If not now, when?

Not the last Incubus album, with which I was disappointed…Every day I encourage people to follow their passion and do what they most love. Yet hypocritically, I’d stopped writing in this blog. My excuse was that I’m starting a business, Work English, so I’d soon be busy concocting blog entries about that.

I don’t know why I was so adamant in separating the two. In a brainstorming session with my friend Juan, Founder of Quantum Universidad, we jumped on the concept of being very honest and public to the world about our adventures. Juan’s going the whole way, and if you speak Spanish, I really encourage you to read his blog. He’s setting up a University Online with original and highly useful MOOC courses: http://vejeta.com/un-nuevo-comienzo/.

In this line of thought, I’d like to briefly share some of my current thoughts and discoveries.

Well, it’s obvious from the situation in Spain that people are crying out for jobs. This means two things. Firstly and understandably, many people feel desperate. This clouds their judgment and the bottom line is this: Employers do not want to hire desperate people. If they do, it’s to exploit them in some low-paid and unpleasant job, which I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Living abroad is already hard and expensive enough as it is.

Secondly, a lot of professional talent in Spain is hidden. It is hidden in fear to lose a job that does not motivate them in Spain (because jobs are gold dust), in lack of experience in selection processes abroad, and more often than not, in lack of practice of their spoken English…

This is a real barrier that people think will be removed “once they get there”. However, employers tend to prefer East European candidates to Spaniards because of their language level. It is those few Spanish people who take the time and effort to practice their English and interview techniques; who develop their personal brand, and write a really decent CV BEFORE they go or before they apply for a job, that make it. The rest remain hidden.

On that note, I’ll go back to working. I believe in brief insights, even if they’re only useful to me. See you soon.

La Crisis…Time to Take Action Kids.

‘La crisis’ is trying to back us into a corner. Many people are living in fear, giving up their dreams and surrendering to a closed and somber negativity. I don’t deny that the crisis and all its threats are real. If you have a job in Spain (or anywhere) now you are lucky, especially if it’s one that truly motivates you, as is my case. Yet hiding away is not the solution. It is the hour of the entrepreneur and the SMEs (Pymes). Inaction is a crisis’ best friend. To create employment and money injections we need to create business. We need to find out what and where the international markets are, and what skills we need to fill niches quickly and easily.

If you you don’t have the right skills, go out and get them (¡fórmate!) or look for someone who already has them to join your team. Teamwork, hard work and creativity are more important than ever. In our 2.0 world, information is abundant and start-up and marketing costs are low. And in an ‘espanglis’ world we should feel particularly fortunate: English and Spanish (along with Mandarin Chinese) are the top languages in international business. So, eyes open and minds alert. It is time to turn our ‘miedos’ into productive energy, to take some risks, and to assume responsibility for our actions.