# Recruitment and life in Brazil



## veejay

Hi everyone. I am just starting to explore the possibility of relocating to Brazil for a few years. I am currently a UK resident. I am thinking about doing this in the next 18 months. I have two boys, who will be 6 and 3 by then. I am a project manager with many years experience in different industries. 

I am thinking the Olympics might be a good opportunity. So my questions are:

Is Rio a good place for young children? I have heard so many stories

Are there English speaking schools and what is the standard like? I am prepared to send them to private school. 

Does anyone know how recruitment is being done for Rio 2016? Can you recommend agencies that may be handling this?

In order to narrow my search, what kind of areas should I be looking at the are suitable for families and perhaps have English speaking communities, eg other expats. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you


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## AnthonyRMC

A couple of weeks ago, the Brazilian government announced plans to attract up to 6 million immigrants, to help with the country's development.

They are looking for technical specialists.

Brazil is also looking for doctors, due to a huge lack in the interior.

As to Rio de Janeio..........it is fine.
But one must take care of course. Keep your wits about you, and keep an eye out.
Don't do *s*tupid things, with *s*tupid people or go to *s*tupid places.
The three "*S*" rule.

Any help you might need or want, just ask.


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## AnthonyRMC

Another couple of things.
Yes, there are English speaking schools. Both British and American.
But I would advise a good Brazilian school, - if one's intention is to stay here.
If not, then in Botofogo, there is a British school, that prepares and tests the students for 'O' levels etc, just as the students would be prepared and tested in the UK.

As for an 'expat' community?

Yes, there is, - but I personally never wanted to join it.
There is a club in Leblon, that was originally formed by the British community. - It even has imported grass from England, for the bowls green.

The name of the club has escaped me for the moment, but I will remember. - I went there once, back in 1989 IIRC?

I have always personally prefered to just live here as a Brazilian, and mix within the local communities.

But to each his/her own.

The biggest British 'expat' community is in São Paulo, - without a doubt.


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## lwjacob

Brasilia has great schools.
That's where I live.
Great city.
Come see it whenever you can.


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## warlock233

Regarding recruitment, you can probably look up some jobs on LinkedIN and also on catho.com.br (in Portuguese, unfortunately).

I believe that most employers would expect a project manager to be able to speak Portuguese as most of the people/teams s/he will be managing will probably not speak English.
I would do some extensive research on this before making any decision. While it's true that because of the world cup and the olympics many people here started learning/studying English, the vast majority of the population can't speak it - so speaking Portuguese might be mandatory for those positions.


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## RegdaMan

AnthonyRMC said:


> A couple of weeks ago, the Brazilian government announced plans to attract up to 6 million immigrants, to help with the country's development.
> 
> They are looking for technical specialists.
> 
> Brazil is also looking for doctors, due to a huge lack in the interior.
> 
> As to Rio de Janeio..........it is fine.
> But one must take care of course. Keep your wits about you, and keep an eye out.
> Don't do stupid things, with stupid people or go to stupid places.
> The three "S" rule.
> 
> Any help you might need or want, just ask.


Hello, Everyone

I'm new to the forum and not really sure if I am doing this correctly. I am trying to follow the communities' rules, but I may fall a little short, as I am posting a question here to another person's reaponse. Kindly forgive for the intrusion. Any advice you can give for posting my questions independently would be appreciated.
At any rate, I am an SAP Basis Administrator and Oracle/MS SQL Administrator with 8 years experience who is looking to move to Brazil for a couple of years. My Portuguese is negligible, I am an American. However, I pickup languages fairly quickly and I am studying Portuguese as we speak by way of Rosetta Stone. My question is, what is the employment outlook for someone with my experience level? What is life like in Recife, Brasilia or Rio and where should I be looking to move to? That is, what city is best for someone wit b my experience? As an aside, my wife is an American CPA, MBA.
Thank you for any assistance in n advance.

Kindly, 

Regh.


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## pedrosimao

As other people said, there are good british and american schools in Rio. For the kids, it depends a lot. I think in many big cities of the world, including Europe, life can be not so interesting as in small villages. Once they grow, on the other side, cultural life will be much more fun in larger cities. Rio is dangerous. But as long as you don't react to criminals, and that you don't go to violent places for no reason, you will be safe. 

Good luck searching job. If I was you I would start looking for the british companies that will come during the Olympics.


