Those
of you who are reading this post may have the strong desire (deseo)
to conquer the English language. This may be possible in Spain, but
if you want to learn quickly, the best place to acquire (conseguir) a high
level of English naturally is in an English speaking country. Today
we offer advice (consejo) on how you can take advantage (aprovechar) your time effectively when
perfecting your English in such a country.
Working
Abroad
Living
in an English speaking country will probably means you will have to
find work unless (a menos que) you have a lot of savings.(ahorros) For those who are
working for an international company, there may be positions
advertised within (dentro de) your company. For example, a person who has
worked for many years as an accountant (contable) for a multinational company
in Spain may have the opportunity of working in a similar position in
the UK. The company knows you already, you have the skills (habilidades) in the
industry and you are given a challenge (reto) to perfect your English in
an English working environment.(atmósfera)
Other
Paid Work
The
type of job that you can get depends on the type of training (formación) and
qualifications you have already. There are always seasonal (de temporada) jobs in
America, Britain and Australia at certain times of the year. For
example, many Spanish people with some English may be able to take
advantage of Bunacamp or Camp America, where they do various sporting
or craft activities (manualidades) for American school children during their
summer holidays. In Australia, you may find work on a sheep farm or
fruit picking.(recogida de fruta) For both America and Australia you need to get
working visas to legally work. There are no working visa requirements
in the UK for Spanish nationals, who often work in hotels and
restaurants. There are of course many other jobs available (disponibles) and can
find the very latest jobs for English speaking countries at:
www.jobsabroad.com
(Worldwide Jobs)
www.localrecruit.co.uk
(UK Jobs)
www.job-hunt.org/jobs
(US Jobs)
www.jobsearch.gov.au
(Australia Jobs)
Voluntary
Work
If
paid employment is difficult to find, the next best thing is doing
voluntary work. These experiences are likely (problable) to be very
rewarding (gratificante) as you are not only practising your English, but you
are also giving something back to society. Where can you work? Well,
it probably best to work with the local community as you have a
better chance (oportunidad) of developing relationships with local people. You
should also work in something that will give you valuable experience
for getting future paid work, giving you more skills and better
English. Examples of voluntary work include working in charity
shops, (tienda de segunda mano dirigida a causas benéficas) for the Red Cross, raising money (recaudando dinero) for local charities, or
getting involved (implicándose) in environmental projects. Here is a useful
website for voluntary positions:
www.volunteerabroad.com/search
Finding
Work
A
good place to find jobs are employment centres, temporary job
agencies like Manpower and Adecco, and job advertisements in national
and local newspapers. In all these cases, you need to take a
proactive approach (enfoque), and be prepared to telephone the company for
more information about the job, send off (mandar) an English CV and
covering letter (carta de presentación) quickly and do some research on the company. With
this strategy you will probably increase your chances of getting the
job! Another excellent way of finding work is networking (establecimiento de contactos) with
people you know. They may know of positions that occur before they
are advertised. With this information, you may be able to get an
interview with the company before it is advertised or at least get
your CV and covering letter to the human resources department (departamento de Recursos Humanos)
before anyone else.
