Canadian looking for info on living and working in the Dominican Republic

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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Hi I was wondering if there is any one that could give me some info on living and working in the Dominican Republic. Is it hard to find work can a person find work in there trade. I am a sheet metal worker I make and install ventilation duct work. Can a person get into a maintenance job on one of the resorts or hotels. Can a person find an inexpensive place to live what kind of price would a person pay for a place to live in usd or cnd. Are there trailer parks in the dominican republic so a person can buy a trailer to live in? and a rough idea of what it would cost a person a month to eat and live there. Any info would be great and thank you for any help you can provide. Bob :)
ps you can also email me at robinhood_nb@hotmail.com with any info if you wish to.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Hi Bob

Please do a thorough search in our archives. this has been discussed many, many times.

the short answer is NO, for which I am sorry.

But you must look for yourself..

HB
 

BushBaby

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Jan 1, 2002
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Bob,
Have you visited the island & if so WHERE, how long for & how long ago? Do you speak fluent Spanish? Are you coming with your family or alone?(I presume alone from the way you ask your questions, but want to make sure!!).

Once you have followed HB's suggestion re reading the archives, come back & tell us the area you intend living in - no point in me quoting info for Puerto Plata if you intend living in Santo Domigo - prices will vary by upwards of 50% sometimes!! - Grahame.
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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Hillbilly said:
Please do a thorough search in our archives. this has been discussed many, many times.

the short answer is NO, for which I am sorry.

But you must look for yourself..

HB
thank you Hillbilly for your help
Bob
 

Hillbilly

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Your facetious barb will get you nowhere: FYI

Sheet metal workers in the DR earn about $240-250 a month.
And there are tons of them.

HB
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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BushBaby said:
Bob,
Have you visited the island & if so WHERE, how long for & how long ago? Do you speak fluent Spanish? Are you coming with your family or alone?(I presume alone from the way you ask your questions, but want to make sure!!).

Once you have followed HB's suggestion re reading the archives, come back & tell us the area you intend living in - no point in me quoting info for Puerto Plata if you intend living in Santo Domigo - prices will vary by upwards of 50% sometimes!! - Grahame.

Hi BushBaby yes I was In the Dominican Republic back in february for a week in puerto plata. I fell in love with the country when I was there it is a very beautiful place. Hopeing to beable to find work and a not to expensive place to live. No I don't speak spanish just english. I will be comming alone as soon as I get things wraped up here which will take a few months. thank you for your help and any info you can provide. Bob from NB Canada
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
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Read on top of the lines then

Bob_nb said:
Hi BushBaby yes I was In the Dominican Republic back in february for a week in puerto plata. I fell in love with the country when I was there it is a very beautiful place. Hopeing to beable to find work and a not to expensive place to live. No I don't speak spanish just english. I will be comming alone as soon as I get things wraped up here which will take a few months. thank you for your help and any info you can provide. Bob from NB Canada

Bob - WITH good Spanish and connections you can make $250 a month. This is not an exaggeration - that's like $8 a day. Without either zero, not that zero is a hell of a lto better than $8 a day. You've been once. Settling your affairs and moving to the DR in a few months under these miserable conditions is foolhardy.
 

simpson Homer

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Nov 14, 2003
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well

Think what are you going to do there! for Dominicans is ok because we are use to the kind of life that we have there. But for foreign just think about it.

You earn money in Pesos and spend in US dollar. you will make per day around $175 PESOS or 5,000 Pesos a month. just rent you will pay like $3,000
food, beer, los grillos, transportation.

If one Dominican make $4 Canadian dollar a day to get food will cost you 2 + transp.

Unless you will start you own business "Un Colmadon con mujeres"

Good luck,

Homer
 

FireGuy

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Aug 21, 2002
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Hi Bob,

Greetings from Nova Scotia.

I would love to give it all up and head to the DR but I know given my personal and health requirements it is simply not viable. I would never be able to learn to live without the many comforts which I take forgranted. I have thought long and hard about it but I will have to be content with my annual (and hopefully more frequent over time) treks to the North Coast. In contemplating this posibility I read many, many posts and here are some things for your consideration.

In order for you to have a half-ways positive experience with your relocation and to save yourself lots of grief later on, please:

1) Keep the bulk of your money offshore and access it as needed.

2) Keep enough for your return flight separately so you have access to it if and when you wish to leave.

3) Make sure you have enough money to live for six - twelve months without working at all; maybe by then your Spanish will be passable and you may be earning some money.

