Am I prepared yet??

[Vieve]

so here I am, 3 days away from a week-long trip to Madrid, (the sole purpose of which is to look for jobs for the coming fall semester so that I can move to Madrid...) and I think that I\\\'ve prepared myself pretty well, but I was hoping that I could get some feedback...

here\\\'s what I\\\'ve done so far...

I\\\'ve been on [!-- BBCode auto-link start --][a href=\"http://www.trabajos.com\" target=\"_blank\"]www.trabajos.com[/a][!-- BBCode auto-link end --] , [!-- BBCode auto-link start --][a href=\"http://www.infojobs.net\" target=\"_blank\"]www.infojobs.net[/a][!-- BBCode auto-link end --] , [!-- BBCode auto-link start --][a href=\"http://www.monster.com\" target=\"_blank\"]www.monster.com[/a][!-- BBCode auto-link end --] (international) and a few other sites on a daily basis, submitting my resume for job postings...

I have a version of my resume for teaching positions and another one for business positions... both of which have also been translated into Spanish.

I have a cover letter that explains who I am, what I\\\'m qualified to do, and what my plan is (move to Madrid in September) and how to contact me (it\\\'s also been written in Spanish and English)...

I have passport-sized photos of myself to attach to the resumes so that possible employers have a face to go with the name after I leave...

I have 2 sets of business cards made up with all of my contact information (one for teaching and one for business)...

and I have rented a cell phone for the week that I\\\'ll be in Madrid so that if anyone wanted to contact me for an interview, they could get ahold of me, instead of leaving a message at my hotel...

so..... am I prepared??? are these generally the steps that someone should be taking??? I\\\'ve done all of this based on what I\\\'ve read in other threads about people who have moved to Spain and looked for work... any other suggestions from those of you who\\\'ve done it... or from those of you in a position to hire???

thanks....

Vieve  [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_smile.gif\"]

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[jer]

Hey Vieve, well... I already e-mailed you on this one but let me just say that if you are not prepared NOBODY is  [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif\"]

See you in a few days for the delivery of you know what!

Saludos,
jer...
___________________________________
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Gotta see it to be in it!

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[Tracy]

I know this may sound a little too much, but have you actually gone to some of these schools\\\' websites- Canterbury is a good example, gotten their phone number and CALLED THEM, personally to set up an interview while you\\\'re there? Canturbury is hiring right now, as I type. They have an ad in Segundamano and if you wanted to bi-pass that annoying 906 number, call them DIRECTLY.

Remember to begin speaking in Spanish and try to conduct all business in Spanish. When speaking to a director though, they usually prefer you to speak English.
GOSH! I\\\'m so excited for you!!!!!!!

Tracy

 [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_nod.gif\"]

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[Vieve]

Jer... thanks so much for the vote of confidence... it really does help [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_smile.gif\"]

Tracy... haven\\\'t done that yet (mostly because when I can\\\'t call when I\\\'m at work, and by the time I\\\'m home it\\\'s WAY too late... and it\\\'s also veeeeery expensive!!)
however, i did print out your list of schools and am taking it w/ me... to go door-to-door... and although they won\\\'t have prior notice, I\\\'m hoping they\\\'ll still see me... if i go in the beginning of the week, maybe they\\\'ll have time for me at the end of the week...
(i did follow your earlier piece of advice about getting photos though!!!!)

thanks so much guys....

Vieve [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif\"]

(i\\\'m really nervous!!! it\\\'s been 2 years!!!!)

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[Tracy]

(i\\\'m really nervous!!! it\\\'s been 2 years!!!!)

heck, it\\\'s like riding a bike...you never forget stuff like this!

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[jer]

De nada Vieve.

Normally I would agree with Tracy\\\'s interview etiquette but in the case of Canterbury English (tel: 34 91 522 989[IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_cool.gif\"], they are American and it is an English school and they ALWAYS speak English there so go with the flow. They are also very laid back guys.

