What did we say?

Work in Spain

Well, in short, that finding viable conventional work in Spain was difficult and likely to remain so for the forseeable future. Indeed, unless you have a very particular niche skill there are few opportunities – outside of the few that we have isolated (and shown how to exploit) within the book.

Indeed, at the time of writing, unemployment in Spain is well in excess of 20% (the Spanish government figure) and there is a cycle of business closures following on from the Spanish property crash and credit crunch. Needless to say, the catatonic state of the construction industry has affected a wide range of ancillary businesses and any feeling of wealth (and wellbeing) has been crushed by the fall in property prices.

So, what can you do?

The answer is to work in Spain on the Internet. This is the great international ‘leveller’ and enables you to live in Spain, whilst working within a dynamic industry that allows you to earn an income, wherever you are.

But how, you may well ask, can you work on the Internet and make money? Where do start?

Frankly, by buying our book! This is because a large part of the value of ‘Secrets’ (seven tenths of the book) lies in the way that it simply and clearly shows how you can make a living from the Internet.

Indeed, ‘Secrets’ shows has been written for you – if you have little or no knowledge of how the Internet works and even less about how to exploit it to earn a living.

However, not only do we provide you with a firm grounding in the basics of how to make the Intenet work for you but we also provide seven different ways that you can exploit it. We do this because we all have different skills and, within the seven ways, there will certainly be more than one that suits you and your inate skills and experience.

Is this the answer to the question about: are there jobs in Spain?

It should be.

After all, we have been in Spain a long time now and we know what does or does not work in Spain and the reality of working in Spain. We also know that it is all too easy to give a positive ‘spin’ to the situation here – despite the evidence being to the contrary. To do so would be dishonest and deeply unhelpful.

So, this is why you will find ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ uncompromisingly truthful – and helpful. Of course, you can find conventional work in Spain, but the present and future lies in exploiting the Internet to make an income here. To do so, with the right guidance, is easily achievable, well within your capabilites, almost risk-free, and will provide you with not just an income – but also complete independence…

So where can you buy it? At Work in Spain of course

Of course, like so many women in Spain, you may be wondering how your family can make more money? On the face of it, this can seem impossible.

After all, finding work in Spain, at the best of times, can be difficult.

The recession has aggravated matters enormously, of course, but as a mother you are already naturally restricted in what you can do. This is certainly true of full time work in Spain (or elsewhere!). Simply juggling timings and available energy between school runs and the myriad jobs required to keep a home running can make doing a full time job, quite literally, impossible.

So, what can you do – if for some reason you need to make a living in Spain or at least some extra money?

Quite a lot, is the answer. Surprisingly!

In fact, if you know where to look, there are a number of areas that you can exploit successfully. This is the theme of ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ which targets ten different ways of making money in Spain

Vitally, nearly all the ways to make money analysed by ‘Secrets’ are ideal for people who need to work independently, around their own timings. Perhaps as importantly, all the ways suggested are low risk, low overhead and concentrate upon making pure profit. These factors are vital.

Why?

Because the very last thing you should do, when money is already short and you are in a foreign country, is to take risks or incur additional overheads.

Equally, you should also be extremely wary of any ‘business’ (or book!) that promises you an instant fortune or ‘how to to make a million in three easy steps’. ‘Secret’ does none of those things. It is more prosaic. It is about identifying realistic ways of making viable money in Spain now. It deals with reality and shows you how to exploit practical opportunities.

You may ask what these ‘practical opportunities’ are?

Well, they are a combination of things, both conventional and ‘unconventional’.
You may think, having read ‘Secrets’, that the ‘unconventional’ opportunities offer you, as a mother, the best opportunites for making money. They are based around using the Internet – undoubtedly the most outstandingly appropriate tool for anyone wanting to make money on their own, in their own time, at their own pace.

However, making money on the the Internet is still a little understood concept. This is despite the fact that it is not necessarily about being ‘techie’ or a computer ‘geek’. That is to totally misunderstand the power and earning potential of web marketing and trading on the Internet, which (despite common misconceptions) has little to do with being ‘good’ with computers.

In fact, it is about a different set of skills altogether – and ones that can be learnt easily and quickly. This is particularly true if you are shown the user-friendly tools available to you and understand the concept of how to make money on the Internet.

‘Secrets’ show you, for example, how to undertake proper Internet market research, how to copy write, how to Blog, how to develop an affiliate marketing business and how to trade in domain names. These all things that you can do – and are all things that can, and will, make you money.

