It never ceases to surprise me the number of people who immigrate to a foreign country that expect to find work in that country despite the fact that they are unable to speak the local language.
As someone who has been teaching English for over 25 years now and teaching Portuguese to English speakers here in Brazil for 12 years, I can tell you that while English may be called "The Universal Language of Business" it is NO SUBSTITUTE for the local language.
Just think about it, how in the world does one expect to communicate with their superiors, co-workers, customers, clients, etc., if they don't speak the local language? Don't you think that prospective employers are going to think about that too? It is unrealistic to simply expect that in a country where English is not the official language that you're going to be able to get by in even day-to-day situations without speaking the local language reasonably well. Actually this is the single largest factor that results in an expat's failure to adapt to their host country and causes most of them to return home earlier than expected.
Yes, speaking English (or any other second language) is a benefit when seeking employment. That said, one MUST be reasonably fluent in the local language of the country or they stand little chance of securing employment over someone who is a native speaker and also speaks English reasonably well.
Rather than wondering why you can't find work or complaining that you have not been sucessful in doing so after several months of attempting, invest your time and money in improving the skills that are obiously lacking and holding you back. LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THE COUNTRY YOU'RE IN...... this is absolutely essential.
Do not just buy into the propaganda spread by English schools worldwide that if you speak English you'll be able to communicate with people all over the world. What they don't tell you is that is not always true. While you might find someone who speaks enough English in a foreign country so you can basic directions on a vacation; English is not going to help you one bit in day-to-day living or in working in a non-English speaking country and work environment. NOTHING, repeat NOTHING TAKES THE PLACE OF FLUENCY IN THE LOCAL LANGUAGE.
By the way, this propaganda is aimed primarily at non-English speakers who want to move to English speaking nations where fluency in English is essential.... for them the statement is true, it doesn't necessarily work the other way around!
Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team