A lot of people fantasize about leaving their boring cubicle job for a new, exciting job in another country. So how easy is it for you to pack up your things and move to mexico without a job? Answer: not easy at all.
If you are a sales manager at a multinational corporation in your home country and you expect to come down and get a cushy job in middle management, think twice. It is very difficult to get a job - even at a multinational - if you don't speak Spanish and/or don't have a Mexican work permit.
What about working at your home country's embassy or consulate in Mexico? While the requirements aren't as tough, many of the embassies require that you live in Mexico for at least 6 months before you apply for a job. If you apply for a job that is open to foreigners, you will be considered after EFMs (Eligible Family Members of current embassy employees).
While I don't want to discourage people from picking up and moving to Mexico, I want to stress the fact that unless you want to teach English or sell timeshares, you will have a difficult time finding a company to sponsor you for a work visa...but if you are an expat entrepreneur, you don't need a sponsor - just an idea and some seed money to get set up!
Great article! It's so hard to get a job here. I thought with 2 languages it would be easy.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that you need the company who hires you to sponsor you for your FM3 (work visa), but most companies don't want to go through the trouble when they could just as easily hire a bilingual Mexican (there are MANY Mexicans with excellent English, and very few bilingual Americans)
I was lucky to find a great job, but I had 4 years of college here.
Ironic... I came to Cancun, Mexico and ended up with a cubicle job :) I love it though haha
Great post, it is also valid for a lot of expat destinations. Many expats think they will come and live like kings, getting paid many times over their home country salary to do half the work.
ReplyDeleteRead up on expat experiences before you decide to look for work or setup your business abroad.