Finding Jobs In Spain As An English Speaker
How to REALLY find English speaking jobs in Spain
Growing up, I have always enjoyed languages and cultures; one of these that stood out to me was the Spanish language and its culture; long story short, after a year of searching, I finally had a job offer in sunny Barcelona as a sales and technical support (you will either come to love it or hate it).
This post will take you through some of the easiest ways you can find jobs in Spain, companies I have come across that hires English Speakers, with job examples and the best websites to use, including some honourable mentions.
Most articles you will catch online about jobs in Spain will usually give you vague answers such as make contacts or know the market, nothing that truly goes into detail, and if you are someone like me who loses hope quite quickly, this can certainly dampen your motivation, nevertheless, let’s get started!
Easy ways to find jobs in Spain as a native English speaker
To kick things off, some of the easiest ways I believe you can get a job in Spain as an English speaker is to become:
1. An English Teacher — This I am sure is self-explanatory. I have never applied to become an English teacher in Spain as I do not deem myself fit for the position. However, upon a lot of browsing for jobs, I did come across companies there were looking for native English teachers
You can check out sites such as:
- nativeprofessionalteachers.com
- careers.ef.com [English First]
- meritschool.com
There are plenty more of course, but with the help of the employment sites you will see listed below, this I will hope should save you some time searching from one company to another.
Note: In most cases, you will require a TEFL [Teaching English as a Foreign Language] qualification.
2. A Teaching Assistant — You will be working under the main teacher and supporting them with the class. You will be required to have TEFL qualification here.
I first applied with meddeas.com, though I did not get the job it is worth looking into, plus there are no fees to pay simply pass your interviews.
Furthermore, I applied with premiertefl.com. They offer TEFL qualifications along with internships to the country of your choice costing, at the time for me approximately £400 to £450. I did not get the job here after my interviews, but at least I have my TEFL qualification for life, and they also refunded me half of my money back since I did not pass the interview.
TEFLheaven.com is another site to check out, I did not apply with them, but you have the chance to gain your TEFL qualification while teaching in the country/ city of your choice as they say on their webpage. (check site for prices).
There are plenty of companies that offer TEFL qualifications with the chance of becoming a teaching assistant. I suggest spending time browsing to find what company best suits your needs.
3. Au pair — I believe this has more negatives than positives for me based on online reviews, but don’t let that discourage you.
Au pair allows you to stay with locals and in exchange, you take care of their children, helping with homework and school runs, etc. This is great if you enjoy taking care of kids and enjoy nanny roles.
I applied with clubrci.com. However, I did not take my application further as reviews about au pairing did not sit right with my thoughts. This however is my opinion.
Now, if you are not into the jobs recommended above, and want something a little more long-term, with the help of the websites you will see below, I believe you can find something suitable for you and your skills.
Companies that hire English speakers
I am sure we all know what Amazon does. Based all over, their job roles for English speakers in Spain include:
- Fulfilment & Operations Management
- Project/Program/Product Management
- Supply chain/Transportation Management
Amazon also offers internships and graduate programs, ideal for students and recent graduates. I applied for a few but was not accepted.
An electricity and Gas rate comparator based mostly in Madrid and Barcelona. Their job roles include:
- Sales Quality Controller
- Inbound English-speaking energy sales agent
Sent my application and received a reply on when I will be available to start, gave them my preferred dates, but never heard from them after this. Still worth checking out.
An online printing and digital company. Their English roles in Spain are only in Valencia and includes:
- Customer service
- Logistics Administrator
I applied for their logistics and customer service role and both roles were offered to me, but the timing was inconvenient as they only gave me less than two weeks to relocate.
They also offer internships in graphic design, good for graduates and students looking for summer jobs.
Speaking of summer jobs, Capacity London is also one to check out. They are a community-based training provider offering training and work experience. This is great for students as they offer 3 months paid work placement in fields such as Digital Media, Creative Industries, and English teaching in Seville, Prague, and Marseille.
Accommodation and travel expenses are covered by them too, with weekly allowance, whiles offering language tuition based on your destination country.
Applied here but my interview was unsuccessful.
Note: This applies only to UK residents.
A Barcelona-based software company that specialises in creating online forms and online surveys.
Their English roles include:
- Analyst
- Copywriting
- Product designer
- Learning and support specialist
Applied, but never heard from them.
This is a recruitment company that specialises in multilingual Job offers, operating in Barcelona, Lisbon, Athens, and Valencia. They offer a very clever way to get jobs in the cities mentioned if you ask me.
In other words, they work with companies looking to hire candidates with European languages, all you simply have to do is send them your best CV and once your profile matches with a company, they contact you with all the details. They also support with relocation process.
If you are good with sales as an English speaker, this will be great for you as most of the job offers I received from them were sales-based and came with a lot of cold calling in their description. I of course did not accept the offer as I do not have any drive for cold calling, but hey! Still worth looking into.
Moreover, they offer the chance to apply with themselves as a recruitment agent or an interviewer.
