AccommodationBarcelona

Professional practices or internships are a good opportunity to provide students, and other people, with practical and business experience. Internships provide a an insight into the corporate world and how businesses operate, and provide invaluable experiences for those looking to begin or further their professional careers.

If you live outside Spain then completing an internship in Spain can be very beneficial. You will be exposed to differences in business behaviour between Spanish companies and those of your home country and you may be exposed to working within an international environment, depending on the company, which is a very valuable experience.

Financial preparations

Enjoy your stay in Barcelona by organising your internship well in advance at home. Be aware that your internship in Barcelona not will be cheap. Therefore you need to make sure that you have the financial preparations ready, normally the first month is the hardest when it comes to bills and payments. Rent and deposit for the accommodation, your plane-ticket to Barcelona, insurances, costs to agencies providing help etc is to be paid. It might be a very good idea to calculate the initial costs and make a budget.

Insurance

In order to get an internship-offer you need to make sure that you have a proper insurance. A copy of the insurance papers normally has to be attached to the signed contract for the company. Make sure you bring a copy of your insurance with you the first day you start your internship to give to your employer. Carry an E-111 form with you, in case something should happen you need to have this the paper . You can get the form in your local social security office.

Loans / scholarships

Before deciding you should try to aquire as much information as possible about loans and scholarships. There are a lot of different scholarship available for those who search, however they are not easy to find. You can find a lot of information on the internet. In addition, there are some banks that can provide you with more information. The government also has a lot of sources for those who ask. Depending on the bank you might even get a special loan if you explain the plans and ideas you have.

Salaries for internship

In Spain, there is no assurance that an internship will include any salary or financial gain. Some companies may offer a salary for an internship, however, often no salary is included. Some companies may offer benefits or advantages such as free or cheap Spanish classes or food vouchers. Companies that do provide salaries will usually offer around 300 euros per month.

The Spanish language

Generally speaking, if you don´t speak Spanish you will still be able to find and appropriate internship in Spain, however, knowing at least basic Spanish will give you more options and will also help you during your stay. Speaking good English is very beneficial, often more so than knowing Spanish. Barcelona-Home has good relationships with Spanish schools in Barcelona and can provide you with more information regarding Spanish courses if necessary.

Internships at Barcelona-Home

Barcelona-Home has an intern program which runs throughout the year. For more information please fill out the information below.

Barcelona-home has a lot of experience with interns and receives many applications from students from all around the world. We always try to assign the intern with tasks and projects that correspond to their education and interests.

Barcelona-home mainly offers internships to students (Obligatory Internships) but can also provide Voluntary Internships.

Obligatory Internships – the internship is an Obligatory Requirement for your Degree. Your school/university will have to provide us with a contract for the Internship. It should be drawn in three parts; one for the student, one for the university and one for us.

Voluntary Internships – a voluntary internship will provide the ideal opportunity to gain work experience. (Please contact Barcelona-home for further information)

Barcelona-home can provide internships involving some of the following assignments depending on your abilities and interests:

Handling bookings and customer enquiries (This includes answering e-mails, answering phone-calls, face-to face contact with clients and correspondence with existing clients)

Apartment viewings and other customer related work

Projects within the Marketing and Communications departments (maintenance of existing marketing relations and creation of new ones)

Translation work for our websites and marketing products
If you are interested in doing an Intership at Barcelona-home, please send an email with your CV and a recent photo to cv@barcelona-home.com. Please also state when you want the possible internship to start and the duration of it.

Or for further information about internships at Barcelona-home, you may click on the Contact button below.

Holidays and festivities

There will be many festivities during your stay, Spain is known for its many bank holidays. Be aware that they differ from what you are used to, and you will find that they celebrate a lot more days than other countries.

If you´re looking for an internship, we´ll sort it for you!

Teach English!

Are you a native English-speaker living in Spain or planning on moving here? If you are and trying to figure out how you will support yourself while you are here you should explore the option of teaching English. In Barcelona there is a great demand for English teachers; schools, companies and private lessons are all employment options. To ensure that you find a job, it is very important to take some sort of certification course due to the fact that schools and companies generally only hire teachers with certificates from accredited programs.

TEFL courses generally require some sort of undergraduate degree, though it’s possible to find programs that will accept students with secondary school level of education if you can demonstrate the ability and maturity level demanded by the course. If you’re interested in teaching in a country other than Spain, it’s important to investigate the country’s labor requirements, as many require an undergraduate degree to receive a work permit to be an EFL/ESL teacher. Qualifications to enter at “Certificate level,” range from training from a few days to several months and vary in content and cost. Most employers will only look at potential employees with course backgrounds with a minimum of 120 hours and include teaching practice.

Before deciding which course to take, it’s important to assess your needs and research what each program can offer you. You should try and identify in which country/countries you would like to work, both initially and in the future so you will be able to choose a program of study that will meet the requirements in your selected countries.

