Why jobseekers coming to Madrid should not despair.

The last two weeks in the bookshop have been slow, and although we're starting to sell online (another blog entry on this to come) we are certainly not in a position to take on staff. Yet in the last few weeks I've had a couple of direct approaches and in both cases we've probably reached a positive outcome. The first approach, weirdly enough, came from a Swedish guy who was looking for part-time work to tie in with his Spring language course in Madrid. I was/am not in a position to take him on, yet I do know of someone starting an internet venture in English who needs help with basic research and input. So when this Swedish guest turns up we may be able to fix him up - and luckily he's fluent in English. Incidentally, it did seem strange that only a couple of months after launching a bookshop in Madrid, someone in Sweden has even heard about us. Well it turns out he follows Sid Lowe the journalist on twitter - and of course for our launch night we had Sid signing his fantastic book "Fear and Loathing in La Liga".

The next direct approach came from someone locally. I have to admit to being surprised that I've had very few people popping in (virtually no Spanish) asking for work possibilities or even help with cvs, work contacts in the uk etc. However this person did contact me, and although I knew there was no vacancy current, I asked them in for a chat. I'm really glad I did - turns out this person has history in instigating and organising bookstore events, and also gave me great tips on marketing the store - so it looks likely I'll be able to push some freelance business their way fairly soon.
I think the moral to all this is you have to be prepared to push yourself out, and directly approach businesses. If you can bring extra value, possible extra custom to a business, they may well listen carefully. If they don't, try the next enterprise until you succeed. Of course the biggest demand for English speakers in Madrid is in the teaching game, but there are opportunities elsewhere. Ask around, expat entrepreneurs like Pierre Waters who are based here can give great pointers on how to find work. Perhaps the best tips on the subject comes from his article where one of his best pieces of advice is Differentiate yourself – Think about your “competitive advantage” as a foreigner and profesional and target relevant companies and jobs. Read his article very carefully, it's full of great insights like that! I also recommend joining Facebook groups eg "Expats in Madrid", "Guiripreneurs in Madrid", as you can gleam great advice from those already here. And don't be afraid to pop in expat businesses like ours at Offside books, or a local Irish pub, and ask the manager for advice. They may not know any leads currently, but they can give further tips on how to progress the job hunt.
Good luck to all!