London to Dom Rep - Do you think I will find a job????

[JO JO]

Hi there

I am a 30 year old English girl.
I hope to move to Dom Rep from London in the next few months and hope to find work asap! I speak excellent English and have been learning English for the last year and a half. Does anybody have any tips for me?

Also do you think I should travel to DR before I find work or risk looking for work once I reach DR?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks JoJo

 

[J D Sauser]

Hi there

I am a 30 year old English girl.
I hope to move to Dom Rep from London in the next few months and hope to find work asap! I speak excellent English and have been learning English for the last year and a half. Does anybody have any tips for me?

Also do you think I should travel to DR before I find work or risk looking for work once I reach DR?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks JoJo

Speaking half way decent SPANISH would raise your chances of finding a job a couple of 100%'s over your being able to speak English. I hope you carry some other qualifications besides being able to speak your mother tongue(?).
Before you brake all your ties, and possible career at such a young age in your country, yes, you ought to treat yourself to an extended vacation here and see IF you can make it at all and find out if you did not come here for all the wrong reasons. Dreams can turn nightmares fairly quickly in paradise too.

... J-D.

 

[jrhartley]

I wonder if she meant she had been learning Spanish for a year and a half.....very difficult unless you are either retired (not likely at 30 )or self employed or looking for part time restaurant/bar work

 

[JO JO]

I am looking for any work. I have many qualifictions.A Levels, Degree and Masters. But I need 2 be realistic, my Spanish is not fluent yet and I understand I will have to work my way up if I am serious.

I have been 2 Dom Rep 4 times and really want to stay 4 longer and become fluent in Spanish.

As 4 me staying there 4 a few months without working......its not really my style. I aint rich, I will need a job. Plus if I'm not working, then its not realistic life!!!

When I say I have been learning Spanish, I mean evening classes and I have been teaching myself!


what do u think......I will find work?

JoJo

 

[sammystorm19]

You say that you have been down to the Dominican Republic 4 times. Have you always stayed on a resort? Have you stayed outside the resort, bought and made all your own food, see how the outside world of the resort is? Have you experienced this yet? If not then I would say, book a trip there first and stay outside the resort to see if you are going to like it.

Staying on a resort and staying outside the resort is a lot different.

Also I hope that I am not assuming anything here, but if you are moving down for a guy, just be careful.

As for finding work, well it is hard and you will have to look for it. All depends on what you are looking for. You won't make as much as you would living where you are now. just be prepared for that.

Good Luck!!!

Erin

 

[BushBaby]

Apart from posting on this forum JoJo, where else have you looked for jobs ....... in the UK? Have you tried the tour companies yet? There are a number of UK companies that are now setting up (or HAVE set up) offices/branches over here, have you approached them? (Have a word with the Foreign Office for their names!!).

You say you have a number of degrees & a Masters - in what subjects & are any of them pertinent to your present employment &/or desire for employment over here?
What do you do at the moment & is that the profession you wish to continue (if possible) over here?
WHERE in the DR have you visited & over what period?
Is THAT the area you wish to relocate to or are you prepared to work anywhere in the DR?

Have you saved up somewhere in the region of ?4,000 that you can use as deposits (on room to rent), buying of basics that you can not bring from the UK, initial living expenses until you find a job ...............

What makes an intelligent 30 year old girl from the UK want to move to a third world country? Do you have a GOOD reason other than a desire to learn better Spanish?

Try to be honest with yourself & then reply to us (if you feel like it) because living outside of a civilised (& to a great extent, PROTECTED) country like the UK is NOT as simple as many make it out to be. Being retired is ONE thing, having a nest egg to support you makes life easier ........ being poor & struggling to make ends meet each month is something entirely different! We are here to help & advise if you want it but you will have to be totally upfront if we are going to get you through to being 'Happy' here!!

Good luck ~ Grahame.

 

[Lambada]

What happened, JO JO, when you were here the first 2 weeks of December to make you want to decide to move so quickly?

 

[wishingiwasthere]

Jo Jo – I will assume that you haven’t found a resort worker that you have fallen in love with and will move in with beind the Coca Cola factory in POP.

Im also 30 and have “lived” in the dr for a few months a couple of years ago and take regular holidays there now.