Typically the USA will require an MA TESOL while Europe generally requires a minimum of a first degree plus an ELT entry qualification. Costs for ELT programs range from around $800 – $2,500.

Course Accreditation

In order for a course to be internationally recognized it must receive accreditation from an official entity. The British Council is the regulatory organization that sets standards for English Teaching training for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and Teaching English to Speakers of Second of Other Languages (TESOL) courses. Organizations recognized by The British Council as having the authority to accredit a course are: universities in the UK, UCLES, the College of Teachers, and Trinity College.

Acronym Meanings

TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Second or Other Languages (generally in non-English speaking countries)
TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language (generally in non-English speaking countries)
TEAL Teaching English as an Additional Language (generally in English speaking countries)
TESL Teaching English as a Second Language (generally in English speaking countries)

Course Information

The majority of training courses in Barcelona are intensive, month-long courses lasting around 8 hours a day for 4 weeks. Theres usually extensive work required outside of the classroom and it’s nearly impossible to work or have other commitments during thecourse.

Employment

It’s rare to find a course that guarantees you a job upon completion, though most offer some sort of career center or placement help. Language schools hire teachers all year long on an as-need basis. The times of year when teachers are most in demand are the beginning of the New Year and at the beginning of the fall when children go back to school after summer holidays. There are also many online forums where you can post your resume to be contacted by companies or schools looking for English teachers.

The best way to learn a foreign language is to go to a country where the language is spoken because you then open yourself up to learn about a new culture. There are different ways in which to do this, but the majority of them are quite expensive. Many language programs are only for a short time and may not be long enough to actually learn the language or you may be hesitant to pay for additional courses and housing for a period of time long enough to actually become fluent in a language. An inexpensive way to travel abroad and learn a different language is to sign up with an au pair program. Many women have chosen this as an alternative way to travel and improve the language while getting to know a foreign country and culture.

If you are interested in being an au pair, you will almost always need to go through an agency. In order to learn more about au pair opportunities, it may be a good idea to contact the official au pair organization in your country and ask for a list of trusted agencies. The restrictions for visas are different in every country, and they normally change quite often. An au pair agency in your country can help you with the requirements to obtain a visa. They can also help you with information of the different countries, and how you get selected.

Agencies can also put you in contact with others doing the same thing in the foreign country. If you have any doubts or questions, contacting someone else that has already or is currently experiencing life as an au pair is a great way to know ahead of time what you may be getting yourself into. Working hours and salaries vary from country to country.

Being one of the most visited cities in Europe, Barcelona has a large number of expatriates, in fact the amount of international inhabitants in general is rather large. With all the facilities the city has to offer, it is becoming home to more and more foreigners, who end up staying in the city longer than initially planned.
Barcelona is one of the areas of Spain that has the most economic growth, so naturally it is an area attractive to international investors. Several large international corporations have their base in Catalonia, and the working staff normally consists of a mix of Spanish locals and foreigners from all over the world. The English-skills of the Spaniards is definently improving, but they are still greatly in need of English-speaking employees throughout the region.

If you are toying with the idea of moving to Spain and finding a job, there are a lot of opportunities for you. Speaking Spanish is of course an advantage, but not a necessity in all companies. This means you can come to Barcelona with little or non-existing Spanish skills and still find a job. During your work-experience you will also gain knowledge of the language.

When it comes to living in Barcelona and adopting to the Spanish way of life, the locals are very kind and open. Working side by side with the local inhabitants you will be appreciated and respected. Foreign workers have become quite an important part of the Catalonian working staff. It must also be said that Barcelona is not a “typical” Spanish city, but rather an European metropolis influenced by many different cultures. This is most certainly one of the reasons why so many foreigners find it so easy to adapt to the “Barcelonean” way of life.

If you would like us to help you find a job in Barcelona, e-mail us your CV and we will have a look at what we have to offer you.

Here are some useful links if you are moving to Barcelona and are just getting started:

SpainExpat.com – A trusted Expat information resource for living in Spain, since 2000.
Catalanlife.com – Website for Catalonia Lifestyle magazine aimed at expatriates living or relocating to Catalonia. It is packed with articles and useful information about living in Spain and offers full Relocation services; applying for residency, car import, insurances, etc.

Health insurance abroad – information on health insurance abroad

Looking for a Job in Barcelona?

Are you looking for a job in Barcelona?
If so Barcelona-Home can help you!
Every day Barcelona-Home helps connect people looking for jobs and internships with companies and organizations in Barcelona.

Send us your resume or C.V. and we’ll make it available to companies that contact us when looking for new employees.

Also, check out our classifieds sections for job postings or check our useful job links page.