Offers the same services as City Job offers but provides far more countries to choose from. Simply send your CV, pay a little fee (based on the country of your choice), and get matched with recruiters.
I did not apply with JobNexus, but again, worth sending your CV over.
Based in London, Berlin and Barcelona, TravelPerk is a company that provides travel and expense management services for businesses through automating spending limits and travel policies.
They offer roles in engineering, customer services, and design.
I was not offered any of the roles I applied for, but worth checking out.
As a provider of human capital management for various size companies, ADP is based in over 20 countries. However, most of their English roles in Spain you will find in either Madrid or Barcelona. Examples being, Sales Representatives, Sales Manager, Implementation coordinator, etc.
Never applied with them.
Suggested to me by someone I know, Webhelp’s job is to help other companies build better human customer experience to moderating their social media and providing payment services. They are based in over 30 countries, but, their English roles in Spain are based only in Barcelona.
I did not apply with them.
This is a SAP (Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing) service company, located almost all over Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America; their English roles in Spain only exist in Barcelona and include roles such as Business Development and Customer Services.
Applied here, but never heard anything back.
I’m sure we all know what HP does. If you don’t, then, in brief, they provide IT-related support services.
Their English roles in Spain are based in Madrid and Barcelona. Roles include Engineering, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain and operations, as well as Marketing and Operations and more.
They also offer internships and graduate roles suitable for students. I applied for a few internships but was not successful.
If you are a traveller, I’m sure you would have come across lastminute.com. LM offers online travel and leisure services. They are based only in Europe but their English roles in Spain are offered in Madrid and Barcelona and include positions ranging from Claims Specialist, Developer to Marketing.
I applied to several openings but heard nothing from them.
Helps companies through the development of HR solutions. The company is based almost all over Spain, and they offer a variety of job roles from copywriting, telesales working, warehouse operations, and more.
As stated on their webpage, Domestika is considered the largest community for creative professionals to share their projects contribute to, and learn forums as well as finding employment. In other words, a freelance website.
A few jobs offered on their webpage include being a content manager, Analyst, consulting, video editing, and more.
Provider of consulting, information technology and business processes, Cognizant offers English roles in Barcelona and Madrid only. Looking at their website they seem to prefer those with a lot more experience. Nevertheless, some of the roles they offer include QA engineer, Quality Analyst, and more.
A German-based company with offices worldwide with leading innovations, brands, and technologies in three main business areas that includes: Adhesive Technologies, Beauty Care, and Laundry & Home Care.
Henkel’s English-speaking roles in Spain are only based in Barcelona and includes entry-level roles to professionals. They also offer internships for students, a few of which I applied for but not my application was not successful.
Specialises in digitising local experiences, from gigs to theatre, pop-ups, and so on. The company is based in America and some parts of Europe, in this case, Barcelona and Madrid.
They offer roles such as communication Specialist, writer, and community manager. They emphasise a lot on American English, but hey! do not let that push you away.
This is a Telemarketing and Sales company. As stated on their website, they help technology companies sell better, faster, and efficiently. Their English roles in Spain are only based in Barcelona only and include sales roles, digital marketing, and those that involve leadership.
I must however say that a lot of job advertisements I have come across that involve English speaking are the sales roles and yes, a lot of cold calling.
Some time ago, a member of staff messaged me regarding one of their sales roles, and I of course declined, as you will know by now that I am not comfortable with cold calling.
A Telebusines company, mostly subcontracting, with their English roles are only based in Barcelona. A lot of their job roles are sales focussed and includes:
- Customer service and sales agent
- Admin quality contact
I applied for quite a few positions but never heard from them.
Just as CPM, this is also a Telebusiness company that subcontracts with companies such as GoDaddy, Disney, Google, etc. They offer jobs in Barcelona, Madrid, Coruña, and Jaén. However, their English job roles are only based in Madrid and Barcelona. Examples of these include:
- Data Entry
- Technical Sales and Support Representative
- Digital Sales Consultant and marketing campaigns
- English Inbound Sales Representative — Webhosting
This is the company I successfully secured a job with, and if you remember at the very beginning of this post, I stated that “you will either come to love it or hate it” Nevertheless, the role I landed was as Sales and Support Representative — Webhosting. The recruitment team allowed me enough time to relocate and also offered me a relocation package. The company is also prepared to help you obtain your Social Security Number and NIE number; my advice would however be to try and get these sorted out for yourself.
I will not go into detail about my experience with Teleperformance as that will drift off the purpose of this post. I can however share my experience if anyone wishes by messaging me :)
Top recommended sites for finding jobs in Spain
Other favourable sites also include:
Finally, I hope you have found this post useful, and that it helps you with your hunt for finding jobs in Spain, or anywhere for that matter. Now, this is something I wish I had during all those sleepless nights trying to find a job in Spain. There are of course more companies out there that hire (native) English speakers, and I will do my best to keep updating with more that I come across.
The process will be difficult, tiring, and sometimes can take a toll on your mind, but you know the saying, if you want something long enough, with persistent and with good intentions, there is nothing you cannot achieve. So, keep going!