4) Learn to like local foods; it may be all you can afford later on.

Unfortunately your skills are of limited value in the DR. What we consider tradespeople here in Canada are still relatively low paid individuals in the DR and their actual qualifications are often open to interpretation.

Good luck.

Gregg
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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FireGuy said:
Greetings from Nova Scotia.

I would love to give it all up and head to the DR but I know given my personal and health requirements it is simply not viable. I would never be able to learn to live without the many comforts which I take forgranted. I have thought long and hard about it but I will have to be content with my annual (and hopefully more frequent over time) treks to the North Coast. In contemplating this posibility I read many, many posts and here are some things for your consideration.

In order for you to have a half-ways positive experience with your relocation and to save yourself lots of grief later on, please:

1) Keep the bulk of your money offshore and access it as needed.

2) Keep enough for your return flight separately so you have access to it if and when you wish to leave.

3) Make sure you have enough money to live for six - twelve months without working at all; maybe by then your Spanish will be passable and you may be earning some money.

4) Learn to like local foods; it may be all you can afford later on.

Unfortunately your skills are of limited value in the DR. What we consider tradespeople here in Canada are still relatively low paid individuals in the DR and their actual qualifications are often open to interpretation.

Good luck.

Gregg


thank you Gregg for the good advise it's to bad trades people there don't make better money like they do here
Bob
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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simpson Homer said:
Think what are you going to do there! for Dominicans is ok because we are use to the kind of life that we have there. But for foreign just think about it.

You earn money in Pesos and spend in US dollar. you will make per day around $175 PESOS or 5,000 Pesos a month. just rent you will pay like $3,000
food, beer, los grillos, transportation.

If one Dominican make $4 Canadian dollar a day to get food will cost you 2 + transp.

Unless you will start you own business "Un Colmadon con mujeres"

Good luck,

Homer

thanks Homer every little bit of advise helps.
Bob
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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Hillbilly said:
Sheet metal workers in the DR earn about $240-250 a month.
And there are tons of them.

HB

Hillbilly how long have you lived in the dominican republic sounds like you have lived there quite some time? what kind of work do you do? where are you originally from? thanks again Hillbilly for your help.

Bob
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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42 years seems like a lot?

Yeah, that's right, forty-two years. I was a university graduate with two years teaching experience when I got here, fluent in Spanish-not really, but they "said" I was...I had lived in Central America for a while.

A school teacher made $110 pesos a month when I got here and that is what I got. We had to make do. I lived like that for two years, and learned a ton of stuff.

You have to understand, Bob, that paradise looks great on the surface, but when you scratch it, it is not all so perfect. There are tons of things you won't see on a week's holiday- both good and not so good.

The best advice is to take this really slowly. I mean really, really slowly.
Invest a month of looking around at what a sheet metal worker can do. Here, the major A/C installations are done on industrial buildings or offices. These are going up in Santiago, La Vega, Santo Domingo, San Pedro, and a couple of other places. Hotels are also going up in the East. That is another place... Do you even know where these are? You have to find out who is doing the installing, and see if they can use a real sheet metal worker, one willing to travel the entire country..then see if they will pay a living wage...You might try Aceros Estrella.

Truthfully, I have very serious doubts about this.

HB
 
Last edited:

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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Wise advice

HB knows whereof he speaks, Bob. DO take it very very slowly. And check and recheck everything. You sound a sincere, salt of the earth type person - great! You also need a LOT of streetsmarts to do well here, or even to survive. Do your research, make a visit, talk to a lot of locals and expats, please don't make a decision in a hurry. Good luck!
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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Lambada said:
HB knows whereof he speaks, Bob. DO take it very very slowly. And check and recheck everything. You sound a sincere, salt of the earth type person - great! You also need a LOT of streetsmarts to do well here, or even to survive. Do your research, make a visit, talk to a lot of locals and expats, please don't make a decision in a hurry. Good luck!

hi lambada i hate to look stupid or seem stupid but what is expats i have seen the expats in mention a lot in the forms but was not sure who or what they were?
 

