Hi there,
Several people involved in the English teaching industry in Spain have told me generally positive things about the current state of the industry and job prospects.
Some of them arguably have a vested interest in what they have told me (I am considering moving to Spain next year, taking a CELTA course and then searching for 2013-14 jobs), so I would be grateful if others could respond to these points and advise whether they are accurate. Here is a summary of what I’ve been told:
- Despite Spain’s economic woes, the English teaching sector is doing very well, although some regions where schools have relied on business classes (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao for example) have noticed the effects of a reduction in some companies? training budgets.
- In other parts of the country (where main clients are children, young people and adults) business is still very strong as parents are reluctant to cut back on their kids’ education and young adults realise they won’t get a job straight away so they take up English to boost their CVs.
- However, the recession meant that last year many English teachers stayed put in the schools where they were working, instead of moving around, meaning fewer job opportunities were being advertised.
- Many people in Ireland and the UK are retraining, and trying their hand at English teaching in Spain, meaning demand for teaching jobs is relatively high.
- People generally find English teaching work in June for the summer months and find work in about September for the following academic year.
- Many people who complete a four-week CELTA course in Barcelona find English teaching work at the end of the course.
I would appreciate any feedback from people in the know about whether the above points are accurate. (As an aside I have an EU passport, am a native English speaker, and have a reasonable level of conversational Spanish.)
Muchas gracias!