The reality is – I work hard in the UK, many many hours a week, but get well paid for it. Taking that approach to the DR – well – you can work many many hours a week in the DR and get paid around ?5 a day!

Unless you have contacts in high places, or you are in with a tour company and assuming you don’t have a decent stash of money on you your chances of a decent living standard are slim.

Sorry to burst your bubble – but been there, tried it, had a great time but I couldn’t live out there if I had to work to sustain my life.

The UK is going to be very tough in 2009, moving to the DR to escape I don’t see as the answer.

 

[JO JO]

I want to live to Dom Rep for a year, not forever.

I totally understand that life is different inside and outside a resort, which is why I want to find work and and rent an apartment. I say I will stay a year, but if I dont like it I can come home...I plan 2 get a res visa 4 a year.

Oh my gosh, has anybody got anything good 2 say about Dominican men?? Are they all a bunch of crooks and liars or what????????? Everyone is warning me off the guys

Well no i'm not moving out there 4 a guy, i'm doing it 4 myself. Yes I am from London and I could live anywhere tropical and sunny because I could get hold of a visa......Miami, Bahamas etc, but I truly love DR. Yes I dont know the real life yet, but the only way i'm gonna find out is if i try it........no?

I dont mind where i work SD PP SD.......I'm not fussy!

I have always wanted 2 try a differnt country......its just about doing it.
This isn't a quick decision, i have wanted 2 do it 4 ages, just havent had the guts.

 

[wishingiwasthere]

Jo Jo – London to POP – nothing wrong with that!
Do you want a busy place like POP or a quiet area?
Just out of interest – where have you stayed before on your holidays?
Have you been out of Playa Dorada before by yourself?

Just want to get a handle on how much you know so people can advice you best?
Before you go – I would read as much as possible on this site and perhaps a book called Mad Dogs and English Men – it will give you a good idea of what life can be about.

What are the men like? Depends where abouts in the country you go I guess.

 

[BushBaby]

JO JO,
I am going to be extremely rude here & say (looking at the comments you make below) WHY SHOULD ANY POSSIBLE EMPLOYER EMPLOY YOU???

I want to live to Dom Rep for a year, not forever.

I totally understand that life is different inside and outside a resort, which is why I want to find work and and rent an apartment. I say I will stay a year, but if I dont like it I can come home...I plan 2 get a res visa 4 a year.

I dont mind where i work SD PP SD.......I'm not fussy!

I have always wanted 2 try a differnt country......its just about doing it.
This isn't a quick decision, i have wanted 2 do it 4 ages, just havent had the guts.

There are numerous 30 year olds coming out of the DR Universties & needing a job in virtually EVERY profession & style of employment available here, WHAT makes a "I want to try it 4 a year 2 see if I like it" girl from another country who doesn't know the culture, language, people, ............... (adinfinitum) a better bet than someone who is going to stay a while & GROW with my company??

I really do not think getting a decent job that pays a living wage is going to be a possibility for you. Make the ?4,000 mentioned in my previous post up to ?8,000 & with a part-time or unskilled position you might live a reasonable life for the twelve months.

Sorry to be another bubble burster. ~ Grahame.

 

[Lambada]

OK I'm relieved to know it isn't for a guy (otherwise BushBaby would have estimated you need to save ?16,000 :cheeky and it isn't forever, just part of getting out there & experiencing the world. That's fine. Getting a good job will not be easy. Picking up part time work in tourist areas (timeshare, bars, selling tours etc) might well be possible. It won't pay much but if you come with savings you'll survive. Always keep a return air ticket (or enough to puchase one) back plus emergency medical money. And if you end up on the north coast go & introduce yourself to the Hon. British Consul in Puerto Plata, Genni Mendez, just in case you ever need his assistance.

Best of luck in your search.

 

[scrubmuncher]

I will have to agree with most here. I will also add that life outside of the resort and the holiday feeling where everything is there to make life easy for you is very different. It is a serious struggle. You say you don't have much money, well I think you are in for a huge shock to the system if you expect to beable to support yourself on a wage. Housing, bills, food and socialising does not work out when earning an hourly rate daily. Having sidelines works to knock the income up a bit, every Dominican has some form of alternative way of making an income. You can manage it if you are switched on and know your way around, the right people and how to keep prices down, but you don't and all this doesn't happen over night. I think after 3 to 6 months you will begin to switch on a bit, make the contacts, start living like a Dominican, if you don't you won't be around much longer, unless you take on the nature of a Dominican woman and latch yourself onto a wealthy man.

