Advice on Moving to, & Working in Chile

Hi,

I moved to Chile in October of last year and within two weeks I had secured a job teaching at a British School. I'm a native English speaker and my background is in education so I'm sure that helped. Before I moved here I contacted several schools, and sent them my CV and a cover letter. I would recommend researching places to work in your field before coming here and contacting them ahead of time.

If you're looking for nature I would suggest the south of Chile. It's absolutely stunning.

Good luck with everything!

Hi naturefairy!

Welcome to Expat.com and oh, love your username

Hope you'll find the answers you're looking for through the members and forum.

Best of luck with everything,
Haf

I agree with maggie, send your CV first to companies in your area or for teaching english in adult education or in the mining industry, which employs heaps of english speakers workers (without really needing spanish).  But you have to live in the North of Chile.

If you want nature, check Universidad Austral de Chile (www.uach.cl)o Instituto Anglo Hispano where they teach english for adults (contact Sonia Webb) in Valdivia, near the Lake District. It is small city close and very pretty, the only thing you have to be ready to a long winter with rainy days.

Cheers

Haf wrote:

Hi naturefairy!

Welcome to Expat.com and oh, love your username

...Haf

Thanks, Haf.


JBMP76, thanks very much for the info & advice.

Maggie417, special thanks to you for all your info & advice.

I intend to look into the teaching. After I save a bit more money, I'll hopefully secure a few interviews & make the move.

I got a job before moving here, but I didn´t get the visa!

My recommendation is sending an email to the HR departments of companies you are interested working for.

I DIDN´T send out my CV to everyone in HR in Chile, although maybe it would have worked out the same. What I did was just sent an inquiry email asking if they had any openings, and if so could they please direct me to the correct person to send my CV or send me a link to an online application. I feel like it´s a bit less pushy and people are more inclined to help, but that´s just me.

I took the first job I got because it was actually what I wanted, but after that in the few weeks before I left for Chile I got lots of calls asking when I would be there to interview.

So, you may not get EVERYTHING straightened out, but you can certainly lay the ground work for leaving. Apply for a bunch of stuff 2-3 weeks before you leave so if you get a call you can say "No, I´m not in Chile today to come interview, but I will be there on X date. I´m really interested in the position. Can the interview wait until then?" If it can´t, suggest a skype interview- that´s what I did for my current job.

Being a foreigner is appreciated here and I know many expats who do all kinds of things, from teaching English, to working in large international companies and everything in between.

Hope that helps! I´ve written transitioning on my blog, check it out or shoot me an email if you have any other questions!

Http://alessandracastillo.net

castilloalessandra wrote:

I got a job before moving here, but I didn´t get the visa!

My recommendation is sending an email to the HR departments of companies you are interested working for.
....

Thanks for your advice, Alessandra. I have checked out your wonderful, informative blog & will send you an email.

I wish to visit Chile in Dec or Jan! Thinking of retiring there! Have interest in horses. Where in Chile should I visit? Also like warmer and dryer climate. Learning Spanish now. Any ideas. Many thanks, Bill

naturefairy - if you're still curious about moving and settling into Valdivia, I can tell you firsthand that it's a great place to live as long as you don't mind lots of rain!  I made the move to Southern Chile a month ago with my husband and daughter, and have been blogging about the experience at Living in Patagonia - hopefully it will give you a sense whether Valdivia is the place for you.

Billinmontana - The south of Chile is breathtaking, full of lakes, rivers, mountains (and active volcanoes!), and glaciers.  However, it can be wet and chilly.  It is more temperate up north, and I've heard many great things about La Serena - it seems to be quite a popular place to head for retirement.