Wetzler Guides: Getting a Job in a Foreign Country
At some point in your life if you travel enough you will find yourself in foreign lands and faced with two distinct possibilities: 1) Do I buy a ticket home with my credit card and get a job so I can make enough money to go traveling again? Or 2) Do I stop where I am, set up shop, and attempt to get a job. Some would consider the first prospect "the easy way out", though it's probably also the smart way out. The second option is definitely the more difficult of the two, and there's always a good chance you'll fail, in which case you can always resort to option one (which 50% of the time may or may not involve waiting tables at Red Lobster in Silverdale). But don't despair, because option two is definitely doable. All it takes is a little tenacity, a little creativity and a little inspiration. AKA a "Wetzler Guide".
Option 1) Use Your Skills
If you studied something that's actually practical and in demand in college like computer science or electrical engineering, chances are you'll be in demand. Even if you don't necessarily speak the language, there's a good chance you'll land a job. When I got to Bogota I asked myself: What's my skill? The answer: Spanish. The problem: About 9 million other people in Bogota not only share this skill, but are BETTER at it than me, and approximately 40 times more motivated, since they have absolutely no problem working for 20 dollars a day. So I had to ask myself, What is my other skill? Answer: English. Now granted, if you've never left the United States or been to West Virginia, you might not realize this is a skill. But you get to Colombia and people would kill to speak English like you, making you suddenly very employable, something we will discuss later in Option 3.
Option 2) Work in a Restaurant
This actually applies to all service industry jobs. When in a foreign country, service jobs are some of the easiest to get since they will often pay you under the table, you need very little skill, and many restaurants (especially high-end ones) appreciate having an English-speaker (It makes them "cool"). In this case, however, speaking the local language is much more important. When I was in Chile I had three dollars to my name and went to a posh lakeside Italian restaurant in Puerto Varas called "Da Alessandro". They hired me on the spot and at the end of my first day (an 11-hour "try out") the boss, Alessandro, handed me a dirty 10 dollar bill and said "you're hired". I then commenced working 13 hour split shifts making pizzas and getting berated for not properly distributing the oregano on the large Prosciutto and Piña pizzas. But it was amazing. I loved that job. The other waiters were wonderful and everyday after work we'd smoke cigarettes and drink piscola and talk about how big of an asshole our boss was. And the best part? I spoke Spanish all day, every day. Restaurant jobs might not be the best, since the pay can be miserable and the hours can be long. But at least you can sneak a slice of pizza while your boss isn't watching, and at least (in some places) you get tips.
Option 3) Teach English
This is the most obvious option, but an option I have always, always resisted because I abhor the idea of being in a foreign country and speaking English all day. But on this trip I have had to bite the proverbial bullet. That's right, ladies and gentleman, Wetzler is now officially an English teacher. Yesterday I had my first student. His name was Nelson and the only thing he wanted to talk about was Kurt Cobain and the city of Aberdeen. I asked him if he knew the words "alcoholism" and "logging". The lesson was about indefinite pronouns, a term I had never seen before, and I was just glad to make it through the hour and twenty minutes without running out of material or doing anything massively disappointing. The rest of the day was spent talking to the other teachers and playing with a rubix cube, for lack of students.
If you have a Bachelor's degree and even a milligram of motivation, finding an English teaching job is the easiest and arguably one of the best options in a foreign country. In Colombia, just for being a native speaker, you make almost twice as much as the locals, who most of the time are MUCH more qualified than you. It's actually kind of terrible, but in many respects you'd be a fool not to do it (watch the construction site scene in Goodwill Hunting). The other options are good, too, and I would argue that in many respects the restaurant job is the best option, since you'll speak Spanish and make local friends who also speak Spanish (and possibly also meet "Catalina", the love of your life). Though that's of course if you don't have a skill. If you have a skill, Option 1 is definitely the best, since you'll be making the most money and be able to afford to not live in hostel where everyone speaks to you in English, gets drunk on Poker, and snores like 5000-watt generator.
I'm sure there are other options, but these are the three that most readily come to mind. The most important thing is to be motivated, and usually, to be broke. And also to resist just buying that plane ticket home, since as soon as you step foot in Sea-Tac you will long for the mocha-skinned beauties of Latin American and the three dollars delicious lunches of carne asada, rice, and fried plantains. You just have to hang in there, which is what I'm trying to do now.
