Reply to: Looking for UK work while living in Spain

[t0bytoo]

I wouldn't worry about the phone number. I had lots of agents calling me on my spanish mobile. Still do. And I'm in England now.

[MrMark]

Hi Everyone,

I have been a long time reader but this is my first post.

I was wondering what are peoples opinions about looking for contract work in UK while living in Spain. I am ready and willing to fly over for interviews etc but will having a Spanish mobile as the contact number greatly disadvantage me? Are agents going to take one look at the number and see it starts with +34 and stop reading my resume?

Would it be worth it to fly over to London buy a UK SIM Card to appear more locally based?

Cheers.

Assuming you've learnt Spanish (que cara tienes!) why not look on infojobs net for Madrid contracts? You may even get a Santander role !

[expat]

This is not about prejudice against commuters, it's more about practicalities. For example, what if the only flight to UK, from your local municiple airport was Ryanair midday flight to Stanstead. Now if the client wants you onsite 5 days a week, office hours? You can work that one out yourself.

This contract is unsuitable. Looks a bit like a permie job. You're not the one they want; they're not the client you want.

The client and you come to an agreement about how you do the contract, or you don't and it's not a deal.

[Turion]

OK, so we have only the 1 flight to UK. at 12. and need to be in the office for 5 days a week. I can do this....

So if I divide the days by the 1 flight then... <calculation removed due to size of post being too long> ... = 42.741!

Is that correct?

Wrong! Unless he flys on Sunday and returns Saturday it is not possible. Effectively only a 3 day week is possible and two days are wasted travelling. This and the cost in accomodation and flights will make it completely unpractical. Even a remote working contract with one day a week spent at the client site is a non-starter. That's not taking into account the fact that business is dependant on Ryanair who regularly pull the plug on uneconomic routes.

The fact is, even in the days of E-commerce, business still need to be close to their market to succeed.

[Stan.goodvibes]

... what if the only flight to UK, from your local municiple airport was Ryanair midday flight to Stanstead. Now if the client wants you onsite 5 days a week, office hours? You can work that one out yourself.

OK, so we have only the 1 flight to UK. at 12. and need to be in the office for 5 days a week. I can do this....

So if I divide the days by the 1 flight then... <calculation removed due to size of post being too long> ... = 42.741!

Is that correct?

[Beefy198]

Get a UK-based skypeIN number for people to ring, that then redirects to your mobile or wherever you are in Spain.

This was going to be my suggestion, and nice and easy to set up.

[Turion]

Thanks for all your advice guys! I will first try sending out CVs with my Spanish number.

I had not even considered the commuting thing yet because we were planning to move to the UK for the length of the contract ... however that might change down the track so good to know about possible prejudice against commuters.

This is not about prejudice against commuters, it's more about practicalities. For example, what if the only flight to UK, from your local municiple airport was Ryanair midday flight to Stanstead. Now if the client wants you onsite 5 days a week, office hours? You can work that one out yourself.

[fitzy73]

Get yourself a VOIP mobile or UK number e.g. http://www.voiptalk.org/products/VoIPtalk+Mobile+Roamer

[loska]

Thanks for all your advice guys! I will first try sending out CVs with my Spanish number.

I had not even considered the commuting thing yet because we were planning to move to the UK for the length of the contract ... however that might change down the track so good to know about possible prejudice against commuters.

[Turion]

Get a UK-based skypeIN number for people to ring, that then redirects to your mobile or wherever you are in Spain.

I'd say it's an advantage, but not essential to have a phone with the same code as the country you want to work in.

But, the main problem here will be the commuting from Spain. This will severely limit your options and don't let anyone tell you it will not.

[TheFaQQer]

Dont say that you intend to commute on a daily basis.

I almost missed out on a gig because they client thought I was going to commute to Watford from Manchester every day. Only when I convinced them that it would be a weekly journey did they then offer the job.

As an opposite to Darmstadt, I get regular calls from Swedish, Belgian and Dutch agents (or used to anyway), so I guess it works both ways.

[darmstadt]

I have a German mobile number and get rung up quite often by UK based agents. If your skill set fits what they want then they'll contact you

[DodgyAgent]

Hi Everyone,

I have been a long time reader but this is my first post.

I was wondering what are peoples opinions about looking for contract work in UK while living in Spain. I am ready and willing to fly over for interviews etc but will having a Spanish mobile as the contact number greatly disadvantage me? Are agents going to take one look at the number and see it starts with +34 and stop reading my resume?

Would it be worth it to fly over to London buy a UK SIM Card to appear more locally based?

Cheers.

As far as I am concerned it doesnt matter where you live. You can surely make up some good reasons for wanting a particular job, and as long as you convince people that:

a. The job is what you want and
b. Your lifestyle choice is to be based in Spain

or even lie and say you are about to move back to the UK. As long as you turn up reliably to do the job it doesnt matter.

Dont say that you intend to commute on a daily basis.

[TheFaQQer]

Get a UK-based skypeIN number for people to ring, that then redirects to your mobile or wherever you are in Spain.

[wurzel]

Beware of using your uk mobile, I did the same and ended up footing the bill for all the calls from agents that went through to voicemail ! Even the ones that click in for 1 second cost you 35p (on my 02 tariff anyway). I wound up with a bill of 270 quid in my first month here. For the record, there are other guys I work with who use 0034 number on their CVs and they don't think it's any deterrent. The current state of the market is more likely to stop them from ringing you than anything.