Meanwhile, on conventional work, ‘Secrets’ shows you how to earn a living teaching English (a huge growth business in Spain) or run a lettings agency (exploiting every possible way to make money from it). It also shows you the problem areas in Spain from which you can benefit by providing a chargeable service.

Can you find work in Spain – given all the problems with the conomy? Yes, if you know the niches that exist and how to exploit them.

As the saying goes: ‘where there are problems, so also are there opportunities’. Even during recessions there is money to be made, albeit rarely in the same way as during a boom!

As a woman you should be used to lateral thinking – and to marshalling your time well. But what you need are ways of making money at home or in your own time. These opportunities do exist in Spain – and, if you know how, you can make money here…

Nick Snelling is the author of four books on Spain including ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ available from www.workinspain.co

The construction industry in Spain has almost ceased to exist, unemployment is beyond 20%, harsh austerity measures are being activated and the unharnessed spending of the boom years has been long forgotten. Spain is also about to experience its first general strike for many years giving some indication of the problems that exist.

On the face of it, any thought of working in Spain is tantamount to economic suicide.

Or is it?

Valencia Port

In fact, there are still ways of making a living in Spain as an expatriate, although as ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ point out – the old certainties have vanished.

In the past, many expatriates came to Spain either with what they hoped was a secure pension or were able to pick up work relatively easily. The construction industry absorbed many expatriates, with others managing to earn money selling property (normally to other expatriates!). Meanwhile, others opened bars or restaurants and benefited from the boom-initiated high spending of everyone.

Unfortunately, ‘easy’ money is no longer possible as general, ‘careless’ spending has stopped. Equally, the world economic crisis has badly affected investment income and pensions.

Worse still, for the British, the gyrations of the Sterling/Euro exchange rate has meant that the past few years have seen a dramatic drop in the spending power of Sterling in Spain. Many British pensioners have found that Spain has become ‘expensive’ and that their incomes no longer provide the quality of life they had before – or thought was possible!

As always, the answer to any shortage of money – is to make some money. The obvious problem is that this is no simple matter when you live in a foreign country and when you know that you will have to start up something on your own!

Where do you start? What do you do? How can you avoid spending money (when least you need to do so) to create a business?

‘The Secrets to Working and Making Living in Spain’ analyses the possibilities for work in Spain and then concentrates upon ten different niches that can be exploited (full time or part time) to make money. One thing all of these niches have in common is that they are all low cost, low overhead and concentrate upon making profit with the minimum of risk.

‘Secrets’ certainly ‘pulls no punches’. It does not suggest that there are masses of different ways to make money in Spain. There are not. However, there are distinct niches in which there are opportunities and it is these upon which the book focusses – whilst providing interviews, contacts and back-up material to show you how to make them workable.

‘Secrets’ has been written by both Graham Hunt and myself (my fourth book on Spain). Both of us have considerable experience of working in Spain and have done so for many years. This allows us to provide consistently practical and applicable advice. The latter has been backed up by ten expert contributors to the book – all of whom are specialist in their given areas and all of whom have been able to provide invaluable guidance.

So, although the Spanish economy is in trouble – it does not mean that you cannot work in Spain or make money here. Far from it.

As we say in ‘Secrets’, time and again – where there are problems there also, always, opportunities. You just need to know precisely where they are and how best to exploit them!

‘The Secrets to Working and Making Living in Spain’ can be obtained from www.workinspain.co

Work in Spain Book

In fact, of course, it appears that the general strike in Spain will be a damp squib. There seems to be little support for the strike and no-one appears to have much idea about what it is intended to achieve. Most people currently at work in Spain seem set to continue to do so on the 29th September.

In fact, I fear that Graham Hunt (my co-writer) put things well when he placed a Post on Houses For Sale In Spain recently – wondering whether he should go on strike himself. The trouble is that Graham, like me, works in Spain for himself. So, quite what either of us would gain escapes us altogether!

In reality, the strike is, of course, for the benefit of employees and not for employers or (Heaven help them!) the self-employed.

In Spain, as we make clear in ‘Secrets’ the permanently employed have very considerable rights. So much so, that permanent contracts (contratos indefinidos) are as highly prized by employees as they are loathed by employers. New legislation promises to make hiring and firing of workers easier but, I fear, has a long way to go yet.

Not surprisingly, the extremes of job security, when it comes to working in Spain, are found within the Spanish civil service where civil servants (funcionarios), once they have passed their relevant exams, (oposiciones) have a job for life. Quite literally. This is great for them but a total disaster for anyone in the public sector.

