Career help needed

[Churchill]

I am a UK citizen in my upper 30's living in Bs As. I am married to an Argentine girl, have been here already a couple of years, and plan on staying for the forseeable future. The problem is that I never studied anything when I was back in the UK (too busy down the pub etc) and, therefore, find myself very limited in the local job market. I know what I need to do is study, but find that my Spanish is not up to scratch (I hit a plateau ages ago). Is there anywhere I can study in this country in English? Also, any ideas for studying online (which are not overly expensive)? I am open to anything, Tourism, International Relations, IT, anything!

 

[JHB1216]

The problem is that I never studied anything when I was back in the UK (too busy down the pub etc) and, therefore, find myself very limited in the local job market.

I dont mean to be negative BUT there is are thousands of citizens with degrees here that speak very good English. I was in a similar boat as you but being older, I had experience and a degree and it was still hard for me to find a full time job. That being said, I think the hardest part of working here is finding a job, once you find a job it is not so bad.

 

[syngirl]

you could study online at the Open University -- Australia also has a tonne of online degrees etc -- however if you don't get the spanish to a decent level you'll still be limited in the job market. You might get lucky and be able to find work for a foreign company based in Argentina (ie I have a friend whose Spanish is pitiful after almost 6 years here and he got lucky with a design job for a company in Europe that has offices here).

What kind of skillset do you have to start with?

 

[starlucia]

however if you don't get the spanish to a decent level you'll still be limited in the job market.

Seriously, put your wife to work, man. Insist that you two speak only in Spanish for an hour or so every night. Or start working with a tutor or language exchange partner. If you've already been here a couple of years, your ear is probably more accustomed than you realize (maybe all you need is a little practice and self-confidence )

 

[Celia]

"Put your wife to work, man..." Starlucia, I was about to be shocked until I read the rest of your post!!

 

[jez]

If you are going to study to get on the same level or more competitive than others looking for jobs you are going to be studying a few years, then end working for someone else.

I would look to offer services to other English speaking Expats.

Just an example:

Property management services, check-in check-outs, property rental portal, bill paying service (a non resident probably can't get a direct debit to pay utility bills), yes the market is flooded with property management/rental agencies but if you do it properly you will be doing it better than many Argentine alternatives.

I have an apartment in Palermo for example and have an agency that manages check-ins & check-out, cleaning etc... but the moment a light bulb needs changing or the clients can't light the boiler; I get an email and need to deal with it quickly- the problem being I don't live in Buenos Aires. I had a management agency that was 'charging by the hour' for doing stuff like this, they had the apartment keys etc, but both times I've called them they didn't answer the phone so had to get other friends in BA to help me out.

Find some property owners that need bill paying service, someone on call to organise repairs, do some check-in/out this service etc, earn some commissions off referrals.

20 clients (with properties in your barrio) x u$s 50 a month bill paying service, once/twice a month property check-up, on call for emergencies = u$s 1000 month, enough to live off...

 

[Ashley]

Several universities in the UK offer degrees (postgrad and undergrad) to External students. It involves home-study, online study and then exams are sat at the British Council centre in the country of residence.
As far as I can tell, it's a lot cheaper (and quicker) than Open University and several great UK unis offer it. University of London is one...but if you google "UK external degrees" or something like that, some others will come up.