22 Year old thinking of moving to Argentina

jjstevenson

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I'm 22 from Missouri and I am looking for a good place to work and live abroad. I started looking a Uruguay but most places I look push me more towards Argentina as relatively the same experience with better conditions. I plan on getting a good understanding of spanish before I go and getting a few penpals to practice my spanish and have somebody to meet when I get there. Right now though I am in the decision making process. I know I want to experience a different culture but I want to be able to live and work comfortably but with 9 percent unemployment and the way some people talk on here it seems that is hard to do. To sum it up I want to live there as long as I like and go home on my terms not because i'm out of money. So can a 22 year old man find steady work in Argentina.
 
JJ,

Unfortunately, what you propose to do here is
simply impossible unless you have the kind of job skills that would
allow you to "write your own ticket" anywhere you desired to live. If this is the case, would
you still choose Argentina, where the pay would be so much lower than
the rest of the "developed" world? As it is, there are thousands of
bilingual Argentines in your age bracket who are already here, living
with their parents, and looking for the same kind of entry level job for which you might also be qualified. Meanwhile, they are working at McDonalds or
Burger King here for a lot less than you would be paid to do the same
work at the Golden Arches in Missouri. To sum it up, Argentina will not meet your terms and you cannot meet theirs.
 
JJ, there are lots of other places in Argentina to live besides Buenos Aires. Check out Bariloche if you into the mountains, lakes and nature, the place rocks!
 
Soulskier, You've made lot of great posts and we know how much you love Bariloche, but could you please give JJ any info you might have on the (underground) job market for foreigners in your winter wonderland. Perhaps Viviana in Nashville can send him some info about Mendoza, too (though I kinda doubt JJ is in the market for real estate or financial planning at this point).
 
A 22 year old moving from the U.S. to Argentina to look for work is a very bad idea.
 
It's not so much that im looking for work. I have a good job here but it is a dead end factory job and I see too many zombies walking around at thirty and forty there stuck in the rat race. I realize that I wont make the same money but that is not what im after I just want a year or two change of pace and culture and want to be able to support myself. I do plan on getting a good understanding of the language wherever I go though. I have never traveled abroad as I dont have the money to be taking weekend trips to the alps but i would like to see and live somewhere different for a while. I appreciate everyones help I figured that it would be hard to find a job but didn't know if it would be easier for my age group. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good country for what i want to do. Thanks everyone.
 
My own thought, JJS, as one who's spent much of his life outside the United States, is that your best bets might be Australia and Canada, followed (at quite some remove) by northwestern Europe. The Southern Cone is beautiful, but good jobs (that would include factory work, I understand) aren't easy to come by, even for reasonably well-educated natives of the region, unless they have connections to exploit.
If you can master Chinese (a simple language to speak, once you've the tones down) and are actively ambitious (for an indefinite period, not just a year or two), you'd find mainland China full of lucrative possibility.
 
I think the key to making it here is to earn dollars and spend pesos. Perhaps you can create some kind of work/job for yourself via the internet (wrtier, consulting, etc). Then you can live anywhere you want.
Steve and JJ,I hope this helps some.
 
I don't know why everyone is being so overly negative. It's certainly possible to come here and find work. It won't be a cakewalk, but it's definitely possible. I'm 23, and I'm surviving. There are a few pre-conditions, though. If you speak next to no Spanish, your only real hope for a job is teaching English. It'll be a bit of a challenge too to find a place that pays decent and who is willing to hire an illegal.
A lot of places will ask if you're certified to teach ESL, but will never ask. I spent something like $800 USD on getting certified back in the States and none of the schools I've worked for even asked for proof. It seems the most important thing is just whether you went to college or have any relevant experience. If you have neither, could be really tricky. But you can always volunteer teaching ESL back in the States and I'm sure that would do be enough to get hired somewhere down here.
If you've got a few grand saved up, that's enough. If you're gonna come here with essentially no money, well, good luck. If I hadn't saved a bit before coming here I assure you I would be fucked up shit's creek. In my experience, it was really tough to find a decent apartment at an affordable price. One thing I can't stress enough is come here with a decent foundation of Spanish or you're gonna have a good amount of misery in the beginning.
So, in conclusion, with a little experience and a decent amount of back-up money, you'll be alright. It's certainly possible, whether it's all worth it is another story...

- James
 
Argentina is a great place to spend money, but a difficult place to make money. I've had several friends in your same situation go to argentina only to find that at about $5.00/hr teaching english the hassel is more than the pay. If you are set on latin america, well then Chile probably offers the more oportunities. If the entire world is available then i would suggest Dubai or Taiwan. You will make 10 times the money in either place with much less hassel plus you'll gain your international experience. With your savings go to BA on holiday.
good luck.
 
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