I say a ‘total disaster’ because trying to get anything done when civil servants are involved and do not want to do something – is an experience not to be savoured. Certainly, there is a colossol gap between the expectations and work ethics of the civil service and the private sector, with little cross-over of experience between the two.

In any event, of one thing you can be sure: both Graham and I shall be working in Spain as normal during the general strike in Spain on the 29th September 2010.

So if you have any queries about ‘The Secrets to Woking and Making a Living in Spain’ then feel free to contact us…

RELEVANT ARTICLE:
Update on General Strike in Spain: http://www.culturespain.com/living-in-spain/culture-spain-%e2%80%93-update-on-the-general-strike-in-spain-29th-september-2010-the-politics-of-apathy

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“The biggest stumbling block to a successful life in Spain has now been solved by this book… most people find they love the Spanish lifestyle but end up reluctantly going back due to financial reasons.”

That is basically the idea of the book so glad to see that Mark has picked up on it.

Mark Eastwood www.costablancauncovered.com

WORKING IN SPAIN – TEACHING ENGLISH

Few people in their right minds would say that finding work in Spain is now easy. The present economic crisis in Spain is deep and will be, sadly, long lasting. It is presently accompanied by over 20% unemployment and this will take a long time to eliminate.

Not surprisingly, at the moment, there are many people looking for work in Spain (both expatriate and Spanish) – with few jobs available. Even those that do exist tend to provide little security and low pay. Meanwhile, most people living in Spain have ‘drawn in their horns’ and are restricting their spending. This makes starting a business in Spain a hazardous activity.

However, one area is booming and is set to continue doing so. It is teaching English to the Spanish.

You may yawn when you hear this. You may even think of dismissing it as a trite and hackneyed way for an expatriate to make money whilst working in Spain. However, if you do – then you will be making an error!

Teaching English in Spain is a great way of working in Spain and making an income.

You may ask why? Well, here are 5 good reasons:

1. The demand is enormous. As every year passes, the Spanish government imposes greater pressure upon Spanish state education to teach English to school children. It is the obligatory second language of Spain and has to be studied right up to, and including at, Bachillerato level (British equivalent of ‘A’ levels). Virtually every adult Spaniard wants to be able to speak English. It is now recognised as the international language of business and academia and essential for career purposes. It is the ‘gateway’ to well paid work in the US or Northern Europe and a pre-requisite for any international trade.
2. The demand outweighs the supply. Virtually all state tuition of English is undertaken by native Spanish teachers. Whilst grammatically the Spanish teachers are usually excellent, their accents are not. As a consequence (and because of class sizes), most Spaniards (of all ages) struggle with their English listening and speaking skills. These require native English speakers and small class sizes.
3. Easy to do. Almost any native Briton who is reasonably literate can teach English, if they have a neutral accent. ‘Dusting up’ on English grammar can be done swiftly and there are a number of TEFAL (Teaching English As a Foreign Language) and TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of a Second Langage) courses. These are not expensive and will provide you with the ‘know-how’ to teach English. Accompanying, the profusion of courses that will teach you how to teach English are excellent teaching aids. These are available from a range of publishers and cover every aspect of the school curriculum and every possible conversational topic imaginable.
4. Low overheads and start-up. Unless you start a conventional ‘bricks and mortar’ school, your overheads and costs will be minimal. Small classes can be taught in your own home, a small office or (often) at the homes or premises of students. You can keep your overheads to a minimum and easily control how many classes you want to give and when. You can be your own boss and push the business as much or as little as you want.
5. Accessible marketplace. Accessing the marketplace is relatively easy – mainly because it is all around you. Good networking and marketing skills will quickly produce students, if this is combined with the provision of a weekly free conversational class and a well optimised web site. If you are a good communicator and can make your classes fun and appealing then ‘word’ will get around quickly and your student base will consistently rise.

So, whether you want to subsidise your income or create a full time business – do not dismiss teaching English! It is one of the most obvious and easiest routes to working in Spain and making a living…

For more information on teaching English as a foreign language or to find out what other work in Spain is possible get: ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ available from www.workinspain.co

It is of course no secret that finding work in the Spanish property industry is no longer easy.  The old days of easily making a living in Spain by working in construction or starting up a building company are gone – along with the rampant Spanish property boom.

Letting Agency in Spain

Equally, estate agency in Spain has now become a very tough business with thousands of agents having disappeared over the past three years.  The world credit crunch has markedly reduced international buyers and bears no resemblance to the ‘happy’ years of 2005 – 2007.  Whilst there are some signs of a resurgence in buyers, there are certainly not enough to risk opening an agency or banking on being able to earn a full time living in Spain from associated sales commissions.