Lambada

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Bob_nb said:
hi lambada i hate to look stupid or seem stupid but what is expats i have seen the expats in mention a lot in the forms but was not sure who or what they were?
It is shorthand for expatriates, people who have left Canada, America, Europe etc to come and live here in the Dominican Republic, in other words, foreigners. Nothing to do with being patriotic!
 

marliejaneca

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Oct 7, 2003
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Listen to Hillbilly & Bushbabys' advice - they have been here for many years and now what it is all about.
Now don't get me wrong - it's doable - but not without research. Take an extended leave from your job, go down for a few months, rent an apartment, live the life, familiarize yourself with your surroundings, make contacts - lots of contacts, live like you would if you actually were down there full time. Then come home and think, think, and think some more. Don't let your heart do the majority of your thinking, look at it from a practical viewpoint. Do I want to live with challenges everyday (ie: no electricity, no water, language barrier), do I want to work hard for very little money etc.)
You mentioned that you were there for a week- did you stay in an AI on Playa Dorada, if you did, you have no clue to what the DR is all about. I am afraid if you give up everything you have in Canada and move there without experiencing "real" life in the DR - you may be truly disappointed.
I have done it, but I did my research, made contacts, had a job and had experienced the country before making the move, I highly recommend that you do the same.
Marlie
 

Voyager

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About what FireGuy said!

"Unfortunately your skills are of limited value in the DR."

Hm... that started me thinking! What skills ARE of value in DR???

I guess DR is pretty much the same as any other country concerning jobs. "Skills", "expertise", "manual labour" etc are commodities sold and purchased on the job market.

A Philippino friend of mine told me that you can find a skilled plumber in his home town, willing to work for the equivalent of US$ 8 per day. From where I come from in Europe, a common rate is c.US$ 50 PER HOUR! You would have to be un-Godly skilled to compete on the Philipino job market...

I guess a few basic questions would be:

1) Why would a DR company hire someone who does not speak the language, who might eventually ask for a huge (by DR standards) salary and also bring a risk of not fitting socially in the workplace?

2) What can I bring to DR, that is needed there AND for which there are companies / people willing to pay me money to get?

3) What would make a DR employer go Oh! and Ah! when I, as a gringo, walk into his office asking for work?

I guess those questions will do for a start...

An alternative would of course be to work hard in your own country, save every dime and then retire early in DR, watch the sun rise and set, sip your Brugal and puff away on a locally handmade cigarr and just... be!
 

Bob_nb

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Mar 23, 2004
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marliejaneca said:
Listen to Hillbilly & Bushbabys' advice - they have been here for many years and now what it is all about.
Now don't get me wrong - it's doable - but not without research. Take an extended leave from your job, go down for a few months, rent an apartment, live the life, familiarize yourself with your surroundings, make contacts - lots of contacts, live like you would if you actually were down there full time. Then come home and think, think, and think some more. Don't let your heart do the majority of your thinking, look at it from a practical viewpoint. Do I want to live with challenges everyday (ie: no electricity, no water, language barrier), do I want to work hard for very little money etc.)
You mentioned that you were there for a week- did you stay in an AI on Playa Dorada, if you did, you have no clue to what the DR is all about. I am afraid if you give up everything you have in Canada and move there without experiencing "real" life in the DR - you may be truly disappointed.
I have done it, but I did my research, made contacts, had a job and had experienced the country before making the move, I highly recommend that you do the same.
Marlie

Hi Marlie thank you for the advise i will really think things over before i make a move and research things as much as i can.
Bob
 

Bob_nb

New member
Mar 23, 2004
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Voyager said:
"Unfortunately your skills are of limited value in the DR."

Hm... that started me thinking! What skills ARE of value in DR???

I guess DR is pretty much the same as any other country concerning jobs. "Skills", "expertise", "manual labour" etc are commodities sold and purchased on the job market.

A Philippino friend of mine told me that you can find a skilled plumber in his home town, willing to work for the equivalent of US$ 8 per day. From where I come from in Europe, a common rate is c.US$ 50 PER HOUR! You would have to be un-Godly skilled to compete on the Philipino job market...

I guess a few basic questions would be:

1) Why would a DR company hire someone who does not speak the language, who might eventually ask for a huge (by DR standards) salary and also bring a risk of not fitting socially in the workplace?

2) What can I bring to DR, that is needed there AND for which there are companies / people willing to pay me money to get?

3) What would make a DR employer go Oh! and Ah! when I, as a gringo, walk into his office asking for work?

I guess those questions will do for a start...

An alternative would of course be to work hard in your own country, save every dime and then retire early in DR, watch the sun rise and set, sip your Brugal and puff away on a locally handmade cigarr and just... be!

thank you for your advise i will not rush into anything and really think it through before i decide on what i want to do
Bob