wesky said:


> That dual citizenship is a huge advantage. At any other time they'd be lapping you up, but ...! It's probably the worst time in modern Spanish history to be looking for a job. Just keep at it. I think someone somewhere is looking for you
> And please, do just what you are doing - looking for a job before you come. It _*is*_ more difficult, but now is not the time to sling a few things in a back pack and come over to see what's happening.
> You could try chasing up your applications, but how? Emails often go ignored, telephoning is difficult, and most big companies do their recruiting through an agency, so you wouldn't be speaking to the right person anyway...
> Let us know if you get lucky!!



I think it also depends enormously on where they are looking. I'd say where I am is still pretty darn native-English speaker friendly depending on what work you're looking for. Cappa, what regions are you willing to work in?


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## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

halydia said:


> I think it also depends enormously on where they are looking. I'd say where I am is still pretty darn native-English speaker friendly depending on what work you're looking for. Cappa, what regions are you willing to work in?


Thanks everyone for replying. The two regions I am looking to work in are Galicia and Valencia as they are the two places I have family and friends and potentially connections to a job. 

The website infojobs.net from everything I gathered is legit and they tell you the status of your application. It tells you how many people are applied and all that. The job that i want really bad looks to have a good sign about it 1) they haven't rejected my resume yet and it's "en proceso" which means I am part of the candidate process 2) the people registered isn't many and it seems todrop during the day which I am assuming simply means they are rejecting applicants and I am still in the running for it

My concern was that I hadn't received any communication from them directly yet but based on everyones comments here it's not to worrisome anymore. The company is based out of Spain but extremely large world wide, my field is import/export administrative customs etc type. I have over 5 years experience in the field which is alot for my age I am 25 so I don't know I'm not getting my hopes up to much but definitely dreaming about it every now and then lol


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## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

Also people brought up the concern of not being in Spain at the moment hurts my chances and that is one of my concerns as well. I do make sure to put on my cover letter though that I have dual citizenship, "alojamiento" and all that already there though and that I am simply just looking for a job before I make the move final. My parents are fine with me moving but they keep telling me to not go without a job and I know they're right but sometimes I say i won't find anything unless I'm over there we'll see what happens :/


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2011)

Cappa said:


> Also people brought up the concern of not being in Spain at the moment hurts my chances and that is one of my concerns as well. I do make sure to put on my cover letter though that I have dual citizenship, "alojamiento" and all that already there though and that I am simply just looking for a job before I make the move final. My parents are fine with me moving but they keep telling me to not go without a job and I know they're right but sometimes I say i won't find anything unless I'm over there we'll see what happens :/


I'd look real hard in Galicia, as I'm willing to bet there's a lot less native English speakers looking for work there than in Valencia.

Out of curiosity, have you looked to see if the American consulate in La Coruña needs staff? Don't know if that's something you'd be interested in, but it might be worth a try.

You sound really motivated. That's awesome. Keep up the good work! Let me know if you need any help in the future (think legalizing academic documents, getting your Spanish driver's licence, etc.) 

Good luck.


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## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

halydia said:


> I'd look real hard in Galicia, as I'm willing to bet there's a lot less native English speakers looking for work there than in Valencia.
> 
> Out of curiosity, have you looked to see if the American consulate in La Coruña needs staff? Don't know if that's something you'd be interested in, but it might be worth a try.
> 
> ...


It's funny you mention about working for the American consulate my mother brought up the same suggestion but I don't know how I would even go about doing that?

Thank you for the positive vibes, hopefully they bring me good luck!  Oh and now that you mention about the Spanish driver's license... I know that many years ago you could transfer your US license and get a Spanish one without retaking any of the exams but I know that is no longer true. I've tried digging around the DGT website but really didn't find much in regards if I need to retake both the written and driving test for the spanish license. I have heard since I already have an American license all I would need to do is take a written exam, do you know if this is the case or?


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## Dutchnick (Apr 11, 2011)

Is there a better on-line translater Spanish/English than Google translate?


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## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

Dutchnick said:


> Is there a better on-line translater Spanish/English than Google translate?


No on-line translator is really great because they give the most generalized translation possible but I have found that Yahoo! Babelfish is probably the closest. Your best bet is probably to ask on this forum or a forum dedicated to translation if you have any needs.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Dutchnick said:


> Is there a better on-line translater Spanish/English than Google translate?


I've always found this to be reasonably accurate .
Reverso | Free online translation, dictionary


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Cappa said:


> It's funny you mention about working for the American consulate my mother brought up the same suggestion but I don't know how I would even go about doing that?
> 
> Thank you for the positive vibes, hopefully they bring me good luck!  Oh and now that you mention about the Spanish driver's license... I know that many years ago you could transfer your US license and get a Spanish one without retaking any of the exams but I know that is no longer true. I've tried digging around the DGT website but really didn't find much in regards if I need to retake both the written and driving test for the spanish license. I have heard since I already have an American license all I would need to do is take a written exam, do you know if this is the case or?


No, I think now that you ,unfortunately, have to take both parts.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2011)

Cappa said:


> It's funny you mention about working for the American consulate my mother brought up the same suggestion but I don't know how I would even go about doing that?
> 
> Thank you for the positive vibes, hopefully they bring me good luck!  Oh and now that you mention about the Spanish driver's license... I know that many years ago you could transfer your US license and get a Spanish one without retaking any of the exams but I know that is no longer true. I've tried digging around the DGT website but really didn't find much in regards if I need to retake both the written and driving test for the spanish license. I have heard since I already have an American license all I would need to do is take a written exam, do you know if this is the case or?


If I have extra time today at work, I'll check the consulate situation out.
Have you begun by searching their website? 

Regarding the license, you have to do both the written and the driving exam. The super crappy part is that here in Spain, you can't just do the driving exam in ANY car, it has to be one of the special driving school cars with two sets of pedals. Therefore, unless you find a super-friendly driving school person who will let you use their car for free, this is a pretty significant investment of money compared to the US. Start the piggy bank NOW.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2011)

Local Employment in U.S. Embassies and Consulates - U.S. Department of State


and 


Embassy of the United States Spain - Consular Agency A Coruña


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## Cappa (Apr 11, 2011)

halydia said:


> If I have extra time today at work, I'll check the consulate situation out.
> Have you begun by searching their website?
> 
> Regarding the license, you have to do both the written and the driving exam. The super crappy part is that here in Spain, you can't just do the driving exam in ANY car, it has to be one of the special driving school cars with two sets of pedals. Therefore, unless you find a super-friendly driving school person who will let you use their car for free, this is a pretty significant investment of money compared to the US. Start the piggy bank NOW.


Thanks for the consulate information... the prerequesites though seem to be a bit out of my league but can't hurt to try. Thank you again.


and thanks to both of you for the license situation.. I know to get a license in Spain it's quite expensive but it's also a bit pricey here in America as well so I'm used to it. Oh well, at least I'll have a year from the date I move to there though before I really need to worry about it.


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