So, the question is: can you still find work in Spain within the Spanish property industry?

Well, you can – however you need to be rather more clever than before and try to exploit two niches that do exist.  These are quite different but both, over time, can provide a workable income.

The first niche revolves around problem solving.  Spain’s property boom involved new construction on a massive scale.  In fact, the amount of new building was almost unimaginable and amounted, at its height, to Spain building more properties every year than the UK, Germany and France combined.  For example, in 2006 there were almost 900,000 starts!

Apart from an obvious over-supply of properties, one of the problems of this enormous amount of new construction in Spain was the poor nature of some of the building work performed.  Not least this was due to a lack of skilled builders.  This was compounded by poor local authority building control, which was, in any event, overwhelmed by the sheer number of new builds being erected.  Of course, deliberate cost cutting also occurred – particularly with regard to foundations and critically important retaining walls.

A consequence of the building boom is that there is a surfeit of construction related defects.  So, you can find work in Spain within the building industry – if you have a specialist construction skill, particularly with regard to remedial structural works.  If this is the case, then you should contact any UK building surveyors and architects working in Spain or the loss adjusting departments of insurance companies.

A secondary area of work lies in running a lettings agency.  This may, at first sight, seem an odd thing to do.  However, it is work in Spain with huge potential for exploiting spin-off earnings.

Obtaining lets for people who want to rent their properties normally requires a little knowledge of how to maket effectively on the Internet.  However, in relation to this there are many simple tools available to you.  There are major international lettings agencies upon which you can place properties for rent or, of course, you can market for clients yourself.

However, obtaining clients for properties (and obtaining a commission for so doing) is only one part of the work available to a letting agency.  ‘Change-overs’, as renters come and go, provides additional paid work – which invariably leads onto full maintenance contracts of the rental properties concerned.  By definition these need keyholders, people to service the pools and someone to keep the garden and house in order.

However, your ability to make money as a letting agency extends beyond just servicing the basic needs of a property as a holiday let.  Invariably, there are associated building works to manage and a clever lettings agent will also make commissions from introductions to car hire firms, golf clubs and other activity centres.

Of course, as a letting agent, you will quickly gain a thorough knowledge of the property in your immediate area.  Importantly, this will mean that you will be the first to know what is coming up for sale.  This is often complemented by meeting people who are renting who are interested in buying.  You can, therefore, quickly become a corredor (a ‘runner’) recommending properties to list for agents and introducing buyers to agents.  The commissions for doing both actions can be very substantial.

Is there property related work in Spain?  Yes – if you know what to look for and how to make it work…

Copyright Nick Snelling author of ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ available from www.workinspain.co

THE SECRETS TO WORKING
AND
MAKING A LIVING IN SPAIN

(329 pages, over 60,000 words – the Key to your Future in Spain)

Just 29 Euros

Do you want to work in Spain?

Do you need to make money whilst living in Spain?

Do you need to subsidise your pension – or make a full time income in Spain?

If you, do then ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’ is a critical tool that tells you not just the truth about working in Spain – but also how to actually make money in Spain.

In fact, “Secrets” is based around ten specific, closely analysed niches. Each one of these niches will enable you to work in Spain and develop a viable income. You may wish to exploit these niches just to add to your current income. Or you may use them to develop a full time business in Spain. Both options are possible – with all ten niches!

Critically, “Secrets” is not theoretical!

“Secrets” is about the reality of working in Spain – here and now!. It is about showing you exactly how to take advantage of defined niches that are unaffected by the present economic crisis.

“Secrets” recognises that the ‘old certainties’ of working in Spain have gone!

So, if you want to work in Spain or find a job in Spain now then you must know exactly what is available now and how to exploit it now! That is what “Secrets” tells you – together with providing you with all the advice and tools you need to be successful.

Vitally, “Secrets”has been written by two writers who know all about working in Spain. Both Nick (marketing consultant and author of five books) and Graham (property and social media specialist) work in Spain now – and have done so for many years. They know, from practical experience, what works in Spain and what does not!

Just as importantly, “Secrets” has ten expert contributors, who are time-served, successful professionals. These have provided terrific advice, information and tools – real working secrets and guidance – to each and every niche tackled in “Secrets”.

So, if you want to work in Spain or know what the secrets to working in Spain are then get: ‘The Secrets to Working and Making a Living in Spain’. It is the key to ensuring that your life in Spain will be successful, happy and rewarding…