When to Look for a Job

Depending on the type of work you’re looking for, you’ll be able to find employment in Barcelona all year long.
If you make the decision to seek work between April and October, you will have no problem finding a job in the tourism sector.

The summer months are Barcelona’s high season for tourism and many restaurants, bars and shops look for seasonal workers.

If you choose to come to Barcelona to work throughout the rest of the year, you will have more opportunities in companies and office-type jobs.
You may be competing with more Spaniards for positions at this time of year, but you will certainly be able to find employment.

What You Need to Know about Finding a Job

We recommend that you attend a Spanish course before seriously looking for work due to the fact that if you know some Spanish in addition to another language your chances of getting a job are much better.

The salaries are less in Spain, but your money will go further because the cost of living is less expensive.

In Spain, working hours are typically from: 9:00 – 13:00 before lunch and 16:00-20:00 after lunch. Shops are usually open from 10:00 -13:00 in the morning and 16:00 – 20:00 in the afternoon. Restaurants are open usually from 21:00 – 1:00 at night.

Let Barcelona-Home be the link to the career you’ve been searching for in Barcelona!

Information about internships

Links and resources

INEM
Info about work permit
Job search for language professionals
Anywork anywhere
Season workers
4International Careers & Jobs

Online Job Center

Trabajos.com
Infojobs.net
Jobpilot.net
Oficinaempleo.com
adecco.es
Mercadodetrabajo.com
Bolsadetrabajo.com
Monster.es
Laboris.net
Stepstone.es
ESS
ofertajobs.com
Computrabajo (Hispanic portal)

How to get the N.I.E Number and the Social Security Number

The N.I.E Number

If you are an EU Citizen and you would like to work in Spain, you will need a N.I.E. number. To get this, you must go to one of the police stations listed here to collect a form, or downoad and print it from here. When handing in your completed form, you must take the following items to the police station:

• Original passport
• Two photocopies of your passport
• Original N.I.E form
• A photocopy of the N.I.E form
• Declaracion de entrada, or any document that demonstartes you legal entry into the country, if you are a non-EU resident

*When you hand in these documents, you will then get a stamped copy of your form and the N.I.E number the same day. For getting the N.I.E. number you have to pay 6€.

Most of the police stations open at 09:00 and close at 14:00 and you should be prepared to wait in a long queue, so it is good to be there even earlier than the opening hours. It is also worth mentioning that very few of the people working in the police station speak English.

Work Visas

Americans, Australians, Canadians and South Africans need work visas in order to work in Spain. The process to obtain papers can sometimes take up to a year, making it very important to plan far in advance if you wish to have papers before you arrive to Spain. To start the process, you must go to the consulate in your country.

You will need to have the following things in order to begin the visa application:
• A valid passport
• An official job contract with a company in Spain issued by the ministry of labor
• A letter of good conduct from your local police department (this may now take longer than in the past because some, if not all stations now only issue background checks that can take several weeks to be processed)
• A doctor’s note confirming good health and no addictions
• 4 passport pictures
• About $45 for processing fees

European Union citizens may work in other countries in the EU without this visa. It is important to know any special agreements your country may have with Spain regarding social security and insurance if you are interested in working in Spain.

N.I.E. · Número de Identidad de Extranjero more info…

Barceloneta: Pg. Joan de Borbó 32, 08003 Barcelona, Tel: 932 240 600

Ciutat Vella: C/ Nou de la Rambla, 78-80, 08001 Barcelona, Tel: 932 902 844

Eixample: C/ de Guadalajara, 3, 08006 Barcelona, Tel: 932 903 021

Gràcia: C/ de Nil Fabra, 17, 08012 Barcelona, Tel: 932 903 481

Horta-Guilardo: C/ de Castillejos, 387, 08025 Barcelona, Tel: 934 464 450

Nou Barrís: C/ de Aiguablava, 55, 08033 Barcelona, Tel: 932 902 802

Sant Andreu: C/ de Sagrera, 179, 08075 Barcelona, Tel: 934 988 205

Sant Martí: C/ de Guipúscoa, 74, 08020 Barcelona, Tel: 932 903 644

Sants-Montjuic: C/ de Creu Coberta, 104, 08014 Barcelona, Tel: 932 903 421

Sarrià-Sant Gervasi: C/ de Iradier, 11, 08017 Barcelona, Tel: 932 903 805

Starting a business in Catalunya

It is a challenging task to start a business in Catalunya, especially if you are a foreigner. Knowing all the steps can seem like an impossible task, however, here’s a few hints on how to get the process started:

· Gather all the relevent information and obtain the documents you’ll need.
· Seek advise about which firms to use.
· Find a lawyer whom you trust.
· Act as the middle-man between your lawyer and local officials.
· Draw up an overview of the different company structures, the initial capital needed and the share division etc.
· Be sure to have official documentation such as; social security number & permits etc.