Wish me luck.
--Wezler
At some point in your life if you travel enough you will find yourself in foreign lands and faced with two distinct possibilities: 1) Do I buy a ticket home with my credit card and get a job so I can make enough money to go traveling again? Or 2) Do I stop where I am, set up shop, and attempt to get a job. Some would consider the first prospect "the easy way out", though it's probably also the smart way out. The second option is definitely the more difficult of the two, and there's always a good chance you'll fail, in which case you can always resort to option one (which 50% of the time may or may not involve waiting tables at Red Lobster in Silverdale). But don't despair, because option two is definitely doable. All it takes is a little tenacity, a little creativity and a little inspiration. AKA a "Wetzler Guide".
Option 1) Use Your Skills
If you studied something that's actually practical and in demand in college like computer science or electrical engineering, chances are you'll be in demand. Even if you don't necessarily speak the language, there's a good chance you'll land a job. When I got to Bogota I asked myself: What's my skill? The answer: Spanish. The problem: About 9 million other people in Bogota not only share this skill, but are BETTER at it than me, and approximately 40 times more motivated, since they have absolutely no problem working for 20 dollars a day. So I had to ask myself, What is my other skill? Answer: English. Now granted, if you've never left the United States or been to West Virginia, you might not realize this is a skill. But you get to Colombia and people would kill to speak English like you, making you suddenly very employable, something we will discuss later in Option 3.
Option 2) Work in a Restaurant
This actually applies to all service industry jobs. When in a foreign country, service jobs are some of the easiest to get since they will often pay you under the table, you need very little skill, and many restaurants (especially high-end ones) appreciate having an English-speaker (It makes them "cool"). In this case, however, speaking the local language is much more important. When I was in Chile I had three dollars to my name and went to a posh lakeside Italian restaurant in Puerto Varas called "Da Alessandro". They hired me on the spot and at the end of my first day (an 11-hour "try out") the boss, Alessandro, handed me a dirty 10 dollar bill and said "you're hired". I then commenced working 13 hour split shifts making pizzas and getting berated for not properly distributing the oregano on the large Prosciutto and Piña pizzas. But it was amazing. I loved that job. The other waiters were wonderful and everyday after work we'd smoke cigarettes and drink piscola and talk about how big of an asshole our boss was. And the best part? I spoke Spanish all day, every day. Restaurant jobs might not be the best, since the pay can be miserable and the hours can be long. But at least you can sneak a slice of pizza while your boss isn't watching, and at least (in some places) you get tips.
Option 3) Teach English
This is the most obvious option, but an option I have always, always resisted because I abhor the idea of being in a foreign country and speaking English all day. But on this trip I have had to bite the proverbial bullet. That's right, ladies and gentleman, Wetzler is now officially an English teacher. Yesterday I had my first student. His name was Nelson and the only thing he wanted to talk about was Kurt Cobain and the city of Aberdeen. I asked him if he knew the words "alcoholism" and "logging". The lesson was about indefinite pronouns, a term I had never seen before, and I was just glad to make it through the hour and twenty minutes without running out of material or doing anything massively disappointing. The rest of the day was spent talking to the other teachers and playing with a rubix cube, for lack of students.
If you have a Bachelor's degree and even a milligram of motivation, finding an English teaching job is the easiest and arguably one of the best options in a foreign country. In Colombia, just for being a native speaker, you make almost twice as much as the locals, who most of the time are MUCH more qualified than you. It's actually kind of terrible, but in many respects you'd be a fool not to do it (watch the construction site scene in Goodwill Hunting). The other options are good, too, and I would argue that in many respects the restaurant job is the best option, since you'll speak Spanish and make local friends who also speak Spanish (and possibly also meet "Catalina", the love of your life). Though that's of course if you don't have a skill. If you have a skill, Option 1 is definitely the best, since you'll be making the most money and be able to afford to not live in hostel where everyone speaks to you in English, gets drunk on Poker, and snores like 5000-watt generator.
I'm sure there are other options, but these are the three that most readily come to mind. The most important thing is to be motivated, and usually, to be broke. And also to resist just buying that plane ticket home, since as soon as you step foot in Sea-Tac you will long for the mocha-skinned beauties of Latin American and the three dollars delicious lunches of carne asada, rice, and fried plantains. You just have to hang in there, which is what I'm trying to do now.
Wish me luck.
--Wezler
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