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## RegdaMan

pedrosimao said:


> As other people said, there are good british and american schools in Rio. For the kids, it depends a lot. I think in many big cities of the world, including Europe, life can be not so interesting as in small villages. Once they grow, on the other side, cultural life will be much more fun in larger cities. Rio is dangerous. But as long as you don't react to criminals, and that you don't go to violent places for no reason, you will be safe.
> 
> Good luck searching job. If I was you I would start looking for the british companies that will come during the Olympics.


Thank you for your reply. 
I think it may be prudent to mention that I am a Black American. From what I have heard and read of Brazil, this may or may not be a problem. My wife is Chinese, she feels that coming to Brazil will ultimately be no issue. It would be nice to get an independent perspective from a Brazilian national on race relations there. Any feedback you provide would be appreciated. 

Thank you,

Regh


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## warlock233

RegdaMan said:


> Thank you for your reply.
> I think it may be prudent to mention that I am a Black American. From what I have heard and read of Brazil, this may or may not be a problem. My wife is Chinese, she feels that coming to Brazil will ultimately be no issue. It would be nice to get an independent perspective from a Brazilian national on race relations there. Any feedback you provide would be appreciated.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Regh


Your race shouldn't be an issue at all. There are lots of people from many different races all living together here.
The problems we have here apply to everyone no matter which race you belong to.


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## AnthonyRMC

RegdaMan said:


> Thank you for your reply.
> I think it may be prudent to mention that I am a Black American. From what I have heard and read of Brazil, this may or may not be a problem. My wife is Chinese, she feels that coming to Brazil will ultimately be no issue. It would be nice to get an independent perspective from a Brazilian national on race relations there. Any feedback you provide would be appreciated.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Regh


Don't be fooled into thinking that Brazil has little discrimination.
It does.
With color, not so much, but it is there. Especially more in the southern states, from São Paulo southwards.

In your case, you will more likely perceive descrimination being American. - Just the other week, in a bar, in a conversation, a guy said "I hate Americans". So I asked him if he had ever been to the USA, did he know any Americans, had he ever met any Americans?
No, no, no, was his reply, "and I don't want to".
Fortunately, - because I was getting pissed with him, his drunken wife turned up and started a fight with him. 

It is a myth that Brazilians love foreigners. They love their money as tourists for sure, but living here is different. The USA accepts LEGAL immigrants much better in my opinion.

Discrimination here is social/class.
Pelé will be welcome in any home and take the normal elevator.
The maid 'knows her place' and takes the service elevator.

There is also much discrimination against older folks looking for work. Pass 50, and one is pretty much screwed. - I'm talking about for normal jobs here. Some people suggest that after 40 it gets darn difficult.
I know companies that don't hire new drivers over 30! 
Sure, they have drivers over 30, but they were hired before they turned 30.

I remember an infamous case in Rio de Janeiro in the 1990's.
A white foreigner had married a black Brazilian girl and they lived overseas.
Deciding to vacation in Brazil, they booked into a plush hotel.
On returning on their first or second night out, the security guard stepped up and said to the woman, "no prostitutes allowed here".
It made national news of course, and at the very least, I bet the hotel let them stay for free, to not sue. 
But the case brought attention to our subtle racism. White guy, looks foreign, black girl, probably younger, walking in a good area, = 'then she is a hooker'.
I prefer darker skinned and younger girlfriends, and have noticed the looks. 
Much more in richer areas. In middle class or poorer districts, - no big deal.

26 years here and counting. Naturalized Brazilian. Believe me, I have seen it all.
As I mentioned above, it gets worse in the south and interior of São Paulo state where I am now. - I never should have left Rio. 

Edited to add:
Despite what I have written above, once a foreign has been here for a awhile, then they are accepted fine, but they will always be 'that ******', 'that Americano', 'that Chinese' etc. 
I have worked hard to be accepted, and speak Portuguese fluently with little accent. But I do wonder at times, what is spoken behind my back?


