Need advice about a Spanish friend of mine

Mike_Eile

Hi, I'm posting here on behalf on a friend of mine. She's a 26 year old girl from Spain who has been in Ireland 11 months. She has working as an au pair with a nice family in south Dublin since she arrived here last summer.

However, I was horrified to hear that she is only earning €110 per week. She is one of the luckier ones as one or two of her friends are earning €80 - €90 per week. I know her accommodation is covered and her meals but she still has significant expenses that she must pay for herself (e.g. - public transport, English lessons, phone bill, etc...). I don't think the family that she works for realises that she's struggling financially.

Part of the reason she came here is to learn English but also the economic situation in Spain is pretty bad. Jobs are scarce. This girl's English is improving the whole time. When we're chatting she understands pretty much everything but I've to talk slowly. She told me recently that she's had to give up English lessons because she can no longer afford them. I've offered to give her money but she will not accept, although I'm going to send her money in the post tomorrow.

This will not solve the issue however. She's struggling financially and is stressed out as a result. What I want to know is would she be better off looking for a full time job in Dublin? Her English, if I'm being honest, needs a lot of work, but I'm sure in 6 - 8 months she would be pretty much fluent.

She does not have a University degree as she went straight into work after school in Spain. She is a very intelligent girl but maybe lacks confidence. Her previous experience includes working in shops, restaurants and she spent 2 years working in a multinational in Spain (in an office dealing with clients over the phone). All of these jobs were in Spain however and the only experience she has here is working as an au pair.

I really do want to help her to find work however. What I want to know is what would be realistic for her in Dublin in terms of finding a decent paying job? Obviously if she does get a job she'll have to move out and start paying rent and for her food, etc.. With no degree and English that needs work, is it unrealistic that she would get an office job somewhere in Dublin? Would she be better to go through a recruitment agency?

Any thoughts/advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Mr. Loverman

Does he job allow her to work part-time somewhere else? (e.g. part-time in a call centre)

Has she looked at how she can reduce her expenditure? For example, is she buying a latte every day?

godtabh

Mike_Eile wrote: »

Hi, I'm posting here on behalf on a friend of mine. She's a 26 year old girl from Spain who has been in Ireland 11 months. She has working as an au pair with a nice family in south Dublin since she arrived here last summer.

However, I was horrified to hear that she is only earning €110 per week. She is one of the luckier ones as one or two of her friends are earning €80 - €90 per week. I know her accommodation is covered and her meals but she still has significant expenses that she must pay for herself (e.g. - public transport, English lessons, phone bill, etc...). I don't think the family that she works for realises that she's struggling financially.

Part of the reason she came here is to learn English but also the economic situation in Spain is pretty bad. Jobs are scarce. This girl's English is improving the whole time. When we're chatting she understands pretty much everything but I've to talk slowly. She told me recently that she's had to give up English lessons because she can no longer afford them. I've offered to give her money but she will not accept, although I'm going to send her money in the post tomorrow.

This will not solve the issue however. She's struggling financially and is stressed out as a result. What I want to know is would she be better off looking for a full time job in Dublin? Her English, if I'm being honest, needs a lot of work, but I'm sure in 6 - 8 months she would be pretty much fluent.

She does not have a University degree as she went straight into work after school in Spain. She is a very intelligent girl but maybe lacks confidence. Her previous experience includes working in shops, restaurants and she spent 2 years working in a multinational in Spain (in an office dealing with clients over the phone). All of these jobs were in Spain however and the only experience she has here is working as an au pair.

I really do want to help her to find work however. What I want to know is what would be realistic for her in Dublin in terms of finding a decent paying job? Obviously if she does get a job she'll have to move out and start paying rent and for her food, etc.. With no degree and English that needs work, is it unrealistic that she would get an office job somewhere in Dublin? Would she be better to go through a recruitment agency?