 

[scrubmuncher]

ANd yes 95% of the men are tossers to women, Dominican and any other race.

 

[JO JO]

OH MY GOSH..................

I don't know where 2 begin with all of these replys.

Well...if I had ?4.000, ?8,000 or ?16,000 I wouldn't be emailing questions on this forum, I would get on a plane stay in a resort and look for work whilst sipping a cocktail relaxing in the lifesyle hotel....after being dropped off by their helicoptor!!

If I move 2 DR I will HAVE 2 survive on the wages I make working there.............I ain't got nothing else.
I am not gonna latch on2 a rich American, Canadian, Dominican 2 help me out. I wouldn't do that in London, so wouldn't do it there either!

If I am with a guy, it's because of the person he is not because of the size of his wallet.
Saying that I am not judging anybody who does that, as I know life is hard in many places in the world.....what other people do is not my business.

Now.........if yr telling me if I work all hours of the day I won't be able to rent a room to sleep in, won't be able 2 survive then what u are saying is that only rich people can live in DR or people that want 2 wheel or deal?
What about the average working class person that wants a change, wants to be in the sunshine and wants 2 meet new people whilst working hard to achieve it??

And now I hear the men are 95% dogs...........

WELL................ I think I should move to Dom Rep, just so I can say some POSITIVE things about your country

Damn u guys are harsh.......... tranquilo por favor

 

[scrubmuncher]

Not being harsh, just preparing you for the reality of life when not on vacation!

 

[mountainannie]

We're just shootin straight

OH MY GOSH..................

Now.........if yr telling me if I work all hours of the day I won't be able to rent a room to sleep in, won't be able 2 survive then what u are saying is that only rich people can live in DR or people that want 2 wheel or deal?
What about the average working class person that wants a change, wants to be in the sunshine and wants 2 meet new people whilst working hard to achieve it??

And now I hear the men are 95% dogs...........

No - what the posters are saying- quite acurately- is that your chances are SLIM to NONE being able to come to a FOREIGN country where there is extreme poverty and most of the wages paid are very low, and there are plenty of people with 3 and four languages who are willing to work for $20 a day and live six to a room.... and that

MOST of the men here will be lookin at you as a fast track for a VISA...

So.. would you figure that you could go to FRANCE with only minimal French and make it?

Now, all that said, you might get a job as a teacher at one of the international schools if you are a qualified teacher. There are lots of English speakers doing that. Check the employment section.

But don't blast us for telling it like it is.

 

[JO JO]

Thanks

Thank you for all your comments...... Much appreciated honestly.
Its just that there wasn't alot of positivity there atall.........But if thats reality, thats reality.

Its a shame, because the more tourists that come and live, start new biz, create more jobs will raise the state of the economy. That would then help alot of people in DR and people wishing 2 live there.

But with these comments it may scare people off a bit and make them choose another beautiful country instead of DR which would be a great shame!!

I still wanna give it a go though

Muchos besos xxxxxxx

 

[MrsJ]

Why all the hatred??

I can't believe all the hatred I have read on this topic.. Leave the girl alone.. I m sure she knows all the risks of moving to a foreign, poor country. Why can't you guys just be happy for her that she wants to try and live somewhere else rather then the UK.
Yes- it will be hard, but if you haven't tried it then you wouldn't know right? You always learn from your mistakes but you wouldn't know if it is a mistake until you tried it. It is also a life experience which is also an education of life.
I am sure that she will get on well and that things will work out great. A lot of people move to different countries with basic language skills and still make it..
If you want to be rich then the DR is probably not for you.
I am sure that a lot of people would love to try but don't have the "balls" to do it.
Instead of all this hatred why can't you just try and be nice and give some positive feedback rather then being so pessimistic...
And for the guys... Well aren't most men (no matter where you come from) dogs???:ermm:

 

[scrubmuncher]

MrsJ

Are you reading the same thread as me? Hate? I can't see any hate but I see alot of answers to a question. No one has said any more than 'do not expect'. I suspect from your post you havent had to struggle to make ends meet, as she was explaining she would have to do (work for a living). What do you prefer, we tell her all will work out, her get here and then writes a thread about the info on here not being accurate.