Job w/ EU passport but no Espanol

[Jordan]

What are the chances of getting a job in Barcelona w/out any Spanish. I hold both US and EU (I\\\'m an Irish citizen) passports so I figure I have a slight advantage, but I probalby won\\\'t be able to communicate in Spanish for a few months (I\\\'ll be taking Spanish classes). I realize the job market is insanely competitve, so is it completely unrealistic to hope to find something ( teaching English, working at a cafe, administrative, etc.)?

Also, will my EU passport be enough to present to employers or do I need to prove residence in Ireland?

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[Tracy]

Hi Jordan,

As for your first question, I DEFINITELY think it\\\'s possible to find a job teaching English with little or NO knowledge of Spanish. There are definite advantages to being able to speak Spanish, but not concerning teaching English. In fact, many places LOVE the fact that their teachers only know English. This forces the students to seriously learn the language and not depend on their own language.

The directors of most every academy (that I know of) speak English. So your interview will probably be in English. Getting through to the director though may be where you might have problems. In many of the big academies, most of the admin assistants/secretaries speak a minimal amount of English, but sometimes they do not. In this case, you might want to brush up on your Spanish. Also, as far as CVs are concerned, make sure your cover letter is in both English and Spanish. This is more for the purpose of ettiquette than anything else. You are, afterall, in SPain.

And as for your EU passport, I believe that\\\'s good enough, but you may want to ask the Irish Embassy. I highly DOUBT that you have to prove residency in Ireland. But check into it anyway.

GOOD LUCK!

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[jer]

Hola Jordan.



Confirmed, your EU passport is more than enough to get a job contract here.



I am American but was born in Scotland since my dad was stationed in the U.S. Navy there (I got lucky  [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif\"]) so I have both a U.S. and British passport and I have always been hired with nothing more than my EU passport.



You will however need to know Spanish and/or some Catalán to get most jobs.



Saludos,

jer...[addsig]

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[Tracy]

Thanks for the words \'o wisdom Jer, as always, but I know of at least 3 English academies still up and running where you can walk into the office speaking English ONLY and land, at least, hourly work teaching English. ASTEX is BIG for hiring native English speakers who know no Spanish.



On the flip side...I mean use common sense. You ARE in Spain, so you SHOULD learn Spanish. Remember, you can always tell your employers that you\'re taking Spanish classes-- which you ARE. Right???   [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif\"] [addsig]

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[jer]

Totally Tracy, I guess that was my intention... subconciously trying to tell Jordan to learn Spanish.



I gues it depends on the job you want, ie working in a Café or administrative position would require Spanish but teaching English, not necessarily.



Saludos,

jer...[addsig]

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