Working in Barcelona: useful tips

After having visited Barcelona as a tourist, it isn't difficult to imagine wanting to work in this wonderful city: in fact, there are plenty of companies who have used Barcelona as the "trampoline" from which to launch their activities. Actually, it is more than that - the city has become an "incubator" for innovative startups and has become the San Francisco of Europe: the perfect place in which to live and work.

Working in Barcelona for a English people

Working in Barcelona has lots of advantages: first of all, there is the Spanish language. Both Spanish and Catalan are spoken in Barcelona and people from other parts of Spain and from all over the world come here to live and work. If you're planning on staying for a while, particularly if you are intending to try and find work, it certainly isn't obligatory but, we would recommend that you try to learn some Catalan. If you are already good at languages, this will enable you to look for a job in the tourist sector or in customer services. For example, have you ever thought about becoming a tourist guide in Barcelona? Thanks to the wide variety of different nationalities who visit Barcelona, having a competent level of fluency in different languages would be a definite plus. In addition to this, it will mean that it won't take long for you to get used to the life style in the city and you'll be able to join in and experience all the different occasions for socializing that the city has to offer.

Where to work in Barcelona

Generally, there are two different main areas in which to find work if you have just arrived in Barcelona; on the one hand, there are plenty of opportunities for those who want to work in the restaurant industry, either as a cook or as a waiter and on the other, there is a lot of demand for people who want to work for a company that specializes in the IT sector or in the Communications and Marketing departments of international companies. Lots of young people decide to stay in Barcelona in order to gain some professional experience.

In recent years, Barcelona has become the European "San Francisco" due to the high number of startups which are a constant reflection of the creative atmosphere that is the new life-blood of the city. For example,Telefónica, the largest Spanish telecommunications company, has recently announced that it is dedicating part of the company to the financing of new projects.

Barcelona is also the home of many companies in the fashion industry such as Zara, Bershka or Privalia. Due to the amount of space that is available, the reduced amount of traffic and the tranquility of the area, many companies have chosen to locate their headquarters in the neighborhood of Sant Martí: here, in addition to speaking Spanish, it is an absolute prerequisite that you also speak English. Smaller companies that are located in the outskirts of the city tend to require a reasonable command of Catalan, due to their strong connections with the local traditions that can also be seen in their work.

Ways to find work in Barcelona

If you are a student looking for work experience, you can have a look at StudentJob: these types of job are not particularly well paid (and in some cases, aren't paid at all) but they are a good starting point on which to build for the future in this city. If you are looking for proper employment, we suggest that you have a look at the website called Infojobs.net where you can set up your profile in Spanish, have a look at what's on offer and apply to the jobs that interest you. If you want fewer restriction, then there is also a section called Infojobs Freelance, which specializes in freelance work. Another useful website, using key words, is Indeed.com : choose the city of Barcelona and have a look through the jobs that are being advertised.... then you'll get to know most of the ways to find work in Barcelona!

You can also read the article entitled: working in Barcelona as a baby sitter.