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## warlock233

AnthonyRMC said:


> Don't be fooled into thinking that Brazil has little discrimination.
> It does.
> With color, not so much, but it is there. Especially more in the southern states, from São Paulo southwards.
> 
> In your case, you will more likely perceive descrimination being American. - Just the other week, in a bar, in a conversation, a guy said "I hate Americans". So I asked him if he had ever been to the USA, did he know any Americans, had he ever met any Americans?
> No, no, no, was his reply, "and I don't want to".
> Fortunately, - because I was getting pissed with him, his drunken wife turned up and started a fight with him.
> 
> It is a myth that Brazilians love foreigners. They love their money as tourists for sure, but living here is different. The USA accepts LEGAL immigrants much better in my opinion.
> 
> Discrimination here is social/class.
> Pelé will be welcome in any home and take the normal elevator.
> The maid 'knows her place' and takes the service elevator.
> 
> There is also much discrimination against older folks looking for work. Pass 50, and one is pretty much screwed. - I'm talking about for normal jobs here. Some people suggest that after 40 it gets darn difficult.
> I know companies that don't hire new drivers over 30!
> Sure, they have drivers over 30, but they were hired before they turned 30.
> 
> I remember an infamous case in Rio de Janeiro in the 1990's.
> A white foreigner had married a black Brazilian girl and they lived overseas.
> Deciding to vacation in Brazil, they booked into a plush hotel.
> On returning on their first or second night out, the security guard stepped up and said to the woman, "no prostitutes allowed here".
> It made national news of course, and at the very least, I bet the hotel let them stay for free, to not sue.
> But the case brought attention to our subtle racism. White guy, looks foreign, black girl, probably younger, walking in a good area, = 'then she is a hooker'.
> I prefer darker skinned and younger girlfriends, and have noticed the looks.
> Much more in richer areas. In middle class or poorer districts, - no big deal.
> 
> 26 years here and counting. Naturalized Brazilian. Believe me, I have seen it all.
> As I mentioned above, it gets worse in the south and interior of São Paulo state where I am now. - I never should have left Rio.
> 
> Edited to add:
> Despite what I have written above, once a foreign has been here for a awhile, then they are accepted fine, but they will always be 'that ******', 'that Americano', 'that Chinese' etc.
> I have worked hard to be accepted, and speak Portuguese fluently with little accent. But I do wonder at times, what is spoken behind my back?


Interesting perspective from an actual foreigner.
I trust what you say because you experienced and lived the facts.

In my circle, I know quite a few foreigners and I've never seen anything like that (except for the "that ******", that happens, but not in an offensive way). I treat foreigners just like anybody else - or sometimes even better - because I have lived abroad and I know how hard it can be, specially if you don't speak the language.

I guess this can vary from places to places, different social circles, etc... But in general, I guess most of the people are not used to deal with people from other countries.


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## AnthonyRMC

warlock233 said:


> Interesting perspective from an actual foreigner.
> I trust what you say because you experienced and lived the facts.
> 
> In my circle, I know quite a few foreigners and I've never seen anything like that (except for the "that ******", that happens, but not in an offensive way). I treat foreigners just like anybody else - or sometimes even better - because I have lived abroad and I know how hard it can be, specially if you don't speak the language.
> 
> I guess this can vary from places to places, different social circles, etc... But in general, I guess most of the people are not used to deal with people from other countries.


Things are changing with more and more foreigners coming here. It was tough in 1988.
Some people welcome this immigration, some don't of course.
You are correct with reference social classes. The higher social classes in Brazil travel overseas often, so understand the cultural differences.

Obviously, in 26 years, I have become Brazilian, both technically (naturalized,) and socially. - I would not even know how to live in the UK anymore. 
My examples quoted above, have been collected over these many years.
Generally I personally have had few problems. But I intergrated completely.
Some foreigners don't.

My post was to point out that here is not the "paradise" that the PT government try to portray. "Brasil, um pais de tudos". (Brazil, a country of everyone.)
*There is discrimination*, as I guess we will find in every country of the world.
Brazil is no different.


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## warlock233

Definitely not a paradise. That's why I'm on this forum in the first place - I want to get out of here 

I guess if discrimination can be a problem, it wouldn't be the worst of them.
It all depends about the location, but I guess violence/security would come first. At least, that's what I hate the most. I can cope with all the PT s**t and other things, but what can I do about violence? We are not allowed to carry guns (not sure if I would even if I could) so there's nothing you can do other than avoiding certain places at certain times, but still, things seem to be so bad that it happens everywhere at anytime.


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## AnthonyRMC

I had Federal Carry permits for two revolvers during 5 years. 1999 to 2004.
I resolved a few issues in Rio at that time. Never had to shoot anybody, but I fired a warning shot once. At a bar in Recreio do Bandeirantes. The owner, (my friend) felt that two punks were going to rob him, and I agreed. Brazil is "FUBAR".


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