Tracy, I designed the website for Canterbury ([!-- BBCode u2 Start --][A HREF=\"http://oleidiomas.com/canterbury/\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]http://oleidiomas.com/canterbury/[/A][!-- BBCode u2 End --]) but using the marketing director\\\'s mockup (which I do not really like) and I know them well. I also know for a fact that their ad in Segundamano is permanent since they are always looking for teachers  [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_smile.gif\"]

Saludos,
jer...

madrid nut, webweaver of [!-- BBCode u2 Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.multimadrid.com\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]www.multimadrid.com[/A][!-- BBCode u2 End --] and keeper of the [!-- BBCode u2 Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.multimadrid.com\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]plazacam[/A][!-- BBCode u2 End --].

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[Tracy]

YEah...that makes sense that the ad is perm. They\\\'ve had it there for, oh, 5 years now!!!

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[Vieve]

so i thought i\\\'d let y\\\'all know how it went... i found out how prepared i was...........

so i had this article that one of my advisors from college sent me that was entitled \\\"Leap before you look\\\".....  and i think that might be accurate.

i got lucky and had one solid interview, but other than that i feel kinda unsuccessful! [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_frown.gif\"]

i went around to the schools with all my resumes and cover letters, but most places simply said to drop them off and weren\\\'t able to discuss an interview (\\\"we have to send them to the central office... you can just leave it with me\\\")...

i had an interview at Oxford English, and the guy was really helpful... i thought that it was good for me to be going so far in advance because it would show initiative and determination... but it\\\'s just too early for a lot of these schools to be even considering what they might need in September in the way of teachers...

he did give me his number and e-mail address though and told me to contact him when it got closer to September, and he\\\'d let me know then if he had anything for me...
i guess the good news is that he made it seem easier to get a semi-technical job offer than i had thought... he said what i knew, which is that you need to have a written job offer to initiate the VISA process... but he made it seem like i just needed to make a contact with a school and ask them to write a letter saying that they would give me work... whether that might be the case or not, and then i could just go from there... i don\\\'t know how realistic that really is, but it gave me a smidgeon of hope! [IMG SRC=\"images/forum/smilies/icon_smile.gif\"]

so, i\\\'m rambling here... but the point is, it was a lot harder than i thought it was going to be, and i\\\'m realizing that unless i get really lucky with the one great interview i had... i\\\'m just gonna have to leap before i look!

vieve.....

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[Tracy]

Vieve...

Truthfully, I think you did GREAT! You now have a solid contact guy in Madrid AND you have a bunch of Academies that have your resume!!!! When you go back, it\\\'ll be much easier getting work becasue people will see that you are sincere about sticking out your plans.

I would try to correspond with this Oxford English guy...keep him aware of your plans, and maybe SLIP in the question, \\\"hey, perhaps YOU can write out that paper to OK me a job!!!\\\"

If worse comes to worst, you can still head over to Spain, find a job and have a friend back in the States fill out your paperwork for you. Make one cheapy flight back home to finish up the job and then...the rest is history...(we HOPE!)

Truthfully though, it doesn\\\'t sound like a bad deal at all.

Tracy

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[PR4552]

Vieve,

I think that you prepared yourself well.  I will be looking for a job in June for January.  I am not too concerned about the work visa because I am used to challeneges in y life.  Hey, I attended the University or Puerto Rico for one year and a half and registration was very interesting.

Keep your head up and all will work out.

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[jer]

Hey Vieve, Tracy is sooooo right about that having a solid contact in Madrid being a great thing!

When I came here to live 6 yrs ago I knew absolutely nobody except for a few Americans that I had studes my Masters with who had stayed after our program.

Today I know loads of people and businesses both professionally and personally and although a lot of it is due to my website, I also made many contacts by hitting the streets and presenting myself personally.

I met the guys at Canterbury because I used to teach for them and then I designed their website and began to do computer stuff for them.

Like you during your week here last month, I hit the streets and now havemany connections. Don\\\'t meanto toot my own horn but a lot of people in the teaching and tourism fields know who I am and it is a great feeling.

You have a great advantage by being able to speak Spanish well, I was fluent when I came over and it imporessed everyone when I could deal in the native tongue.

Keep it up and don\\\'t throw in the towel.

Saludos,
jer...

madrid nut, webweaver of [!-- BBCode u2 Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.multimadrid.com\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]www.multimadrid.com[/A][!-- BBCode u2 End --] and keeper of the [!-- BBCode u2 Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.multimadrid.com\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]plazacam[/A][!-- BBCode u2 End --].

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