Hi Straycat,
I have found it difficult to get a job in Spain as a certified English teacher primarily because of my age and gender. I am a 47 year old man. All of the companies here in Barcelona require your date of birth and a picture in the application process. If they state who they are looking for in the ad, they specify women about 90% of the time. If they state the age range they are looking for, I have never seen anything higher than age 37.
These are just the facts of my experience in the job market here. I am from the US and this would be seen as discrimination there. But here, discrimination in the hiring process is not viewed as a problem.
My overall experience in Spain has given me the impression that the culture here is rigid in its view of who is right for what job. They don?t believe they have prejudices with race, age, sex, etc. That only happens somewhere else. They see them selves as simply having a clear understanding of what all Americans, Chinese, black people, old people, young people, men, women, etc are like and what is appropriate for them in work and living standards.
Anyhow, I found it much easier to start my own business. In Spain, a business that answers their calls, and does what they say they will do when they said they would do it, is a revelation to its customers. That gives me a considerable advantage over the piss poor companies in Spain that don?t know what a competitive economy is really like.
If you create your own job, specify the market you want to capture, and follow good standard business practices, you can do well in the sadly na?ve business culture of Spain.
I wish you luck,
Danny
