LIVING

This month, our new Ask the Expert feature is with Sylvia Pascaline from Talent Search People. She is the key account manager from their native speakers division, which is currently the leader within multilingual recruitment in Barcelona.

Talent Search is a Barcelona and Madrid-based company which specialises in native speakers and commercial, finance, IT and e-commerce profiles.

If you have any questions about looking for work in Barcelona, finding a job or anything about employment in Spain then email your questions to: editorial@barcelona-metropolitan.com

Question 1. Is it possible for an English speaker to get a job here with no Catalan and just intermediate Spanish?

Any advice welcome, Tessa

Dear Tessa,

it is perfectly possible to get a job with English only. Depending on your experience the offers might vary, but there is also entry level positions available, for example in customer service and business development in multinational companies and shared service centres. The work itself is phone-based and towards the UK market so Spanish is not necessarily required. Corporate language in the big companies is also usually English. The more you learn Spanish, the better your possibilities are in terms of finding a variety of opportunities, but jobs like these are good options to begin with.

Question 2. Do I need any particular paperwork in order when applying for a job? I'm from Sweden and have been here for just three weeks, Many thanks, Janna.

Hi Janna!

As an EU/EEA citizen you have the right to live and work in Spain under the same conditions as Spanish citizens. However, you should have the NIE number and Social Security number applied when you start looking for a job.

NIE number is required if you are having any financial, social or professional interests in Spain—which means basically all activities you are going to do if you choose to settle down here. It’s similar to the Spaniard's NIF (Número de Identificación Fiscal) which serves as a fiscal identification number. Opening a bank account, paying taxes, signing an internet contract or using social services is impossible without NIE. In Barcelona you can get it from the police station in Calle Balmes 192.

Question 3. I'm going to be studying in Barcelona for six months on a student visa and I understand I will be able to work part-time. What advice can you give me on finding part-time work?, Thanks. Rin