Finding work Barcelona Spain

Working in Barcelona

Moving to Barcelona might mean dropping a few rungs on the career ladder, even if you speak some Spanish. You might fall completely off the ladder and find yourself climbing a new career ladder all together. But that could be a good thing.

TuSalario.es average salaries in Spain

It's not easy to find permanent long term jobs In Spain that match qualifications and career from home. Your new career ladder might feel more like a step ladder with just two steps and not much money at the top of a short litte climb to nowhere,  But on the positive side you are out of the rat race. It's quite common in Barcelona to find foreign residents who are highly qualified, but can't find a job in their field. They mgiht be lawyers, accountants and business people.  But that was in another country and another life.  Now you are in Barcelona and the reality is often that unless you are quite fluent in Spanish, you will probably have to take whatever work you can find while you find your feet and learn some Spanish. So don't waste time and energy fretting about how much you were making in London, or Paris or Berlin. That was then and this is now.

Focus on the positive aspects like the climate, cheaper and fresher food and so on. If you had really wanted to stay in the old job and in the rat race with long commutes, hard work and lots of money but no time to spend it, then you probably would have stayed right where you were.  So forget the past and concentrate on finding and enjoying a different lifestyle and a newjob in Barcelona.

For many native English speakers the first step might be to teach English in Barcelona or teach German. Many Spaniards are planning to go to Germany for work so German lessons are in big demand at the moment. Another popular entry level job is working at a call centre in Barcelona. Many nationals from other European countries will often a first job as a help desk operator. There are many internationalcall centres in Barcelona.

Other possibilities are to work as free-lancers in their own field, but this often requires having customers in your home country that you can continue working for and perhaps coupled with the ability to do your job online. The bottom line is that you have to work hard to get started in a new country often for salaries, that are substantially lower than you are used to, but you can take comfort in the knowledge that even if you had found work in your old field here in Spain,  it’s likely that your salary would have been much lower than your old salary anyway.  For many theaverage salary in Barcelona is still 1000 euros a month. There is even a term for people who make that kind of salary in Spain: "mileuristas". 

With an income of 1000 euros a month you can survive in a rented room and on a shoestring budget which is fun in the short term, but not great after a few years. Finding jobs in Spain that bring over 1500 euros is however quite hard. Initially it can all be quite a shock. Many new residents of  Barcelona find themselves getting even more stressed by the difficulties of the “laid-back” Spanish lifestyle than they were in their home country in the nine to five business world. "At least we were making money back then!"

It’s an question of adjustment. If you came here for a change of pace or to work less, then you should come to terms with the fact that your work will be more trivial and you might be making less money.  But isn’t that one of the reasons why you came here? So. Be happy, be positive, think ahead and enjoy the advantages of a laid-back lifestyle.  Let old doors stay closed and look for the new ones opening here. Life in Spain can be much simpler and more rewarding both in the short term and the long term.  You just have to adapt to a different lifestyle.


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Last Updated on Saturday, 13 February 2016 14:32
 

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