Any thoughts/advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

That is the norm for au pairs. They aren't gonna get rich doing it. She could sump likens the €100 by baby sitting outside her core hours

daveohdave

As the previous poster has said, that's the norm for au pairs, around 100, no taxes. She's actually a little higher than the norm, although it does seem to be rising, I don't think many get less than 100 down this way. I'm not sure if there should be a premium for Dublin. Details here, excuse the lack of a proper link, ridiculous Boards.ie rules for "new" users.

aupair-world.net/index.php/au_pair_program/ireland/family/pocket_money

Ours is paid closer to 150, but that's because she's chosen not to do English classes and wants to work longer hours as a result. Not strictly correct but her English was great when she came here, she's trying to learn more natural English with people .

She doesn't appear to be having any trouble with money, away most weekends and recently asked about sending money home. Perhaps you should be running through expenses with your friend before throwing money at her, particularly when she's already refused your money?

the_syco

daveohdave wrote: »

Perhaps you should be running through expenses with your friend before throwing money at her, particularly when she's already refused your money?

Agree with this; it may be a simple case of your mate buying certain items in the wrong place.

Mike_Eile

Thanks for the feedback. Yes possibly her outgoings need to be looked at but from what I can gather the only luxury she has is the local gym that she goes to (€100 for 6 months) which doesn't seem very much. She pays about €100 for a monthly Dublin Bus ticket (to travel in and out of town) and English Lessons were costing €130 a month as far as I know. That doesn't seem to leave her with a whole lot.

She's not really open to doing more babysitting as she's looking for a change away from minding children. What are her options in terms of jobs or should I ring a recruitment agency in Dublin to find out what her prospects (if any) are? I would say her English is at 50%. She understands everything but you've to speak slowly and with her not being able to afford the English Classes, this may not improve anytime soon.

I wish I could help her find a decent paying job that she would enjoy doing and not have to worry about finances. But I guess there are a lot more in her situation!

Mrs OBumble

Mike_Eile wrote: »

... €100 for a monthly Dublin Bus ticket (to travel in and out of town) and English Lessons were costing €130 a month as far as I know. That doesn't seem to leave her with a whole lot.

That's a lot of bus travel for someone who has live-in accommodation with her job! Just how often does she need to go to town???

TBH, if she's getting 110 per week, on top of food and accommodation, then that's 440 per month (550 in some months, but let's stick with the lower rate).

So
gym 100
bus 100
English 130

still leaves 110 per month for other essentials like:
Phone: pre-pay can be got for 20 per month or less.
Tampons - shop at Boots and it will be a fiver a month, tops

Which still leaves a lot, unless you have expensive tastes.

It's very sweet that you're trying to help, but really she needs to help herself. I doubt you'll get anywhere ringing recruiters for her.

Mike_Eile

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

That's a lot of bus travel for someone who has live-in accommodation with her job! Just how often does she need to go to town???

TBH, if she's getting 110 per week, on top of food and accommodation, then that's 440 per month (550 in some months, but let's stick with the lower rate).

So
gym 100
bus 100
English 130

still leaves 110 per month for other essentials like:
Phone: pre-pay can be got for 20 per month or less.
Tampons - shop at Boots and it will be a fiver a month, tops

Which still leaves a lot, unless you have expensive tastes.

It's very sweet that you're trying to help, but really she needs to help herself. I doubt you'll get anywhere ringing recruiters for her.

Ya, maybe so. She has a lot of friends in Dublin so for her own sanity she travels into see them. She does go out socialising with friends but literally doesn't spend anything in pubs (she doesn't drink alcohol and doesn't pay for entrance fee if applicable). Maybe she has lunch out sometimes with friends.

I think once her English improves that would open some opportunities.

danger_here

Plenty of Spanish jobs in Ireland here: www dot irishjobs.ie/ShowResults.aspx?Keywords=spanish&Location=0&Category=&Recruiter=Company&Recruiter=Agency