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Moving to Spain and need UK-based work: ask the expert
I am moving to Spain in the New Year and am looking for companies I could possibly work for from home (maybe UK based?). I have an extensive CV, I only speak English, but am having Spanish lessons.
It’s difficult to advise, not knowing your range of skills and background. Some general points though:-
You’ll probably need to concentrate on working for companies that do business entirely in English (eg those serving the expat communities and tourists – elder care providers, holiday companies, insurance companies and the like) until you become fluent in Spanish.
Employers generally prefer to employ teleworkers (you’ll be a teleworker) living near their offices rather than in another country. Some British, US or Dutch employers, though, will need teleworkers based in Spain to assist the customers or suppliers they have there.
Please contact the British and American Embassies in Spain and ask whether they can provide you with any information about UK and US companies (1) serving the expat market; and / or (2) engaged in supplying or buying from Spanish companies. When you get hold of that information, look up each of the companies on their own websites and see whether they might provide any employment opportunities for you.
It’s possible you might be able to work as a remote teleworker for an entirely UK-based company, but with unemployment being as high as it is, the chances are very slight.
There are a number of teleworking sites and general sites such as www.workingmums.co.uk that might be able to provide you with useful contacts. Try the following for starters:- www.jobrapido.co.uk/teleworking ; www.work-at-home.page.co.uk and www.homeworking.com . Good luck!
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Comments [2]
Laura says:
I studied abroad in Spain for two months and traveled around the country. It’s the most beautiful place I have ever been and I dream about going back daily. The culture is very different from the UK but no one is right or wrong. I would live like a Spaniard any day! The lifestyle is so much healthier and less wasteful. Other countries have a lot to learn from Spain.
Anonymous says:
I'm 29 want to sell my house. And move to spain in tarragona. Iv got 3 kids a wife I speak of Spanish. I'm class 2 hgv driver what's the chance of getting work.
Editor: Our careers expert Linda Whittern says: Good information’s hard to come by but I think it’ll be very difficult for you to find work in Spain and it won’t be easy to track down potential employers.
I tried speaking to the Spanish Embassy (no-one answered the ‘phone on the two occasions I tried) and the Spanish Chamber (who said to email in my request and I’d probably get an answer within 5 days but no, they didn’t want to know what the enquiry was about).
I tried speaking to a helpful personal contact in a logistics recruitment consultancy dealing with UK and some international jobs who said he had no information on Spanish jobs.
I tried different search terms – eg hgv 2 driver jobs in spain, road haulage companies in spain, jobs in spain. Those searches didn’t pick up any HGV driver jobs in Spain.
There are plenty of road haulage companies listed – they might have some vacancies to offer but I think the odds are against it. As you know, Spain was very hard hit by the 2008 recession, unemployment’s still very high and economic growth in Spain is expected to be only around .7% (ie one-third of the amount of vacancies that are needed just to stabilise jobs market).
The one bit of good news I can pass on if you’re able to stay within the UK is that there’s expected to be a big shortage of HGV drivers here after this September.
As you probably know, all HGV 2 drivers (and others) need to take and pass a desk-based course giving them a CPC driver qualification they must have to continue working as an HGV driver. The course is expensive so many younger drivers can’t afford to take it. Many older drivers won’t want to bother with it. Employers will face a shortage of good applicants for their vacancies and drivers working on a self-employed basis may have the opportunity to push up their fee levels.